Schloss Brandis

En un regard

Le château en bref

Maienfeld Castle, long known as Schloss Brandis, stands to the south-east of the medieval centre of Maienfeld (Grisons), separated from the old town by a wall and a moat, in the heart of the Bündner Herrschaft wine region. Built for the lords of Aspermont in the mid-13th century – dendrochronology dates the timbers of the tower to 1247 – it passed to the Windegg family, then to the counts of Toggenburg, who added the "Neues Schloss" on the far side of the courtyard in the early 15th century. In 1437 the lordship passed by marriage to the von Brandis and von Aarburg families, who gave it its common name. The Three Leagues acquired it in 1509 and installed their bailiff there. The square tower, six storeys high, with walls 2.5 m thick, retains medieval secular frescoes discovered in 1898. A cultural property of national significance, the complex has since 1968 housed a restaurant and function rooms, living quarters in the Neues Schloss, and a vineyard; it officially resumed its name of Schloss Maienfeld in 2020.