Waldhausen Castle Ruin

En un regard

Le château en bref

The ruin of Waldhausen occupies a spur on the south-eastern edge of the hamlet of the same name, in the Aargau municipality of Fisibach (district of Zurzach), near the Zurich border. The site is known from a deed of December 1113: a family of free lords, the "de Waldhusen", granted extensive properties in the Studenland to the Abbey of St Blasien in the Black Forest. A first fortification, perhaps of timber and earth, may have been raised as early as the 11th century; a stone castle is probable in the 13th century, probably under a second family of Waldhausen, and ministerials of the Regensberg family are mentioned there in 1285. A branch of the Stühlinger family then called itself "Stühlinger von Waldhausen" (1338–1438). When they moved to Kaiserstuhl around 1440, the castle lost its importance: it was abandoned in the 15th century and described as a Burgstall, the site of a ruined castle, in 1471. No excavation has taken place and no masonry elevation is visible, but the terrain still preserves traces of the enclosure wall and a ditch. In 2013, municipalities of the Studenland cleared the site and placed a commemorative stone to mark 900 years since the first mention. Visits are free and open to all, about forty minutes' walk from Fisibach.