Witwald Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

The ruin of Witwald, also known as Jüngere Burg Wild-Eptingen, is a hilltop castle overlooking the village of Eptingen, in the canton of Basel-Country. It was founded in the 13th century by the lords of Eptingen to replace their former residence, located on the same ridge, and first appears in a deed of 1398. In 1444, the people of Basel quartered a troop there before the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs. In 1487, the heirs of Eptingen sold the castle and the lordship to the city of Basel, which no longer found a use for it and placed it under the authority of the bailiff of the Farnsburg; the castle was already in poor condition by then and gradually fell into ruin. The site, built on two natural terraces, retains remains of the palas, an entrance gate, a staircase cut into the rock and a cistern. The masonry, threatened with collapse, is no longer maintained, and a foundation has been established to preserve this cradle of the Eptingen family. The ruin is freely accessible, without services, via an unmarked footpath.