Bännlifels Ruins

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Bännlifels ruin consists of meagre remains built on a narrow rocky spur at an elevation of about 630 m, on the border between the cantons of Basel-Country and Solothurn, in the municipalities of Wahlen (BL) and Grindel (SO). The remains are interpreted as those of a small ridge castle: foundations of a tower-type building, possibly a watch tower, and beam holes cut into the rock; earlier surveys noted other buildings, a zwinger and a round tower, which are no longer visible today. No written source mentions the fortification, and its builders are unknown. Third-century finds attest to use of the ridge in the Roman period, and the monasteries of Beinwil and St Alban held property in Wahlen and Grindel from the twelfth century onwards, which could indicate a former seigneurial estate. The site was probably abandoned no later than the construction of the neighbouring Neuenstein Castle. The ruin is freely accessible via a footpath of roughly 35 to 40 minutes from Büsserach.