Burg Neuenstein

En un regard

Le château en bref

The remains of Neuenstein stand on a rocky outcrop with steep flanks, above the road from Wahlen to Grindel in the canton of Basel-Country. The top of the ridge, which blocks the passage of the Lüssel valley to the south, had already been fortified since Late Antiquity. The castle, a fief of the Bishop of Basel together with the manorial court of Breitenbach, gave its name to the knightly family of Neuenstein, who bore it at the latest in 1315. In 1410, Rudolf of Neuenstein took his uncle Hans of Blauenstein prisoner and occupied the latter's castle; the following year, the so-called Neuenstein feud pitted the two knights against Basel, which destroyed their castles. Rudolf had Neuenstein rebuilt around 1430, promising the city that it would always be kept open to it. The castle was abandoned at the latest during the Kappeler Feud, around 1491; the family died out at the end of the 16th century in Liestal. Only a few scattered wall sections, a cistern and a staircase cut into the rock remain. The ruin is freely accessible, about fifteen minutes' walk from Wahlen.