Blumenegg Castle

Blumenegg Castle was built by the Counts of Werdenberg as an administrative center for the area of the Walgau county, which was separated from the Montfortian total possessions in 1258. It was first mentioned in a document in 1265. However, only the first Count of Werdenberg-Sargans lived here.

In 1288, the castle was devastated by Bishop Friedrich of Chur. In 1391, Blumenegg came into the possession of the Barons of Brandis from Emmental as a pledge, and definitively in 1416. At the end of the 14th or at the latest at the beginning of the 15th century, the castle became the center of the Lordship of Blumenegg, which had become independent from the Walgau county. During the Appenzell War in 1404, the complex was plundered by the citizens of Feldkirch.

In 1405, the castle was besieged, conquered, and broken by the "Bund ob dem See" (League above the Lake). It was rebuilt in 1408. In 1510, the Swabian Counts of Sulz bought the lordship. In 1613, the Prince-Abbots of the Benedictine Imperial Abbey of Weingarten in Württemberg became the rulers of Blumenegg through purchase. The lordship was administered by bailiffs, chief officials, and governors, who also exercised high jurisdiction. The largely rebuilt complex was destroyed by fire in 1650. Since another fire in 1774, it has been a ruin. In 1802, the abbey was secularized by Napoleon. As compensation, Hereditary Prince Wilhelm Friedrich of Orange-Nassau, among others, was also granted the Lordship of Blumenegg.

Austria had already been trying to acquire the imperial territories in the midst of its Vorarlberg lordships since the second half of the 18th century. This only succeeded with Blumenegg in 1804 through an exchange of goods with Orange-Nassau. Two years later, Tyrol and Vorarlberg fell to Bavaria as a result of the Peace of Pressburg, but returned to Austria in 1814. At an auction in 1842, the Moosbrugger family was able to acquire Blumenegg. The ruin is still in private ownership today.