The remains of the Castle can be visited
CastleFreienstein
Freienstein Castle (Ruin)
The Freienstein ruin stands in the municipality of Freienstein-Teufen in the canton of Zurich on a hill above a vineyard.
The castle was built around 1250 by a Baron von Tengen. In 1254, Conrad de Tengen gifted it to his daughter Ita and her husband, Baron Egolf von Hasle (also Egilolf de Hasli). In this context, the castle is first mentioned in documents. Egolf and his descendants now called themselves Barons von Freienstein. This also gave the village the name Freienstein. The hazel branch in the coat of arms indicates the descent of the Barons von Hasli, while the lion presumably goes back to the Kyburg lion.
In 1302, Egolf, with the consent of his sons Heinrich and Johannes, sold the Freienstein manor to Töss Abbey. This Heinrich was married to Nertha von Tüfen, was a district judge in the Zurichgau in 1282, and died after 1314.
In 1334 or 1338, the castle was apparently destroyed by citizens of Zurich, but then rebuilt. In 1360, the Freienstein family died out in the male line with Johannes von Freienstein. After that, the castle changed owners several times. In 1436, the Schaffhausen knight Herrmann Künsch owned the castle. Since he had captured a man from the Kyburg county in 1443, people from Winterthur and Diessenhofen, led by the bailiff and later mayor of Zurich, Heinrich Schwend, marched to the castle and burned it down. The prisoner was forgotten in his dungeon and suffocated in the smoke.
In 1485, Knight Felix Schwarzmurer acquired the castle. After his death in 1492, the ruin passed to Hans Erhart and Urban zum Thor von Teufen. The manorial court and the lordship of Teufen came into the possession of the Zurich family von Meiss in 1600, remaining in their possession until the sale in 1838. The last owner was Lieutenant Colonel Gottfried von Meiss-Trachsler (1785–1862). In 1975, the community of heirs von Meiss-Trachsler donated the ruin to the Canton of Zurich. Through a donation from castle enthusiast Franz Xaver Arnet and contributions from the federal government, canton, and municipality, the ruin was conserved in 1976 and placed under the protection of the Swiss Confederation.
In 1806, a large part of the castle stones was removed and used to build the Töss bridge.
The Well+
The well west of the tower was discovered in 1968. In 1981/82, it was fully excavated. From the bottom of the castle moat, the builders had driven a shaft 2.30 by 2.40 meters in side length and 26.40 meters deep into the molasse rock. Tuff stone blocks at depths of 10 and 15 meters show that the shaft was walled up to the height of the tower base. The total depth of the well is 33.5 meters.
The Legend of the Castle's End+
One winter day, the beautiful daughter of a free Embracher, a respected, influential man, visited acquaintances. She lost track of time and could only begin her return journey after nightfall. She had to walk through the dark forest and suddenly noticed with horror that she was being pursued by a hungry wolf. However, she managed to reach safety at the Kymenhof. After a young man there offered to accompany her home, the two fell in love and pledged their loyalty to each other. At this time, the robber knight of Freienstein also knew of the girl's beauty. He wanted the girl in his castle but was rejected every time. One day, when the girl was alone in the forest looking for firewood, the robber knight came and tried again to persuade her to come to the castle with him. She refused, and the knight grabbed her onto his horse and took her to his castle, where she had to submit to his will. Her father tried to free his daughter with a clever trick – he got himself hired by the robber knight as a Swabian falconer – and succeeded. However, he himself was discovered by the knight and thrown into the dungeon. The daughter immediately alerted her father's most influential friends at Kyburg. The Landgrave of Kyburg immediately marched with a troop of heavily armed warriors to Freienstein Castle to free the father. After a siege, the castle tower was set on fire, and thus the fortress could be captured. As the Kyburgers celebrated their victory, they forgot the father in the dungeon, and by the time they remembered him, the poor man had suffocated in his dark cellar.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 47.5339, 8.5871