Freienstein Castle (Ruin)

The origins of Freienstein Castle date back to approximately 1250, when it was built by a Baron von Tengen. Just four years later, in 1254, Conrad de Tengen gifted the castle to his daughter Ita and her husband, Baron Egolf von Hasle. This gift marked the first documented mention of the complex. Egolf and his descendants subsequently adopted the name "von Freienstein," which also lent its name to the surrounding village. In 1302, Egolf, with the consent of his sons Heinrich and Johannes, sold the Freienstein manor to Töss Abbey. The castle experienced destruction around 1334 or 1338 by citizens of Zurich but was subsequently rebuilt. With Johannes von Freienstein, the lineage died out in the male line in 1360. In the following decades, ownership changed hands multiple times. In 1443, the castle was again set ablaze, this time by residents of Winterthur and Diessenhofen, after the then-owner, Knight Herrmann Künsch, had captured a man from the County of Kyburg. The prisoner suffocated in the smoke.