Schwarzenstein Castle (Ruin) (Obersaxen)

The ruins of Schwarzenstein Castle are located in the municipality of Waltensburg in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The ruins of Schwarzenstein Castle lie northwest of St. Joseph's Church on an elongated rock outcrop that drops vertically deep on the valley side. On the mountain side, there is a trench-like depression. The complex can be easily reached from the road via a hiking trail in about fifteen minutes. Access to the complex is through an opening subsequently cut into the wall at the foot of the eastern part.

In Obersaxen, German-speaking settlers advanced into a Rhaeto-Romanic area, where castles presumably already stood. Since the name of a knightly family does not appear on any of the four castles, it can be assumed that the castle name was simply formed with the name of the settler to whose territory the decaying castle belonged. The designation Schwarzenstein can therefore best be explained in connection with the family name Schwarz, but could also refer to the dark rock on which the castle stood.

The complex extends over a length of about 40 meters and consists of an undeveloped central part, an eastern and a western part. In the western part with a polygonal floor plan, the door is located on the north side, which could be reached via a wooden structure over the abyss. The lintel consisted of a stone slab, a channel for the sliding beam and recessed pivot sockets have been preserved. In the walls there are cubic slab-lined wall niches and loop windows. Above this, there was probably once a wooden, habitable superstructure. A double-leaf door led into the central part of the complex, another round-arched door into the eastern, older part, which contained a multi-part residential building.

The eastern wall tooth is threatened by decay. The uppermost part with a beautiful slab-lined niche, which is still depicted in both books by Clavadetscher and Meyer, has already collapsed.

The entire complex is heavily overgrown and in a state of decay. Little can be seen of the negative of a tree walled into the south wall, as mentioned by Clavadetscher. The plateau was surrounded on the mountain side by a curtain wall, which has been preserved in considerable remains.

Written documents about the origin and history of the castle are missing. Schwarzenstein was probably founded by the Barons of Rhäzüns, as whose property it is mentioned in 1289; the disputed legal situation regarding property in the Obersaxen area required the presence of Rhäzüns retainers.

In a feud, Heinrich von Löwenstein, whose estates were in the Ilanz area, had wrested Schwarzenstein from Heinrich Brun von Rhäzüns, but was to return it after a peace treaty: quod castrum de Swatzenstain debetur.

The careless masonry indicates a rather late construction period in the middle of the 13th century. The fact that the castle was rebuilt and extended twice suggests a longer period of use. Schwarzenstein was probably abandoned in the middle of the 14th century, when the Walser settlers there received low jurisdiction and the presence of Rhäzüns ministerials was no longer necessary.

In 1468, in an agreement on the Rhäzüns inheritance, there is only mention of the "hoff genant Swartzenstein mit der wysen in der schlucht". The farm was probably located in the cleared area south of the castle.