Strahlegg Castle (Ruin)

The ruins of Strahlegg Castle (also Stralegg) are located on the old Prättigauer Way in the hamlet of Strahlegg, in the municipality of Fideris in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The district of Strahlegg lies east of Fideris and is separated from it by the Arieschtobel gorge. The ruin stands on a small hill at the end of a terrain terrace. The castle grounds are connected to the garden of the adjacent private house.

Due to the construction of a private house adjacent to the south of the castle, emergency excavations were carried out in 1965. As a result, the architectural-historical investigation of the complex could only be partially completed. The older part includes the tower and the adjacent curtain walls; the residential wing and the expansion of the tower are younger. There is uncertainty about the age of the outer bailey.

The complex was originally divided into an outer bailey and a main castle. Ruins have only been preserved from the main castle; only minor wall traces remain of the outer bailey. On the tower with a square floor plan, remnants of plaster are found, and corner bosses have clear edge dressing. The curtain wall reached up to the 1st floor of the tower. A high entrance is missing. On the 2nd floor, narrow loopholes with tuff surrounds are found, above which a wooden upper storey is to be assumed.

North of the tower, at the corner of the curtain wall, was a rectangular residential wing. A construction joint shows that it is younger than the wall.

Documentary records about the construction of the castle are missing. The excavations of 1965 brought to light various small finds from the period between the 13th and 15th centuries.

In the 14th century, the castle belonged to the Straiff family; according to Castelmur, the family was enfeoffed with it by the Barons of Vaz. After the death of Ursula von Straiff, it was awarded to Count Friedrich von Toggenburg by the court in Fideris in 1403, after it had been unlawfully taken over by locals. Whether the Toggenburger ever claimed the castle is not stated. In 1474, an estate Strahlegg is still mentioned, after which records are missing. Ulrich Campbell found Strahlegg Castle already in ruins around 1550.

Since the ruin was apparently never used as a quarry, much of the original building fabric has been preserved. Since 2006, extensive securing works have been carried out in three stages. For example, the root-penetrated wall crowns were removed and replenished using water-repellent rubble stone technique. The walls were strengthened with mortar using the Rasa-Pietra technique. A ready-mix mortar was used, which was specially developed for the Swiss Castles Association and was also used in the restoration of La Tur in Zillis. The beam and window openings were also carefully secured. In 2009, the as yet unworked parts of the west wall will be secured, and from 2010, the uppermost wall sections of the tower.