Baldenstein Castle (Sils im Domleschg)

The castle is located approximately 1 km north of the confluence of the Albula and Hinterrhein rivers on a spur. To the north, the terrain drops steeply towards the Albula, with access from the south. The original topography has been altered by terracing and garden landscaping.

The current state is due to the restoration after a fire in 1877. Of the visible complex today, probably only the four-story tower dates from the Middle Ages. When it was built in the first half of the 13th century, it stood in isolation. The wall thickness of the building is up to 2.1 meters. On the west side, at the height of the third floor, was the elevated entrance, and on the east side of the fourth floor, an exit led to a loggia. The windows were only added later.

The original battlement plate was later covered with a tent roof. After the fire of 1877, the battlements were restored. Since 1999, the tower has again been covered with a tent roof.

The residential wing, which adjoins the tower to the west, dates from the 16th and 17th centuries and probably replaced an older building. The high retaining wall with the battlements dates from the early modern period but probably follows a medieval enceinte in its course. The garden dates from the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1877, the castle was partially destroyed by fire. The current state with neo-Gothic elements and stepped gables dates from the period after 1877.

Of the builders, the Lords of Baldenstein, an Ebo von Baldenstein is mentioned in documents between 1246 and 1252. In 1289, the castle was owned by the Lords of Löwenstein of Ilanz, but later came into the possession of the Barons of Rhäzüns in a feud through a surprise attack. In the peace treaty of 1289, Hartwig von Löwenstein received Baldenstein back from the Rhäzünsers but had to surrender Schwarzenstein Castle near Obersaxen.

Probably through an inheritance, Baldenstein came into the possession of the von Übercastel family, related to the Löwensteins. A dispute between Wilhelm von Übercastel and the Bishop of Chur over the burgstal and the bûwe ze Baldenstein was settled in 1349. Wilhelm was allowed to build but had to grant the Bishop a right of first refusal on Baldenstein. Furthermore, the castle could not be used against Chur.

The next owners of Baldenstein were the Lords of Stein; in 1400, a Wilhelm von Stein is documented. The Bishop had waived his right of first refusal but had enforced that the castle must always be open to him. In the episcopal "Buoch der Vestinen" of 1410, Baldenstein is mentioned as an "offen hus" (open house). This allowed a castle to be brought into one's sphere of influence without having to acquire it.

Through marriage, Baldenstein fell in 1433 to the episcopal ministerial family Ringg, who called themselves Ringg von Baldenstein from 1453. Hans Ringg von Baldenstein was a leader of the Bündner in the Schamserfehde.

In 1562, Luzius Ringg von Baldenstein sold the castle to the nobleman Jakob Ruinelli, who came from Valtellina. After the last Baldensteiner Jakob Ruinelli was stabbed in 1627 during a dispute between officers of Jörg Jenatsch, the castle came in 1627 through the marriage of Ruinelli's sister Perpetua to Colonel Christoph Rosenroll von Thusis.

Again through marriage, Baldenstein came in 1716 to Vincenz von Salis, a captain in Spanish service, whose son sold it in 1782 to the silkworm breeder Francesco Conrado (1753–1821) from Chiavenna. Today, Baldenstein Castle is still owned by the Conrad von Baldenstein family foundation.