Hofgut Castle (Muri)

The history of Hofgut began when Gabriel von Wattenwyl acquired the estate in 1623. It remained in the possession of the von Wattenwyl family for generations until it passed to Gabriel von Wattenwyl, the stepbrother of the then-owner, before 1730. In 1741, Anna Margaretha, a daughter of Gabriel, sold the estate to Beat Fischer, who already owned the neighboring Gümligen Castle. Fischer had a manor house built on the Hofgut, which he sold to his younger brother Emanuel Fischer in 1754. Through inheritance, the Hofgut later came into the possession of Elisabetha Steiger, a daughter of Emanuel, and was subsequently also known as Steiger-Gut. In 1801, Steiger's widow sold the property to Hans Jakob Gerwer, a pastor. His son, Johann Friedrich Gerwer, took over the Hofgut in 1812 but sold it just four years later to David Schwab. After the death of Schwab's widow in 1839, the estate passed to her five children. In the 1842 inheritance division, Louise Risold-Schwab and her husband Karl Emanuel Risold took over the property. After further changes of ownership, including to the Beck brothers and later to Friedrich Bühlmann, the Hofgut came into the possession of Karl Eugen Ludwig Viktor von Tschann in 1893. After his childless death, his nephew Viktor Adalbert Edmund von Grenus inherited the property. In 1916, Dr. Wilhelm Muehlon acquired the estate, followed by Edgar Adolf Welti in 1922. A real estate company, Hofgut AG, purchased the property in 1930, and three years later, Hans Rufener acquired the shares. To preserve the Hofgut, he established the Hans-Rufener-von-Camp-Stiftung in 1977.

Hofgut Castle is located in Muri near Bern in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, at an elevation of approximately 578 meters above sea level.

Today, Hofgut Castle is managed by a foundation.