Schwarzenbach Castle

Schloss Schwarzenbach is located in the municipality of Jonschwil in the canton of St. Gallen.

The settlement of Schwarzenbach was first mentioned in a document on March 16, 779. The local possessions of St. Gallen Abbey were administered by local ministerials who, in the 12th century, probably built a fortified complex on a hill north of the old Schwarzenbach mill to protect the Thur crossing of the road between Wil and St. Gallen. This noble family of Schwarzenbach died out around 1250.

The Schwarzenbach estate eventually passed by purchase to Count Rudolf of Habsburg, who in 1273 took over the patronage of St. Gallen Abbey as king but was simultaneously in conflict with the abbey. He apparently intended to build an offensive fortress against the city of Wil, which belonged to St. Gallen Abbey. The first castle in Schwarzenbach was apparently too small for this, so Rudolf had a new castle complex built above the Thur after 1282, which essentially consisted of the keep that still stands today. North of it, he also founded a town called Schwarzenbach, which was also known as "Trutz-Wil" (Defiance-Wil). In the subsequent disputes between Rudolf and Albrecht of Habsburg on one side and Abbot Wilhelm von Montfort on the other, both Wil and Schwarzenbach were destroyed and rebuilt. At times, the entire citizenry of the destroyed Wil fled to Schwarzenbach. In the peace treaty of 1301 between Prince-Abbot Wilhelm von Montfort and the sons of Albrecht of Habsburg, it was agreed that the town and castle of Schwarzenbach should be razed. However, the castle remained because the castellan Jakob Hofmeister demanded compensation. As a compromise, the castle eventually went for 200 marks of silver to Baron Heinrich von Griessenberg, who was close to St. Gallen Abbey. After several changes of ownership through inheritance, the castle and lordship passed in 1483 from the Barons of Hewen to the Prince-Abbey of St. Gallen, which made it the center of the Obervogtei Niederamt in the County of Toggenburg. The coat of arms of the Vogtei featured a black-gold banded, diagonally flowing stream in silver.

After the fire of 1494, the castle was expanded into a palace, and a granary was added later. The explosion of a gunpowder magazine on May 29, 1621, necessitated the construction of a new granary, which still stands today. After the final dissolution of the Prince-Abbey of St. Gallen in 1805, the castle passed to the newly founded Canton of St. Gallen and served as the official seat of the authorities of the Untertoggenburg district. In 1821, the castle was finally auctioned off and went for 950 guilders to a trustee of the Catholic Administrative Council of St. Gallen. This person sold the property at a profit in 1838 for 5100 guilders to a private individual. In the mid-19th century, large parts of the curtain wall were demolished to use the stones for the construction of the railway bridge over the Thur. Most of the interior, such as paneling and furniture, was also sold. The castle chapel was converted into a laundry room and sheepfold. A spinning mill was temporarily set up in the granary.

After several changes of ownership, the complex increasingly fell into disrepair and was only restored in the 1980s. In 2009, the castle was for sale as a luxury property.