Tiengen Castle

Tiengen Castle is a hilltop castle in the city of Waldshut-Tiengen in Baden-Württemberg. It was the administrative seat of the Landgraviate of Klettgau and belongs to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Tiengen Castle stands on an elevation (lower terrace), about ten meters above the historic old town, in the middle of today's city of Tiengen, at the exit or confluence of three valleys, a strategically favorable location. Immediately next to it is the baroque parish church of Maria Himmelfahrt.

Tiengen Castle is a complex of two buildings and consists of the old tower (called the Old Castle or Small Castle) and the New Castle. The Old Castle is an 11th-century defensive and residential tower of the Barons of Krenkingen. Although it was heavily ruined during the wars, it was probably never completely destroyed, just like the former castle church. Johann Ludwig I von Sulz had the castle rebuilt after the destruction in the Swiss War.

Around 1112, an oppidum is mentioned for the first time. A knight of Tiengen, Johannes miles de Toungen, is mentioned in 1225, he was a ministerialis of the Lords of Krenkingen, and a Hermannus de Toungen miles is mentioned in 1239.

In 1264, a Walterus scultetus de Toingen is mentioned; the city had a reeve and 6 councilors. In 1356, the council and the common citizens of the city of Tungen are mentioned. From 1413, a Vogt, elected by the city lord, stood above the reeve and the council. Until 1426, the city held judicial rights. Afterwards, it was transferred by Emperor Sigismund to the city of Constance. In 1331, a city court is mentioned for the first time; in 1434, it was stipulated that no citizen of Tiengen should be subject to other courts. Craftsmen are mentioned: in 1279 a blacksmith, in 1286 a tanner, in 1279 an innkeeper, in 1598 a tailor's guild, in 1690 a shoemaker's guild, in 1697 a cooper's guild.

Tiengen was an early minting site. Emperor Wenzel (HRR) granted Diethelm II von Krenkingen the right to mint coins in 1388. However, as early as 1275, marcae argenti boni ponderis oppidi in Tuengen are mentioned. In 1279, a Hugo monetarius de Tuengen (mint master) was mentioned, as was his son in 1285, Hugo filius de Tungen. As early as 1275, the Krenkingers had bracteates struck in Tiengen. In 1407, Dietrich von Eschbach is named as the mint master. After the Krenkingers, coins were minted for the Bishops of Constance, and then the Sulzers continued to have coins struck in Tiengen until 1680.

In 1229, Tiengen is mentioned as a market town (in foro Tuongen), in 1243 Civitate Tongen. Heinrich II von Krenkingen documents in 1294 in oppdio nostro Tuengen. The expansion into a market settlement was carried out by the Krenkingers. In 1262, Tiengen was a fief of the Prince-Bishopric of Constance. Diethelm von Krenkingen (the last of the old Krenkingen line) returned Tiengen to Bishop Otto III of Constance in 1413. In 1415, Reinold von Urslingen and his mercenaries tried in vain to conquer Tiengen. From 1413–1429, various lords held the fief, including the Bishops of Basel. In 1448, Bilgeri von Heudorf became the fief holder. In 1451, he handed over the city for the duration of his Italian campaign to Knight Melchior von Blumenegg (Blumnegg). In 1452, he took it back. Emperor Friedrich III, with whom he was in Italy, confirmed all previous privileges to the city. In 1467, Bilgeri attacked the mayor of Schaffhausen in the Hegau. This led to the older Swiss War. During its course, mercenaries from Lucerne, Zurich, and Schaffhausen attacked Bilgeri's seat in Tiengen. Afterwards (1468), Tiengen came to Schaffhausen. After Bilgeri's death in 1476, Tiengen returned to the Prince-Bishopric of Constance. Due to the decline of the Krenkingers, the Counts of Habsburg-Laufenburg had become holders of the County of Klettgau. Through the marriage of the last daughter of Count Johann IV (Ursula) to the Count of Sulz, the Landgraviate of Klettgau came to the Sulzers by inheritance in 1408. Bishop Otto IV of Constance now granted (1482) the castle and city of Tiengen to the Sulzers for 10 years. In 1493, the pledge was extended indefinitely. In 1499, during the Swabian War, 5000 Confederates besieged Tiengen; only 1000 horsemen and 100 mercenaries defended the city. Rudolf V von Sulz and Count Dietrich von Blumenegg left the city, which surrendered after four days of siege on April 21, 1499. Women and children were allowed to leave the city; the Austrian mercenaries, after swearing an oath of fealty, were also allowed to leave, dressed only in shirts. The nobles were released after paying ransoms, and the city was plundered and burned. To rebuild the houses, Count Rudolf von Sulz remitted all taxes and duties for 18 years, and then half for another 8 years. In 1634, 36 of 90 houses were abandoned. In 1641, the castle was burned (Thirty Years' War). Karl Ludwig zu Sulz was rarely in Tiengen due to his military career; he had appointed the Vogt Johann Jakob von Beck, who managed the Klettgau when he was not also on campaign. With Johann Ludwig II, the Landgraves of Sulz died out as city lords in 1687. Maria Anna von Sulz, the eldest daughter of the last Count of Sulz, married Ferdinand Wilhelm Eusebius (1652–1703), Prince of Schwarzenberg, in 1674.