Lords of the Moors | Helfenberg Castle | Documentary | Myths, Legends, History | Castles Switzerland

Further links with more information in the description.
We walk in the footsteps of Helfenberg Castle. Its mysterious ruins raise many questions. For a long time, the castle was thought to have been built in the 12th century, but archaeological investigations yielded surprising results. Why was the castle built in this place, somewhere in the middle of nowhere? Who were the inhabitants? Why and when was Helfenberg destroyed? We will explore all these questions in this documentary.
We would like to thank the Cantonal Archaeology of Thurgau for their support and cooperation.
Special thanks also to Florence Gilliard, historian Peter Niederhäuser and the St. Gallen Abbey Archives.
Chapter:
0:24 Mysterious ruins
3:34 Architecture of the castle
4:38 Who were the castle inhabitants?
5:12 Searching for clues in the St. Gallen Abbey Archives
7:54 The knights of Schwandegg
10:07 The excavations
10:56 Surprising findings
12:08 The lords of the swamp
Visit our website: www.historytra...
Website Cantonal Archaeology Thurgau: archaeologie.t...
Website Monastery Archives St. Gallen: www.sg.ch/kult...
Production: Magic Motions Filmproductions: www.magicmotio...
A film by Gregor Bächi
#castles #documentary #medieval #history #switzerland #archaeology #switzerland
-----
Embedded in the three-lake landscape of the Seebach Valley, on a small hill, lie the mysterious ruins of Helfenberg Castle.
When was the castle built? Who lived here? For what reason did the inhabitants leave the place? Did some great disaster happen here hundreds of years ago? Let's go to unravel the mysteries...
If you visit the ruins, you will notice that the castle did not have any significant defenses. For example, there is no trace of a curtain wall.
Normally, castles were well secured so that they could withstand possible attacks. Why was this not the case here?
The answer lies in the former nature of the surroundings.
Quote Peter Niederhäuser - Historian
The remarkable thing is this location in the lake landscape. The level of the lakes was certainly higher originally. We have siltation. Water that seeped away. This means that the castle probably originally stood largely in a water landscape. Whether one went to the castle by boat or there was always access over land is of course difficult to say today.
In many places around the lakes there was also marshland. So if there was a path through to the castle, one had to know it exactly.
Helfenberg was therefore already well protected by the choice of location. However, the lack of defense measures indicates that the site served a different purpose.
Quote Florence Gillard - excavation technician
The castle was probably not there to control the environment, but simply residence.
But for what reason did someone build his residence in a place like this, which was surrounded only by water and moor? Clearly, a castle here was probably good to defend against enemy attacks. But the main reason was probably economic.
Much more important was that these lakes were of course a fish breeding area. And one has with the fishing rights here probably the most important source of income of the castle inhabitants at that time.
In the beginning, Helfenberg probably consisted of only one single building, which was 23 by 27 meters in ground plan. Today, two levels are still recognizable. It is not known whether there was another floor above it, which was made of wood.
The partition wall with windows, which divides the building in two, was added in a later construction phase.
It is a typical small castle complex, which is also exciting from the point of view of construction history, because there was obviously no tower, but a large building with a courtyard and possibly other wooden buildings. A example of a smaller complex, which was less equipped for defense.
But who lived on Helfenberg and how comfortable was it to live here?
Knights lived in this castle. That means they also had horses. In the lower part of the residential building there was probably a stable. I don't know if it was really that comfortable. The place was quite cramped. The ruin is not that big.
This leads us back to the question of who built the castle at that time. Our search for its origin leads us to the archives of the monastery of St.Gallen. In search of clues, we search through documents and deeds. We find what we are looking for.
In 1492 we have a document with the Lords of Hohenlandenberg, who now receive Helfenberg with various other estates from the Abbot of St.Gallen as a fief. It is a small document of its own, relatively unadorned. And there we have information that a part of the estates was already in the possession of the Hohenlandenbergs before. It is about inheritance. There are three brothers who live in Frauenfeld Castle. And these brothers now divide their various rights. One then receives Helfenberg plus other estates in the region.