Castle of Grandson is the second largest castle in Switzerland. Its history goes back a 1000 years and its name evokes one of the great events linked to the creation of the Swiss Confederation.
The Genesis of the Castle
From that point, you will see the strategic value of the site. Between the Jura and the lake, built on a glacial moraine, Grandson overlooks the road to Neuchâtel. In 1050, the monks of the monastery of Romainmôtier sent a letter to the Pope complaining about the actions of the “lord of the castle of Grandson”. This first mention of the castle refers to its owner, Adalbert II of Grandson, son of Lambert. He was one of the noblemen of the Kingdom of Burgundy.
At that time, the castle was probably a wooden tower, protecting the village that once lay below the present castle square.
In the 12th century, the wooden tower was replaced by a stone keep. That square keep, ten metres wide, was of a typically Romanesque style made of grey limestone from the Jura. The access door was elevated in order to prevent enemy attack and was accessible by a wooden staircase.
In 1235, in order to improve his residence, the lord of Grandson had another tower built, including a large room called the “aula”, south of the romanesque keep. This 13-metre-long tower housed the lord’s residence and was lit by two twin windows, one of which is still visible on the south facade of the castle.
The Grandson Family
In the XIIth century, the territory of the Grandsons extended from the top of the Jura mountains and from the borders of the county of Neuchâtel to Montricher. In the 13th century, Ebal IV divided his lands amongst his sons. The castle of Grandson was granted to Pierre, father of the most illustrious of the Grandsons, Otto I.
The most famous lord of the house of Grandson is Otto I. He was very close to the Counts of Savoy, the Court of England and the Papal Court. He led many deputations and battles and started monumental work on the castle. Returning to Vaud after years on the roads of Europe and the Near East, he founded a Franciscan monastery in Grandson.
This tireless traveller died in 1328 at the venerable age of 90, in Aigle, on his way to Rome. His tombstone can be seen in the choir of the cathedral of Lausanne, the only secular tomb in the building, and an obvious testimony to his importance in the history of the Pays de Vaud. His motto seems to have been: À petite cloche grand son – from a small bell a strong sound.
The Castle of Otto
Inspired by the various military architectural techniques he had seen in England, France, Savoy and Palestine, Otto used a specific model of castral and military architecture to build the great castle between 1276 and 1288. The “carré savoyard” is a castral type of the region composed of a fortified square around an inner courtyard and reinforced at the corners by round towers.The round towers were used as a space for latrines and defensive devices, such as arrowslits or loopholes.
In the 13th century, a curtain wall separated the small castle from the great castle, designed on the model of the “Carré Savoyard”. Nowadays, you can still see three of the four towers of the “Carré Savoyard “. The fourth, the northwestern one, was actually the 12th century Romanesque keep, probably flanked by a round tower, which Otto I eventually demolished. The stones from the keep were re-used to build the small castle, with new dwellings in place of the 1230 “aula”.
The design of Otto I’s fortress was the work of the engineer Jacques de Saint-Georges. He had also worked for the house of Savoy, building the castle of Yverdon, and for the court of England, building many castles in Wales.
The End of a Dynasty
Otto I, who died without an heir, was succeeded by his nephew Peter II and his descendants, until the tragic fate of Otto III, famous for both his death and his poems. Otto III, who distinguished himself in the service of England during the Hundred Years’ War from 1372 to 1386, saw the end of the Grandson family.
A close friend of Duke Amadeus VII of Savoy, Otto III was accused of the Count’s death in 1391 by rival families. All his belongings were confiscated by the courts and, in 1397 in Bourg-en-Bresse, Otto was forced to fight a duel against Gérard d’Estavayer and perished.
On the death of his cousin Hugues, who owned the castle of Grandson back then, the building fell to the house of Savoy, and afterwards by marriage, to the Franche-Comté house of Chalon, a vassal of the Dukes of Burgundy.
The belvedere is an architectural rarity. The crowning of the tower, around 1380, by these large bays, unique in Switzerland, was motivated by decorative considerations. The Chalons, owners of the castle from 1424 to 1475, carried out a lot of work. They transformed the southern main building, which housed the “aula magna”, by elevating it.
The wars of Burgundy
At the time of the Chalons, immense space was used as a magna stupha, or heated room, with its huge fireplace. The heated room is now dedicated to one of the most significant events in Swiss and even European history: the Battle of Grandson, when the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was confronted by the Confederates, led by the Bernese, during the wars of Burgundy.
Burgundy, which extended from Lyon to the Friesland Islands in the North Sea, was one of the most powerful states in Europe in the 15th century. Having inherited an immense territory at the death of his father, Philip the Good, Charles the Bold did not hide his ambitions to constitute a true kingdom of Burgundy, including the Duchy of Savoy and the Swiss cantons.
At the lavish Conference of Trier, organised by Charles in 1473, Emperor Frederick III denied the Duke the title of King. Concerned by Charles’ ambition, King Louis XI of France, Sigismund of Habsburg and the Confederates formed a league, ready to face Charles. In two years and four battles, the rich state of Burgundy disappeared.
The battle of Grandson
The Bernese, invaded the Pays de Vaud in 1475, capturing Grandson, Yverdon and Morat.
Charles the Bold counter-attacked and retook Grandson on February 28, 1476, drowning or hanging the 412 men Bernese garrison, which had surrendered in exchange for the Duke’s mercy. Four days later, on March 2, at Concise, the Confederates faced the Burgundian forces, who were superior in numbers and power. Despite the advantage of Charles, the Bernese routed the Burgundian army, some of which found refuge in the castle of Grandson. Horrified by the sight of their compatriots hanging from trees, the Bernese were quick to do the same to their enemies.
Charles the Bold, defeated, fled, leaving behind one of the richest booties in history.
The battles of Grandson on March 2, 1476, and Murten on June 22, considerably weakened the power of Charles the Bold, who died in January 1477 during the Battle of Nancy.
The immense territory of Burgundy was split up between France and the Austrian Habsburgs. Indeed, the marriage between Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles, and Maximilian of Austria laid the foundations for the pan-European development of the House of Habsburg.
The Confederates, for their part, gave back the Pays de Vaud to Savoy in exchange for gold. However, they kept the lordships of Grandson, Murten and Orbe-Echallens in a joint bailiwick between Fribourg and Bern. Because of these events, the Confederates gained an unparalleled military reputation. European princes increasingly called on their services to compose their personal guards. The Swiss Foreign Service became a financial windfall for large Confederate families until it was banned in 1848.
The Bailiwick
From 1476 to 1798, the castle and the territories of Grandson were administered by Fribourg and Bern, who sent their representative, the bailiff, alternately every five years to reside in Grandson.
During the Burgundian wars, the castle suffered heavy damage including a fire. The bailiffs reinforced the castellations of the external walls and replaced all the roofing. The heavily damaged western building was demolished.
The bailiffs reorganized the southern main building, by placing an intermediate floor in the “aula magna” of Otto I and another in the elevation of the Chalons.
The bailiffs of the 18th century changed the defensive character of the castle and replaced it with a residential aspect. Some elements were taken out, the surroundings were transformed into a pleasure garden and the bailiffs renovated the northern building on your right, in the taste of the Age of Enlightenment. The fountain, like the baroque gate on the south terrace, also dates from this period.
The Modern Times
From 1806 to 1835, the monument was owned by the municipality of Grandson, which used it as an inn, a military hospital and a tobacco factory. It was not until 1875 that the castle was extensively transformed and restored after it was bought by Baron Gustave de Blonay. He and his son Godefroy, a member and interim president of the International Olympic Committee, and a close friend of the Baron de Coubertin, equipped the monument with all modern comforts.
The Knights Hall is one of the most beautiful examples of the transformation. The architect Gustave Kelterborn from Basel put in 17th century choir stalls there, which he brought from northern Italy, as well as a huge fireplace and a heavy wooden ceiling. The paintings on the walls of the staircase only recently rediscovered, show the arms of the de Blonay family in an art deco style.
In 1913, at the request of the de Blonay family, the architect Otto Schmid undertook the restoration of the eastern part of the castle.
In 1956, the castle was sold to Georges Filipinetti, who, after making his fortune by dealing in luxury cars, embarked on a real estate adventure. Wanting to open up a large part of the castle to the public, he commissioned Herbert Wolfgang Stubert, Count of Caboga, to redesign the rooms in medieval style.
Georges Filipinetti led a sumptuous life and invested heavily in his racing car team: the famous Scuderia Filipinetti, including the Fribourg driver Joe Siffert. But Filipinetti’s health weakened at the same time as he lost a large part of his fortune in racing and bad investments. Ten years after his death in 1973, his son decided to sell the castle to Bruno Stefanini, founder of the Stiftung für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte. Since 1983, the castle has been a museum open to the public.
(Source: Castle of Granson)
