Castle of Greifensee
Wildberg
Greifensee is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is located on the lake Greifensee, approximately 12 km to the east of Zurich in Switzerland. It is home to about 5,000 people. The town has a historic part complete with a castle and a unique church (Gallus Chapel) which is shaped in a triangle so it could fit into the city walls. Mettler Toledo has one of its world headquarters in Greifensee and is also the towns biggest employer.
History
Settlements in Greifensee date back in 4000 B.C.. In 1975, a Neolithic stilt house village located on the northern shore of the Lake Greifen area called Böschen was discovered by recreational divers. Initially, they found ceramics, lavishly decorated pots and bowls, and simple, large food tanks. In scientific dives, the remains of a village with 24 huts have been revealed. The excellent condition of the timber relicts allowes a dendrochonlogical dating to the year 1051 B.C. Weaving spindles made of clay, tools, needles and fishing hooks from bronze, charred wild apples and cereals have been conserved. Ten years after its construction, the settlement was destroyed by a fire and not rebuilt. For the subsequent years, in the canton of Zurich various archaeological relicts have been found, such as heavy bronze bracelets, glass, mainly bronze fibulas and flint blades probably from Mediterranean and France. Relicts dating in the Roman period have been found in neighboring municipalities, in Riedikon (Uster), and about nine kilometers away near Pfäffikon ZH located at Lake Pfäffikon (Kastell Irgenhausen). Probably in late 12th century, a Tower house (later Castle of Greifensee) was built at the location of a small village, estimated to be a settlement by the Counts of Rapperswil. On April 29, 1260, «R. et H. minstri de Grifense» are mentioned. On January 7, 1300, Greifensee has been given by Elisabeth of Rapperswil-Habsburg-Laufenburg, the sister of Rudolf V, Count of Rapperswil, to the nobleman Hermann II of Landenberg. His son, Hermann IV (the younger Marshal), fortified the small town, Greifensee castle and the city walls. He donated, for his salvation and on his wife's favour, the Gallus Chapel around 1330-1340, Greifensee's former Parish church, too. In 1369, the Amt (county) of Greifensee was sold to Count Friedrich Donat Diethelm of Toggenburg; in early 1402, Friedrich VII sold it to the city of Zurich, and beginning in 1419, Greifensee is the first country bailiwick of the city of Zurich. In May 1444, the Old Swiss Confederacy laid siege during Old Zürich War to Greifensee, held by about 70 defenders, most of them inhabitants of the Amt Greifensee, and a few Habsburg and Zürich soldiers. The town was captured after four weeks, on May 27, and all but two of the surviving 64 defenders were beheaded on the next day, including the leader, Wildhans von Breitenlandenberg. Even in times of war, mass execution was widely considered a cruel and unjust deed. On May 29, the Castle of Greifensee and the city walls were broken. In the year 1520, Zurich decided to reconstruct the ruins as residence of Zürich's Landvögte among them Heinrich Biberli (1403), Gerold Edlibach (1504) and Salomon Landolt (1776). In 1831, the district of Uster was formed, thereby stripping Greifensee of its political importance as an administrative center.
Transport
Nänikon-Greifensee is a stop of the Zürich S-Bahn on the lines S9 and S14. Its train station is a 16 minute (S9) ride from Zürich Hauptbahnhof.
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