View of the castle from the access road.
Approaching the entrance
Inside the entry gate
Interior courtyard
The castle prison tower
The "Peasant War of 1653" resulted when Bernese money
was devalued and the peasants revolted.
Once the revolt was defeated, the peasant leader'
Niklaus Leuenberger was arrested and held in this tower
for a time, then transferred to Bern and executed.
Steps from the entry level to the prison cells on the
upper floors (note the massive beams)
Prison cell with bed and chains
If only these walls could tell their stories
Narrow spiral stairs to the upper floors (4 levels)
It was a tight fit
Looking down into the spiral staircase
View from the top floor window.
Probably only the guards had access to this view.
The prison cells had very small windows to the courtyard below.
The castle garden looking from the entry
Later that day, we learned (from the internet) that Niklaus (Klaus)
was born in Ruderswil only 2 miles from where we are staying in Lauperswil.
There is a memorial to Klause next to the road entering Ruderswil. It reads:
Klaus
LEUENBERGER
Chairman
in the
Pheasant War
Born in Ruderwil
1615
Executed in Bern
1653
He fought for his country's
freedom and welfare
