Feldbrunnen-St. Niklaus, near Solothurn
THE LOWDOWN
This one’s a bit of a cheat as far as ‘castles’ go — Waldegg was never about defence, it was about showing off. Built between 1682 and 1686 by Schultheiss Johann Viktor von Besenval as a summer residence, it’s pure Baroque swagger: French and Italian style slapped onto a very Swiss frame, with gardens, an orangery and a kitchen garden thrown in for good measure.
ROUND THE CASTLE
The Besenval family basically bankrolled this whole thing off the back of the salt trade and the mercenary business — sending Swiss soldiers off to fight for the French crown and taking a cut. And it worked brilliantly for them, because Solothurn was actually the seat of the French king’s ambassadors from 1530 to 1792, so the town was crawling with French money and influence, and the Besenvals made sure they were right in the thick of it. The place changed hands to the von Sury family in 1865, who made it liveable year-round, and the Canton of Solothurn finally took it over in 1963. Now it’s a museum dripping in 17th and 18th century furniture, showing you exactly how the Solothurn elite lived when they were busy cosying up to the French.
THE LITTLE TITBIT
Gossip time: the French ambassador at the time literally wrote that if the King could ‘buy a man like Besenval in every canton’, France could count on the whole Swiss Confederation like it was their own kingdom. So basically, this entire baroque palace was built on the proceeds of one very well-connected, very bribeable Swiss politician.
