Ruins of Radegg

The Ruins of Radegg are the ruins of a spur castle built around the year 1200 in Canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland and destroyed around the year 1300. It is located high above the Wangental on a spur of the Rossberg which drops off steeply on three sides in Osterfingen in the municipality of Wilchingen.HistoryThe Ruins of Radegg were researched between the years 1923 and 1937. Nevertheless, little is known about their origin and destruction nor about those who had built the castle, the barons von Radegg. This family is first mentioned in 1188 with a reference to Heinrich Scado. A knight "Rudolf nobilis dictus Schade de Radegg" is documented around the year 1225. He is said to have had some unspecified relation to the Rheinau Abbey. In the 13th century there existed, in addition to the barons von Radegg, a second family of the same name. The bourgeois family Schad von Radegg settled in Schaffhausen in the Late Middle Ages. This makes it difficult to firmly assign individuals to the Ruins of Radegg. This baronial family died out in 1333. According to Johann Jakob Rüeger, chronicler of the history of Schaffhausen, the Randecker family was related to the lords of the castles of Burg Randeck (Landkreis Esslingen), Randenburg and Schloss Randegg.The remains of the walls still visible today were not built before 1200. Whether or not there was a previous wooden construction on this site cannot be excluded, but also cannot be demonstrated. The castle was presumably destroyed shortly after 1300. By whom and why is unclear. On the inside of the castle, the limestone has reddened, which is suggestive of a fire. One reason for the destruction could be that the von Radegg family had attempted to protect the Rheinau Abbey from the claims of the neighboring von Krenkingen family. In addition, arrowheads and crossbow bolts were discovered during excavations.