The History of the Castle of Bottmingen
Three old castles are located in the Birsigriver at Benken, Bottmingen and Binningen. The castle of Bottmingen has been kept almost in its original form. In the middle of the 14th century it was owned by an episcopal family and was then destroyed in 1409. Thereafter it was rebuilt and changed its owner. At this time the city of Basle posseded temporarily the castle of Bottmingen and Binningen and compelled their owners to keep them open for everybody. A preliminary agreement of the Basle local government was needed to effect any change in the building.
After a period of great neglect, J.G. Deucher made important reconstructions in 1720 so that the watercastle was transformed into a castle in baroque style with an apartment house. The owners who last enjoyed the castle as a private summer residence were the two bankers of Basle, Heinrich and Peter Oswald.
After repeated modifications in 1887, the buyer built a large dining-room which was not in harmony with the style of the castle. Even a health resort was arranged in the building. Around 1930 the castle was again neglected and partially destroyed.
Dr. Carl Roth, a historian from Basle, and the Swiss Castle Association started a rescuing operation for the endangered monument. An extensive restoration was in 1942 with contributions by the population, the Confederation, the canton Basle-Landschaft and Basle-City.
After pulling down the ugly dining-room, the castle acquired its today's appearance.
In 1957 the castle became a property of the Confederation and today it is under monument protection of the Confederation and the canton
Basle-Landschaft.
In 1989: Large renovation of the kitchen and all the technical details.
In 1999 the roof and the outside of the building were restaured, so at the present we have a real beautiful castle! Our guests like to celebrate their parties in the different romantic rooms (10-150 pers.) or spend a good evening (or lunch) in our à-la-carte
Restaurants. In summertime we serve on the garden-terrasse, surrounded by water.
More Details and pictures about the beautiful building (in german):
Historical and architecture details from the owner, the Governement-Basellandschaft