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Waldegg Castle

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Waldegg Castle, or Schloss Waldegg, is a castle near Solothurn, in the municipality of Feldbrunnen-St. Niklaus of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.[1]

Waldegg Castle
Native name
Schloss Waldegg
Waldegg Castle, with the restored baroque garden, including the reconstructed obelisks
LocationFeldbrunnen-St. Niklaus
Coordinates47°13′24″N 7°32′54″E / 47.223378°N 7.54842°E / 47.223378; 7.54842
Built1682–1686
Built forJohann Viktor von Besenval
Waldegg Castle is located in Switzerland
Waldegg Castle
Location of Waldegg Castle in Switzerland
Waldegg Castle is located in Canton of Solothurn
Waldegg Castle
Waldegg Castle (Canton of Solothurn)

History

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The Baroque castle was built between 1682 and 1686 as a summer house for the Schultheiss Johann Viktor P. Joseph von Besenval (1638–1713), and his wife Maria Margaritha von Sury (1649–1713). Over time, the Waldegg Castle, together with the Palais Besenval, developed into one of the main residences of the family von Besenval.[2][3]

Besenval: The rise of a family

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The family Besenval was originally from Torgnon in the Aosta Valley. They had risen socially in the service of King Louis XIV and had received a title of baron (Reichsfreiherren) of the Holy Roman Empire from Emperor Leopold I in 1695. Furthermore, already in February 1655, Martin Besenval (1600–1660), Johann Viktor P. Joseph's father, was ennobled by King Louis XIV and raised to the knighthood in 1658 in gratitude for his merit for the French crown. And on 11 August 1726, King Louis XV erected the von Besenval's possession of Brunstatt in the Alsace into a French barony. The climax of the family's ennoblement was the elevation of Martin Louis de Besenval (1780–1853) to the rank of comte by King Charles X on 18 March 1830. The letters of nobility also applied to the descendants. Some members of the family also adopted the French form of the family name, de Besenval.[4][5][6][7][8]

However, the Besenvals' loyalty to the French crown was also financially rewarded. The quote from the French ambassador in Solothurn from 1709 is legendary:

"If the king could buy a man like Besenval in every canton, France could count on the [Swiss] Confederation as on its own kingdom."

— Ambassador Roger Brûlart, Comte de Sillery et Marquis de Puysieulx (1640–1719), the French ambassador in Solothurn, praising the loyalty of Schultheiss Johann Viktor P. Joseph von Besenval to the French crown[9]

The French money was a welcome financial boost for the construction of the Waldegg Castle.

The Besenvals became rich through the salt trade and the mercenary business with France. Soon, a mechanism set in that was common in mercenary patriciates: Because the Besenvals had influence in their own town, they became important for foreign powers – and because they were valued abroad, their power in turn grew in their own town.

Johann Viktor von Besenval

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Johann Viktor von Besenval. Portrayed by Nicolas de Largillière (1720).[10]

Johann Viktor P. Joseph's son, Johann Viktor, Baron von Besenval von Brunstatt, was a diplomat and colonel in the regiment of the Swiss Guards of France. After he inherited the Waldegg Castle in 1713, he had it renovated. Furthermore, he added a theater, commissioned in 1722 and completed in 1736, and a chapel, the Chapel of Saint Michael, commissioned in 1729 and decorated in the current French style. He brought numerous works of art back with him from France.[2][3][11][12]

Palais Besenval

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Johann Viktor von Besenval and his brother Peter Joseph (1675–1736) commissioned the construction of the Palais Besenval in Solothurn in 1703.[13]

A wedding with royal congratulations

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On 18 September 1716, Johann Viktor married Katarzyna Bielińska (1684–1761), daughter of Kazimierz Ludwik Bieliński, a Polish noble, politician, and diplomat. She was also the sister of Maria Magdalena Bielińska, div. Gräfin von Dönhoff, who was the Maîtresse-en-titre of King Augustus II the Strong. A marriage, that was warmly welcomed by Philippe II de Bourbon, Duc d'Orléans, Régent de France (1715–1723), since Johann Viktor was the French ambassador to Poland at the time.[14][15]

Death in Paris and a funerary monument by Jacques Caffieri

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Johann Viktor von Besenval died on 11 March 1736 in his hôtel particulier on the Rue de Varenne in Paris. His funeral took place in the church of Saint-Sulpice, where his grave was also located. His funerary monument in the church showed a bust relief of him made by Jacques Caffieri in 1737. In the course of the French Revolution, the funerary monument of Johann Viktor, as well as those of other representatives of the Ancien Régime, were destroyed. However, an engraving of the funerary monument survives in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.[16]

Peter Viktor von Besenval and his heirs

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Le Baron de Besenval dans son salon de compagnie at the Hôtel de Besenval, by Henri-Pierre Danloux (1791). This portrait of Peter Viktor von Besenval is now on display in the National Gallery.[17]

Johann Viktor's son, Peter Viktor, Baron von Besenval von Brunstatt, a Swiss military officer in French service, was born at the Waldegg Castle in 1721. When his father died in 1736, he inherited the Waldegg Castle. However, he lived most of his life in France, where he was known as Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, and where, in 1767, he bought the Hôtel Chanac de Pompaodur and made it his residence in Paris. Today, the hôtel particulier is known as Hôtel de Besenval. It has housed the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation and the residence of the Swiss ambassador to France since 1938.[18]

Peter Viktor rarely stayed in Switzerland anymore. The center of his life was in Paris. Due to his absence, he left the use of the Waldegg Castle to his cousin Johann Viktor Peter Joseph von Besenval (1742–1786) and his wife Maria Anna Margrit, née von Roll (1741–1814). Although, he wasn't often in Switzerland, Peter Viktor did, however, add an orangery, a so-called Pomeranzen-Hause, to the castle in 1780.[19]

The French Revolution: The beginning of the end of an era

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The French Revolution of 1789 was disastrous to the family's influence, business interests, and wealth. Although, all the family members survived the terror of the French Revolution, their close ties to the French royal family and other high-ranking members of the Ancien Régime made life more and more difficult for them in France.[3]

Peter Viktor von Besenval, who was part of the highest circle of power in France, saw the dark clouds looming over the Ancien Régime in the course of 1789. After the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, he wanted to escape to Switzerland, to his country estate, the Waldegg Castle, but he was no longer able to do so. On 26 July 1789, he was recognised while fleeing revolutionary troops in Villegruis. He was immediately arrested and sent to prison. The baron was never to see the Waldegg Castle again. Only with good luck and good friends did he survive the terror of the revolution. Peter Viktor von Besenval died on 2 June 1791 at his residence in Paris, the Hôtel de Besenval.[20]

Without a legitimate heir

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Ours Joseph Augustin von Besenval (1777–1831). He inherited the Waldegg Castle from Peter Viktor von Besenval in 1791. Portrayed by Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot (1820). The portrait is on display in the Nationalmuseum.

After the death of Peter Viktor von Besenval in 1791, who was in fact not childless, but had no legitimate heir, the Waldegg Castle, which was a Fidéicommis and could therefore only be passed on in the immediate family, went to the firstborn son of his cousin Johann Viktor Peter Joseph, the minor Ours Joseph Augustin von Besenval (1777–1831).[21]

It would later fall to Ours Joseph Augustin von Besenval to handle the increasingly precarious financial circumstances of the family von Besenval after the French Revolution, which led to the loss of their once considerable French income. Years later, on 18 October 1830, the precarious financial situation led to Ours Joseph von Besenval marrying his only daughter and universal heir Marie Louise Emélie (1804–1838) to her first cousin Amédée de Besenval (1809–1899). Amédée was the eldest son of Ours Joseph von Besenval's brother Martin Louis de Besenval, first Comte de Besenval (1780–1853), and Anne Caroline, née von Roll (1786–1829).[22]

In order to avoid dispersal of the family heritage, marriages between cousins often occurred within the family von Besenval, but these led to a weakening of the line of descent due to excessive consanguinity.[23]

The biological child and heir of the Hôtel de Besenval

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Peter Viktor von Besenval's only child was his biological son Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur. After his fathers death in 1791, he inherited the Hôtel de Besenval in Paris.[24][25][26]

The sale of the baron's furniture to the Swiss Confederation

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On 19 May 1938, the Swiss Confederation purchased the Hôtel de Besenval in Paris as the country's new embassy building. In the same year, the Swiss Government bought from the patrician family von Sury, the then owners of the Waldegg Castle, a sofa and six chairs, covered in beige fabric and embroidered with scenes from the fables of Jean de La Fontaine, except for the sofa, which is covered with a pattern of flowers and birds.

According to oral tradition, the sofa and the six chairs once belonged to Peter Viktor von Besenval and were part of the furnishings of the Hôtel de Besenval. It is said that the baron sent these pieces of furniture, along with other pieces of furniture and art objects, to Switzerland shortly before the French Revolution. The furniture ensemble is now on display at the Hôtel de Besenval in the Salon de la tapisserie.[27][28]

The Besenval era is coming to an end: Josef von Sury von Bussy

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Waldegg Castle, lithography, at around the time, when Josef von Sury von Bussy bought the estate.

Josef von Sury von Bussy (1817–1887), who had been married to Charlotte de Besenval (1826–1885) since 26 June 1848, bought the Waldegg Castle on 6 February 1865 from the last members of the family von Besenval who were entitled to inherit the assets of the former Fidéicommis de Waldegg, which existed from 1684 to 1811, amongst others from Amédée, Comte de Besenval (1809–1899), his brother-in-law. With Amédée Victor Louis, Comte de Besenval (1862–1927), who lived in Naples, the main line of the family died out in 1927. Amédée Victor Louis' (1862–1927) father Victor (1819–?) and his uncle Jules (1820–1894) were both in military service in Naples for the then ruling dynasty, the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Both served with the rank of captain.[29][30][31][32]

The new owner of the Waldegg Castle added two apartments and changed the Baroque garden into an English landscape garden. However, the alterations to the garden were reversed during subsequent renovations in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The historic Baroque garden with its obelisks and figures was reconstructed.[3]

The donation and purchase agreement with the Canton of Solothurn

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From the early 20th century, the Waldegg Castle was no longer just a summer house, but was inhabited all year round. In 1963, the last private owners of the Waldegg Castle, the three children of Gaston von Sury von Bussy (1852–1931) and his wife Anne, née de Reinach Hirtzbach, Charles (1884–1973), Victor (1892–1978), and Marguerite (1883–1969), donated the Waldegg Castle to the Canton of Solothurn, also because there were no direct descendants left of the three siblings. Only Charles and his wife Gertrude, née Frölicher (1884–1968), had children, two sons. However, Jean (1920–1923) died at the age of three and his brother Gaston (1918–1948) died in an accident in the Jungfrau massif in 1948.[33]

A modest financial compensation and a modest rent for the descendants of the family von Sury

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The three siblings Charles, Victor, and Marguerite von Sury received a modest financial compensation from the Canton of Solothurn of CHF600,000 for the 200,000 square meter complex consisting of the Waldegg Castle and its formal garden and park, several outbuildings, two chapels, an allée, agricultural land and a farm. In addition, the descendants of the family von Sury continue to have the right to live in the apartment on the first floor of the east wing of the castle at a modest rent of CHF1,000 per year (the rent was indexed to the level of 1963 and has since been adjusted according to inflation. The annual rent in 2022 was CHF3,923). The prerequisite is that the tenants bear the family name von Sury. In the same year that the purchase and donation agreement came into force, in 1963, the castle estate was transferred to the Waldegg Castle Foundation. In 1975, the Waldegg Castle became the headquarters of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue, an organisation that fosters understanding between the different languages and cultures of Switzerland. In 1963, a comprehensive renovation programme was started that lasted over 20 years. The castle museum opened in 1991.[33][2][3][34][35][36]

Architecture: The castle and its surroundings

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Waldegg Castle in the early 18th century, by Emanuel Büchel.

The Waldegg Castle was built in the local Türmlihaus style – meaning a house with many towers, compared to its size – with clearly visible architectural influences from the French and the Italian Baroque.

In the first construction phase in the 17th century, the rectangular wing, the corps de logis, designed by an unknown architect, was built with three tower-like pavilions facing the garden, between each of which there is a three-axis building section with a crowning gable.

From 1689, after Johann Viktor P. Joseph von Besenval (1638–1713) was appointed Schultheiss of the Republic of Solothurn in 1688, long, single-floor galleries were added on both sides of the corps de logis, at the ends of which are corner turrets, a kind of small pavilions. At the beginning of the 18th century, these single-floor galleries were heightened by one floor. These first floor galleries were formerly used as loggias. Niches in the galleries house allegorical statues which were carved in 1683 by Johann Peter Frölicher (1662–1723). These statues originally adorned as free-standing figures the roof cornice of the two once single-floor galleries.

The coat of arms symbols of the family von Besenval can be seen in and around the castle. In the central axis of the corps de logis on the south façade, there is the coat of arms of the family von Besenval in stucco. And horseshoes, the symbols of the coat of arms of the Besenvals' Barony of Brunstatt, adorn the red and white shutters of the corps de logis.[37][38]

Smaller than it actually seems: A façade castle

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Waldegg Castle, engraving by Nicolas Perignon with dedication to Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, around 1785.

The Waldegg Castle is also known as a façade castle or a coulisse castle because the two expanded wings of the building to the left and to the right of the corps de logis only consist of galleries with balusters, which serve as connecting corridors, leading to the corner turrets, the small pavilions. Originally these corner turrets had so-called imperial roofs (bulbous roofs). Behind the galleries with their large windows with usually closed shutters, however, there are no parts of the building. However, especially from a distance, these galleries make the castle appear much larger than it actually is. The façade clearly reflects the representative claim to power of its builder. All in all, the façade measures 78 meters. This makes it the longest baroque castle façade in Switzerland. In contrast, the corps de logis is only 13.5 meters deep.

Behind the façade

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The windows of the galleries provide a clear view of the rear courtyard of the building, the north side, with the less glamorous courtyard façade, where the farm buildings are also located, as well as one of the two chapels. This chapel was dedicated to Saint Michael in honour of Katarzyna Bielińska (1684–1761), the Polish wife of Johann Viktor von Besenval.[39]

Main hall and the salons

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The main hall of the Waldegg Castle has ten allegorical paintings of the Arts and Sciences and is decorated with supraporte and trompe-l'œil illusions. The eastern salon has a grisaille style ceiling painting while the west salon and the billiard room both have trompe-l'œil ceiling frescos, some of which are by the local artist Wolfgang Aeby (1638–1694).[2][3]

Two chapels

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Katarzyna Bielińska (1684–1761), wife of Johann Viktor von Besenval and mother of Peter Viktor von Besenval. The second chapel was dedicated to Saint Michael in her honour. Saint Michael is a very revered saint in Poland.[39]

The Waldegg Castle has two Catholic chapels. The eastern turret houses the Castle chapel with a high-Baroque altar from 1720 and paintings by Wolfgang Aeby (1638–1694). The apostolic nuncio in 1686 and the bishop in 1690 gave the authorisation for the celebration of the Holy Mass in the Castle chapel, which is dedicated to Saint Maurice.

Chapel of Saint Michael

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The second chapel, the Chapel of Saint Michael, commissioned by Johann Viktor von Besenval in 1729 and completed in 1734, features reproduction paintings – made in Paris, including the large gilded frames –, showing Saint Michael by Raphael and Saint Raphael by Domenico Fetti, the originals of which both hang in the Louvre.[3][40][11][38][41]

The completion of the Chapel of Saint Michael took forever. This is also because they were unlucky with the craftsmen. Johann Viktor von Besenval's brother, who supervised the construction work in his absence, reported to him:

"I am unlucky with the completion of the chapel and the chaplain's house. Because at that moment I found out that the bricklayer, with whom I signed the contracts to complete the work, had just thrown himself into the river and drowned."

— Excerpt from a letter from Pierre Joseph von Besenval (1675–1736) to his brother Johann Viktor, dated November 1732[41]

Garden, park and allée

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At around 1700, Johann Viktor P. Joseph von Besenval still carried out major transformations on the south side of the castle by replacing the panoramic platform of the parterre with a staircase and a fountain. He also planted an allée towards to road to Basel. The south portal also dates from this period. In 1705, Johann Viktor P. Joseph acquired a plot of forest from the authorities in order to expand his estate. He developed it into a baroque park and a formal garden.[42]

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    Waldegg Castle, surrounded by its estate land. The 78 meters long façade unfolds its effect of a coulisse
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    Waldegg Castle, panoramic view
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    Waldegg Castle in winter

References

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  1. ^ "Kantonsliste A-Objekte:GR". KGS Inventar (in German). Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Waldegg in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Soleure Solothurn : Le château Waldegg Schloss Waldegg". www.swisscastles.ch. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  4. ^ Andreas Fankhauser: Besenval von Brunstatt, Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS), Version vom 23.06.2004, online, 2024
  5. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 44
  6. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 49
  7. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, pp. 102–103
  8. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 187
  9. ^ Andreas Affolter: Vom Schlachtfeld ins Audienzzimmer – Johann Viktor II. [P. Joseph] von Besenval (1671–1736), Solddienstoffizier und Diplomat im Dienste der französischen Krone, Vortragsmanuskript vom 25. November 2014 auf Schloss Waldegg, p. 2, basierend auf: Zitat nach Martin Gisi: Französische Schriftsteller in und von Solothurn. Eine historisch–litterarische Untersuchung, Solothurn, 1898, p. 64
  10. ^ Sotheby's: Nicolas de Largillièrre: Portrait of the Baron de Besenval (1671–1736) and Portrait of the Baronne de Besenval (1684–1761), the parents of Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval (1721–1791), The Courts of Europe, New York, 30 January 2014, lot 117. Est.: $120,000 – $160,000
  11. ^ a b Christian Renfer / Eduard Widmer: Schlösser und Landsitze der Schweiz, Ex Libris Verlag AG, Zürich, 1985, pp. 156–157
  12. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, pp. 104–105
  13. ^ Stefan Blank: «Der allhiesigen Statt eine Zierd» – Zur Geschichte und Bedeutung des Palais Besenval in Solothurn. In: Andrea Nold (editor): Archäologische Ausgrabungen im Garten des Palais Besenval in Solothurn: Ein Quartier an der Aare vom Mittelalter bis in die Neuzeit. Solothurn: Amt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie, 2009, p.81–91. ISBN 978-3-9523216-3-8 (online)
  14. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Marriage de Jean Victor de Besenval et Katarzyna Bielińska et informations sur Kazimierz Ludwik Bieliński, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 98
  15. ^ Genealogisch-historische Nachrichten von den allerneusten Begebenheiten, welche sich an den europäischen Höfen zutragen, Bogislaus Ernestus, Graf von Dönhoff. Der 97. Theil, des Verlegers Johann Samuel Heinsius, Leipzig, 1746, S. 796 (Ergänzungen).
  16. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, pp. 109–110
  17. ^ Sotheby's: The Baron de Besenval in his Salon de Compagnie – Danloux's last major portrait commission before he left France, Auction: Old Master Paintings, New York, 27 May 2004, lot 35. Est.: $1,000,000 – $1,500,000. Sold for $2,472,000. Provenance: Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval (1791) / Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur (1805) / Lieutenant-Général Charles-Louis, Marquis de Chérisey (1827) / François, Prince de Broglie (1930) / Amédée, Princesse de Broglie, née Beatrix, Princesse de Faucigny-Lucinge (1984) / with Stair Sainty Matthiessen where sold on 20 May 1986
  18. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 11
  19. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 144
  20. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 150
  21. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 152
  22. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 186
  23. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 199
  24. ^ Gouverneur Morris: Journal de Gouverneur Morris, par E. Pariset, traduit de l'anglais, Plon-Nourrit et Cie., Imprimeurs-Éditeurs, 8, rue, Garancière, Paris, 1901, p. 8
  25. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 17
  26. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 148
  27. ^ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 21
  28. ^ Visites privées: Les réceptions de l'ambassadeur – l'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Stéphane Bern (* 1963) et son équipe à l’Hôtel de Besenval (documentaire télévisé), 2016
  29. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 196
  30. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 198
  31. ^ Kanton Solothurn: Familienarchiv Besenval neu im Staatsarchiv Solothurn, Medienmitteilung der Staatskanzlei, 27. Oktober 2022
  32. ^ Thomas Wallner: Josef von Sury von Bussy, Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS), Version vom 03.12.2013, online, 2024
  33. ^ a b Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 197
  34. ^ Christian Renfer / Eduard Widmer: Schlösser und Landsitze der Schweiz, Ex Libris Verlag AG, Zürich, 1985, p. 158
  35. ^ Kanton Solothurn: Schenkungs- und Kaufvertrag Domäne Schloss Waldegg, 19. April 1963
  36. ^ Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen: Schloss Waldegg bei Solothurn, Dokumentation, 31. Oktober 2023
  37. ^ Christian Renfer / Eduard Widmer: Schlösser und Landsitze der Schweiz, Ex Libris Verlag AG, Zürich, 1985, p. 154
  38. ^ a b Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 71
  39. ^ a b Christian Renfer / Eduard Widmer: Schlösser und Landsitze der Schweiz, Ex Libris Verlag AG, Zürich, 1985, p. 157
  40. ^ "Schloss Waldegg". Federal Office of Civil Protection. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  41. ^ a b Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 104
  42. ^ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 72

Further reading

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The frontispiece of the first edition of the memoirs of Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, showing his portrait. The publication, published after his death, caused a scandal among the aristocracy since the baron did not hesitate to describe the life and the habits at the French royal court during the last years of the Ancien Régime in all its scandalous details by also naming the protagonists. The family de Besenval questioned the authenticity of the memoirs and distanced themselves from them.

in alphabetical order

  • Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt: Mémoires de M. Le Baron de Besenval, écrits par lui-même, imprimés sur son manuscrit original et publiés par son exécuteur testamentaire M. A. J. de Ségur, imprimerie de Jeunehomme, rue de Sorbonne no. 4, Paris, 1805 – chez F. Buisson, libraire, rue Hautefeuille no. 31, Paris
  • Georg Carlen, André Schluchter: Schloss Waldegg (Schweizerische Kunstführer, Serie 98, Nr. 977). Bern, 2015
  • Georg Carlen: Schloss Waldegg bei Solothurn : Brücke zwischen Zeiten und Kulturen. Aare Verlag, Solothurn, 1991
  • Gabrielle Claerr-Stamm: De Soleure à Paris. La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt. Riedisheim et Didenheim, Sundgau, 2015
  • Jean-Jacques Fiechter: Baron Peter Victor von Besenval (1721–1791) – Ein Solothurner am Hofe von Versailles. Rothus Verlag, Solothurn, 1994
  • Christian Renfer / Eduard Widmer: Schlösser und Landsitze der Schweiz, Ex Libris Verlag AG, Zürich, 1985
  • Fabian Scherrer: Leuchtende Tage – vergessener Alltag auf Schloss Waldegg 1890–1990. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zürich, 2010
  • Schweizerischer Ingenieur- und Architektenverband (Hrsg.): Das Bürgerhaus in der Schweiz – Kanton Solothurn. Band XXI. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zürich, 1929
  • Hanspeter Spycher: Gartenarchäologische Untersuchungen bei Schloss Waldegg. In: Die Gartenkunst, 7, (1/1995), pp. 120–133
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