Rolle Castle

Rolle Castle in Rolle, Switzerland, was begun in the 1260s by the feudal lords of Mont-le-Grand and belongs to the medieval Savoyard building tradition. Erected in the mid 13th century as a fortified seat intended to anchor a new town, the complex played a central role in local lordship, regional rivalry, and later municipal government.

Plans for a new settlement at Rolle were put forward in 1261 by Ebal II and his nephew Ebal III, lords of Mont-le-Grand, and timber from an early access bridge has been dated to 1264. By the end of the century the castle was in the hands of Count Amadeus V of Savoy and then passed as a fief to several noble families. During the early 14th century the district saw a dispute between Savoy and the lordship of Vaud; Louis II of Vaud formally renounced his claims in 1314 and received full control in 1324, after which he is named as the founder of the town of Rolle. A 1330 charter describes the settlement as a new free town.

In the later Middle Ages the fortress continued to change owners and form. Amédée III de Viry acquired the place in 1455 and carried out substantial military alterations at the turn of the 16th century, including lowering some towers and walls and inserting a large lakeside tower. Duke Charles II of Savoy briefly held the castle in the 1520s, modernized it for artillery use, and sold it in 1530. That same year Confederates burned the stronghold during an expedition against the so-called “Chevaliers de la Cuillère,” and it was burned again in 1536 during the Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud.

Financial difficulties moved ownership among private hands until Jean (Hans) Steiger, a Bernese notable, acquired the barony and fortress in 1558. The Steiger family kept the estate through the end of the Ancien Régime. In the mid- to late 1500s the castle was transformed for more comfortable domestic use, with near-complete reconstruction of the south wing, the addition of arcades around the courtyard, carpentry work in 1588, and a Steiger coat of arms placed over an eastern entrance in 1571. Over the 17th and 18th centuries defensive works gave way to gardened grounds, and by the later 18th century the compound presented as a pleasure residence with a simple enclosing wall, a wrought-iron gateway and ornamental fountains.

The Revolution of 1798 ended feudal privileges and the municipality acquired the property that year. The Helvetic Republic purchased the building in 1799 and used it as the seat of government until 1974. During the Bourla-Papey uprising of May 1802 patrician land titles and tax registers were burned in the castle archives. Through the 19th and 20th centuries municipal authorities used rooms for schools, courts, a hospital and prisons, with the gaols rebuilt in 1833 under Henri Perregaux. A local museum occupied the ground floor from 1912 until the Second World War. The castle was placed under state protection in the mid 20th century and is recognized as part of Switzerland’s national cultural heritage.