Bipp Castle
| Bipp Castle | |
|---|---|
| Oberbipp | |
Ruins of Bipp Castle and an 1855 addition
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 Bipp Castle
Bipp Castle
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| Coordinates | 47°15′49″N 7°39′08″E / 47.263592°N 7.652264°ECoordinates: 47°15′49″N 7°39′08″E / 47.263592°N 7.652264°E |
| Type | Hill castle |
| Code | CH-BE |
| Site information | |
| Condition | Partly ruined |
| Site history | |
| Built | by 1268 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Ministerialis, Landvogt |
Bipp Castle is a partially ruined castle in the municipality of Oberbipp of the Canton of Bern in Switzerland.
During the 12th century the Bishop of Basel granted the Buchsgau region, which included the village of Oberbipp, to the Count of Froburg to hold as a fief. By 1268 Bipp Castle is first mentioned in a document. During the 13th century the counts of Froburg appear to have gradually lost most of their holdings in the Buchsgau until only the villages of Bipp, Wiedlisbach and Erlinsburg remained. At some point in the following years the Froburgs also lost ownership of Bipp Castle, though whether it was sold or captured is not clear.
In 1297 Count Rudolf of Neuchâtel-Nidau granted the castle to one of his Ministerialis knights. Then, in 1313 Rudolf’s son, also a Rudolf, granted the castle and the right to collect tolls on the bridge to Aarwangen. In 1362 Count Rudolf of Nidau became the Lord of Froburg along with his other titles. However, when he died childless his estates were divided between several family members. Eventually, Rudolf of Kyburg inherited the castle and surrounding lands. Following a disastrous Kyburg raid on Solothurn which led to the Burgdorferkrieg (1383-84), the lands were sold to the Habsburgs in 1385. In the following year Bipp went to Basel and then in 1406 back to the Kyburgs, who had to sell it to Solothurn and Bern in the same year.
Until 1463 Bern and Solothurn jointly administered the nearby villages from Bipp Castle. After this, Solothurn received the Neu-Bechburg vogtei and Bipp became fully part of Bern. The castle became the seat of the Bernese ‘’landvogt’’ or reeve. Over the following three centuries a total of 62 Bernese administrators ruled over the region.
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