Thun Castle (Schloss Thun), in the background, was successfully sold back in 2006
As the portal Swissinfo.ch notes, such castles do exist in Switzerland, but they are rather in the minority. Therefore, the canton of Bern, for example, decided back in 2007 to conduct a review of its historic fortresses and castles, selling off a significant portion of them. It was planned to raise up to 50 million francs for the budget. And now the time has come to take stock, and the results have been quite sobering.
The goal of 50 million was not achieved, and the example of Trachselwald Castle, a former prison, shows why. The canton of Bern planned to sell it to the municipality of the same name, which has a population of just over a thousand. The plan was to establish a museum on the castle grounds dedicated to the tragic fate of the Swiss Anabaptist religious movement (Täufer). Funding for the museum was to come from foreign Anabaptist communities with ties to Switzerland. However, all these plans fell through, and the castle now stands empty.
Burgdorf Castle, located quite close to Trachselwald, is considered a success story in the canton of Bern, as it was transferred to a specially established foundation, "Schloss Burgdorf." Nevertheless, even here, financial budget injections are necessary. With their help, the foundation is currently renovating the castle, where a museum and a youth hostel are planned.
Both of these facilities are expected to become tenants of the foundation and generate profit, after which the foundation will essentially turn into a regular real estate firm. It is expected that 20,000 people per year will stay at the hostel, and at least 10,000 guests will visit the museum annually. The total cost of the project is 16.5 million francs.
As a foundation, "Schloss Burgdorf" is entitled to receive financial support from the cantonal lottery fund. Numerous private donors are also involved in the project, so currently only 1.3 million is lacking for the full implementation of the plan. However, in Burgdorf, everyone is confident that this "financial gap" will eventually be closed.
Daniel Furter, the director of the future museum at Burgdorf Castle, says that many castles in Switzerland have recently been transferred to various foundations, but even against this backdrop, this project looks quite successful, due to the property's favorable location. Moreover, museums have operated in the castle in the past, so some infrastructure was already in place, including a substantial collection of artifacts totaling 60,000 items, which, for example, Trachselwald Castle lacks.
However, the ideal example of solving the castle problem in the canton is Wyl Castle, which in 2011 for 4.2 million francs passed into the hands of private owner Matthias Steinmann, who does not skimp on investments. The 75-year-old scientist and former entrepreneur has already invested significant funds in the renovation and reconstruction of this property, totaling 7.6 million francs, but most importantly, he has preserved its public character, meaning the castle is open to the general public.
He also established a foundation and regularly organizes exhibitions on the castle grounds. Why does he do this? "I wanted to give something back to the community, to thank it for all the opportunities I received thanks to it," he says. However, it is clear that the case of Wyl Castle will remain a happy exception to the general rule.
But why is it so difficult to sell a castle at all? Real estate expert Donato Scognamiglio attributes this to the high overhead costs of maintaining such properties. "They are usually protected as historical and cultural monuments, so the number of possible uses for their space is very limited. It is also difficult to obtain a bank loan—financial institutions in such transactions provide at best half of the required amount; the buyer must have the other half."
Donato Scognamiglio links the reasons for the failure of the canton of Bern's castle sale plan to completely objective circumstances. "Trachselwald Castle, for example, is inconveniently located in terms of transport accessibility, requires very large investments, and is therefore completely unsuitable as a profitable investment with a prospect of quick returns. Hence, many properties in this category are essentially unsellable."
And indeed: in 2007, the canton of Bern planned to sell 10 castles and 11 "government residences" of various sizes, raising at least 50 million francs. It can now be stated that the profit from sales will amount to at best 11.3 million, not counting, for example, Thun Castle, which was sold successfully but back in 2006, before the current sale program began. These 11-odd million were raised from the sale of 12 properties, while 9 remained unsold.
Many politicians and experts point out that the goal of 50 million was initially unattainable and "naive," given that old castles have always been and will remain "financial black holes." The attempt to "offload" Trachselwald Castle for 2 million francs seemed simply dishonest. The town of Burgdorf also did not buy its castle—the canton was asking a "fantastic" 7.5 million for it.
All that remains is to rely on the collective wisdom of the people: one can always glean a wealth of original ideas from them regarding the use of historic buildings. Great hope is also placed in lottery funds, a significant portion of whose revenues ultimately go to socially beneficial purposes. Incidentally, in the referendum on June 10, 2018, the people will decide the fate of online gambling – and thereby, to some extent, the fate of sites such as Trachselwald Castle.