The von Parpart-von Bonstetten stained glass collection from Hünegg Castle

The von Parpart-von Bonstetten collection, which was established in Hünegg Castle in 1863 and dissolved in 1884, was one of the most important of its kind at the time, with at least 61 works, most of which date from the heyday of Swiss stained glass. The current locations of 31 of the 61 glass paintings in Switzerland and abroad could be determined through provenance research. All available information (previous owners, old photographs, etc.) about the works in unknown ownership was included in the project. The research on this collection was carried out in 2022–23 by Rolf Hasler, a former member of the Swiss Commission for the Corpus Vitrearum. The Vitrocentre Romont took on the editing tasks. The Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte 01/2023, published by the Hünegg Castle Foundation, is dedicated to the couple’s art collection with several articles by various authors.

Link to the publication on vitrosearch: link

Project duration: 2022–2023

Niklaus Wirt, Wappenscheibe Johann Wilhelm Muntprat von Spiegelberg, 1578, 30.5 × 20.5 cm. Eremitage, St. Petersburg, Inv. B-84. Image is used from www.hermitagemuseum.org, courtesy of The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Project management
Karin von Wartburg, Sarah Keller

Collaborators
Rolf Hasler (recherches, textes)
Marlene Baertschi (assistance édition)

Project partners
Stiftung Schloss Hünegg

Publication
“Auf barbarische Weise verzettelt”: Zur Kunstsammlung von Parpart-von Bonstetten aus Schloss Hünegg. Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte 01/2023. Bern: Stiftung Schloss Hünegg.