Lenzburg

Sibylle Haltiner's article 'Der Taufstein entpuppt sich als Raubstück: Heute ist klar, wie der Taufstein ins Gemäuer von Schloss Lenzburg kam' in the 18 August 2019 edition of the Aargauer Zeitung [https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/aargau/lenzburg/der-taufstein-entpuppt-sich-als-raubstuck-ld.1380940] [accessed 29 March 2023] informs that the old baptismal font now in Lenzburg originated in the parish church of Villmerger, a building demolished in 1862, but had been for centuries built into the walls of the Lenzburg castle, believed to have been a spoil of a war between the two towns. A communication from Pol Herman to BSI (e-mail of 13 September 2022) relayed the following additional information: "During the renovation work on the ring wall of Lenzburg Castle in October 2015, an old baptismal font came to light. One would never expect such a find in this environment. In the past, baptismal fonts that were no longer needed were usually buried in or around the church. And there was no church on the Lenzburg hill, the lords of the Lenzburg castle attended the service on the Staufberg. The stone is made of shell limestone and therefore comes from the region. In the meantime, the stone has been carefully examined and its origin researched. Josef Kunz, historian and archivist, was able to report that the baptismal font was very likely a looted item from the first Villmerger War in 1656. The decisive clue was an ornament, namely a rose: Villmergen is the only Aargau municipality to have one in its coat of arms. Thus, the stone cannot have been created earlier than 1522, because at that time Villmergen received the new coat of arms with the rose motif. At the time of the Villmerger War, Lenzburg Castle was the seat of the Ladvogtei for the Bernese patricians. At that time, the troops of the Bernese were camped in Villmergen and it is very likely that the baptismal font from the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul was brought to the castle along with other looted goods. In the course of the military armament of the Lenzburg, the stolen baptismal font was probably used to strengthen the wall. The history of the Catholic parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul of Villmergen goes back at least to the 12th century. The church was at the top of the church hill and was demolished in 1862 due to lack of space. As a replacement, a new neo-Gothic style building was erected further down on a terrace. The Villmerger baptismal font has been restored in the meantime and placed at the Catholic Church of the Heart of Jesus Lenzburg. The baptismal font has received a foundation and a metal lid." [source: some of the above information is based on the work of historian Josef Kunz [https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/22893-geraubt-vergraben-vergessen-der-taufstein-von-schloss-lenzburg] [accessed 30 March 2023]]