Engelberg, Switzerland -- ForumAlpinum 07, Part Three

Welcome to Part Three of my series of posts about ForumAlpinum07.

This post is about the Baroque (mid- to late 17th century) manor house at Grafenort. It belongs to the Monastery at Engelberg and used to be a stage-post for illustrious travellers to Engelberg. Today it still serves as a summer holiday residence for the Engelberg monks, but since its restoration/renovation in the late 20th century, it can also be rented for conferences and parties (http://www.grafenort.ch). A gorgeous spot. The website has some excellent photos and information.

Here are some very selective highlights. As the granddaughter of two woodworkers, one a carpenter and one originally a waggoner and cabinet maker, I was fascinated by the 16th-century wooden spiral staircase ...
... each of the 26 steps having been cut from one tree! The central pillar is simply the rounded ends of the step stacked on top of each other, the wall-side of the trunk rests on the stones in the outer wall. This staircase was part of a round-tower fortification that stood here well before the manor house was built.

The 17th-century roof structure: the trusses and beams span the entire width of the building and are as high as the three stone-built floors below. According to our guide, the oaks from at least an acre of woodland were used just for this structure:


The carpenters at the time left their mark at the bottom of the vertical hanging posts:
This one used a rosette.
One of the two chimneys rising from the floors below:
Two floors below, I found this beautiful door -- it leads to the ladies' lavatory. The craftsmanship of this inlay work is simply stunning. All the doors throughout the building have either been restored or made new in the traditional fashion:
Beautiful craftsmanship, presumably by some of the monks up at Engelberg.