Habichtsburg
1273–1282
Lying in the Swiss canton of Aargau, the Habichtsburg, also known as the Habsburg, is regarded as the ancestral seat of the later ruling dynasty.
According to a legend, while out hawking, the knight Radbot lost his goshawk (German: Habicht), but after searching for a long time found it again perched on a strategically advantageous crag, where he then built his fortress, naming it Habichtsburg (Hawk’s Castle).
However, the oldest documented form of the name, Havichsberch, dating from 1108, indicates that the name might more plausibly derive from Middle High German hab or hav, meaning ‘river crossing’ or ‘ford’.
