Iberg Castle is located south-west of the town of Wattwil. The central keep is six stories tall and has an entrance on the north-west corner. The keep is surrounded by a curtain wall. The castle hill is protected by moats and some walls.
Iberg Castle was built in 1240 by Heinrich von Iberg who was a vassal of the Prince-Abbot of St. Gallen. The castle was briefly conquered in 1249 following the Toggenburg fratricide and again in 1290 during the rule of the anti-Abbot Konrad von Gundelfingen in St. Gallen. It was damaged during the Appenzell Wars in 1405 and soon thereafter rebuilt. During the conflicts leading to the Battles of Villmergen (from 1699-1712), the castle was besieged in 1710. After the Treaty of Baden in 1718 it was given back to the Abbot.
During the suppression of the monasteries in 1805, the castle became privately owned. Some of the housing was demolished in 1835, but the roof and battlements were rebuilt in 1902 and 1965 by the municipality.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.