Arbon Castle, Arbon, Switzerland

A castle in Arbon is first mentioned in 720 in a history of St. Gall Abbey. It stood on or near the site of the Roman era Arbor Felix fortress from 250 AD. After the Romans retreated south of the Alps around 400, the old fortress was abandoned. Sometime later a Frankish castle was built in Arbon probably for the Frankish royal family. By around 700, Arbon and presumably the castle, were the property of the diocese of Constance and an ecclesiastic overseer or bailiff ruled over Arbon.

The oldest part of the current castle is a 13th-century, originally free standing, residential tower. The tower may have been built on the foundation of an earlier building. The lower walls are up to 3.2 meters thick. Inside the castle there are two Romanesque fireplaces. In 1515-20 the Bishop Hugo von Hohenlandenberg rebuilt the castle to its current appearance. The old tower was rebuilt into a U shape. The upper most story, the gables and the hip roof are also from this reconstruction. The outer wall of the castle moved to stand exactly over the north-west corner of the Roman era fortress.

In 1822 the Stoffel silk ribbon weaving company moved into the castle. They remained there until 1907. In 1911 the castle was bought by Adolph Saurer, the founder of Adolph Saurer AG. He built workshops around the castle building as he experimented with motors, trucks and machinery. In 1944 his son, Hippolyt Saurer sold the castle to the city. The city renovated and expanded the castle and in 1967 opened the Historisches Museum Arbon (Arbon History Museum).

References:

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User Reviews

B.B. Rongen (BeBeRo) (2 years ago)
A great, venerable place almost directly on the lake, also well maintained and curated on the outside - the ancient linden tree in front of the castle is very powerful ?!

Viky Špaček (2 years ago)
Beautiful castle, the remains of the walls, the castle tower is accessible as a view of the lake and the arbon, you can see the beautiful mountains in Switzerland

Livio Zarantonello (3 years ago)
Gutes Essen, nette Atmosphäre, schönes Ambiente. Kann man empfehlen.

Joachim Rumohr (3 years ago)
A beautiful and well-preserved facility.

arthur kyburz (4 years ago)
Geschichte Arbons trifft auf moderne Schule der Migros

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Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.

The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.

These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.

Arbon Castle

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