Switzerland · 9th century
Laufen Castle (German: Schloss Laufen) is a castle in the municipality of Laufen-Uhwiesen in the Swiss canton of Zurich. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance overlooking the Rhine Falls.
The first documented reference to the castle dates to the year 858 when it was the home of the Barons of Laufen. It passed through several owners until the Old Zurich War (1439–1450) when the castle was acquired by the Fulach family, from whom the city of Zurich bought the castle in 1544. Following the Helvetic Republic (1798–1803), the castle was once again in private ownership, with the city of Zurich reacquiring the castle by buying it again in 1941.
The castle now serves as a tourist attraction, and contains a restaurant and a youth hostel. Between 2009 and 2010, a project was undertaken to restore and expand the facilities, including a visitors’ centre situated in the former staff quarters, an exhibition in the northern part of the castle, and a wheelchair-accessible circular walkway with glass lift between castle and river levels. Laufen is overlooking Wörth Castle, on the opposite side of the High Rhine, located in the canton of Schaffhausen.
Text adapted from “Laufen Castle (Switzerland)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Laufen Castle ranks #2,137 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #16 of the 213 mapped in Switzerland. Founded 858, it is older than 94% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 88 atlas entries founded in the 9th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,565 times in the last 60 days, more than 75% of the atlas. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Winterthur, 21 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.
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