Vaduz Castle

Vaduz Castle (German: Schloss Vaduz) is the palace and official residence of the Prince of Liechtenstein. The castle gave its name to the town of Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, which it overlooks from an adjacent hilltop.

The counts of Werdenberg-Sargans are presumed to have been the builders of the castle. The bergfried (the keep, built in the 12th century) and parts of the eastern side are the oldest. The tower stands on a piece of ground that is 12 by 13 metres (39 by 43 feet) in area. At the ground floor, the tower walls have a thickness of up to 4 metres (13 feet). The original entrance lay at the courtyard side at a height of 11 metres (36 feet). The chapel of St. Anna was presumably built in the Middle Ages as well. The main altar is late-gothic. In the Swabian War of 1499, the castle was burned by the Swiss Confederacy. The western side was expanded by Count Kaspar von Hohenems (1613–1640).

The princely family of Liechtenstein acquired Vaduz Castle in 1712, when it purchased the countship of Vaduz. At this time, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, combined the countship with the Lordship of Schellenberg, purchased by the Liechtensteins in 1699, to form the present Principality of Liechtenstein.

The castle underwent a major restoration between 1904 and 1920, then again in the early 1920s during the reign of Prince Johann II, and was expanded during the early 1930s by Prince Franz Joseph II. Since 1938, the castle has been the primary residence of Liechtenstein's Princely Family. The castle is not open to the public as the princely family still lives in the castle.

Text adapted from “Vaduz Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Vaduz Castle ranks #176 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #1 of the 4 mapped in Liechtenstein. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 82% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 544 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 16,778 times in the last 60 days, more than 96% of the atlas. 13 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Winterthur, 72 km away. See how Liechtenstein compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗