Switzerland travel series - part 6 - Castle Kyburg

Would you like to join me on my visit to Castle Kyburg? Let me show you around!

The castle Kyburg stands in the village Kyburg and it is partly hidden behind the houses and trees. When you walk in the village you can't even see it.

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It takes us ten minutes to get from the parking place to the castle.

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On the way we have made new friends..

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One of them was posing for a picture but left as soon as she realized there was no food 😊

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Castle Kyburg

The castle Kyburg is perched high up above the river Töss. It is the largest and one of the most important castles in Eastern Switzerland. It is also the oldest castle in this part of Switzerland.

A few years ago, we didn't know about this castle. We were on our way home from Zurich and we heard on the radio that there was a serious accident on the highway and the road was closed for a couple of hours. Instead of waiting in a traffic jam we decided to explore our region and find a different road back home.

After a few minutes we saw a castle sign. We followed the sign, and this is how we learned about Kyburg.

At that time, the museum was not promoted at all and there were just a couple of locals with us. However, the castle is slowly gaining popularity due to restoration that is taking place from 2016 until 2019. I must say that the castle looks very different to what we experienced before 2016. I'm looking forward to visit it next year after the restoration is completed.

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We will walk around the castle before we enter it. There are so many trees that we can't see through them, but it doesn't matter as we will get to enjoy the surroundings from the castle. It only takes a couple of minutes to walk around the castle.

We can enter the castle through the main gate now. On the other side of the gate there is a large courtyard.

Before we continue our tour, we will purchase the tickets in the building on the left side that used to be a stable. The price of each ticket is EUR 9 including the audio guide in various languages. There is also a small self service guest house next to the ticket office. You go there, take whatever you want (they have coffee, tea, lemonades, snacks, wines, etc) and after you finish your consumption you go to the ticket office and pay. It's based on trust as nobody knows what you consumed - just you. Welcome to Switzerland 😊

Can you see the chicken under the tree?

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Here they are 😊 During the reconstruction some nice touches were added for the kids. But honestly, I have only seen adults taking photos of these chickens. Their kids were busy with running around and chasing each other, so they very much ignored the chickens.

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The excursion of the courtyard is free of charge, so if you feel like enjoying the atmosphere without visiting the castle you can do so. There are many benches around and enough place for everyone.

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There is a model of the castle to help your orientation if you decide to do the tour without the audio guide. A part of the museum is still under reconstruction and it's not open to public at the moment. This is the most beautiful part of the Knight's house with nicely decorated rooms.

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Now it's the time to enter the castle. The first mention of the castle was in the year 1027. The original name of Kyburg is "Chuigeburg" which means "a cow castle." It points towards a castle of refuge.

It was home of one of the most important Swabian family of Kyburgs. Following the death of the last of the Kyburgers in 1264, the castle passed into the hands of the Habsburgs. The city of Zurich bought the castle in the 15th century. From this time until 1798 the castle served as stately seat of administration, holding court and collecting taxes.

All of the owners shaped the castle according to their needs and this is the reason why the castle was changing its looks drastically over the centuries.

The castle was opened to the public in 1865 by Matthäus Pfauthe as a castle museum and an art gallery. It was the first castle museum in Switzerland.

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We will walk down the stairs to the Banqueting Hall. The room is empty now, but I can imagine mirrors, paintings, stucco and candle-holders around the room with beautiful furniture right in front of the fireplace. The classicist fireplace was made in 1723.

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The kitchen was added here in the 16th century. The open stove was reconstructed in 1926. But it was never used and it is not even connected to the chimney. It was added only for the museum purposes. It does look real, doesn't it?

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There are a few rooms dedicated to paintings and drawings of the castle. These paintings represent Romanticism period. The paintings show castle situated in the picturesque surroundings.

Over 150 prints and paintings of the castle Kyburg are known. The appearance of the castle on them was sometimes idealized and not real.

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There are also a few models of the castle. This one was my favorite.

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There is no castle without a prison. It looks like there were dragons locked in this prison! No worries, I checked and this one was not real 😊

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Large, tall buildings symbolized power. A high tower provided an overview in the event of attacks, as well as a view of the territory. It is not known how the top of the tower looked like before the 15th century. The top of the tower as it stands today was built in 1424 by the city of Zurich.

I didn't manage to get good photos from the tower itself as it was very dark. There is a workshop for kids to build their own replica of the castle. I wonder how they work in such a dark room.

Here are some views from the top floor of the tower.

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It is possible to see the Hohentwiel castle when it's a clear day. We couldn't see it...

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Next on the list would be the Knight's house, but as I mentioned it was closed so we will continue to the Castle gardens. This is the hall that leads us to the Knight's house as well as to the garden.

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These photos are taken through the closed windows 😊

The view of the chapel..

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And the gardens..

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The gardens are still used to plant vegetables and herbs. It's great as there are name tags next to each plant. There were so many veggies even in October!

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The layout of the garden is very nice and symmetric. There is a small fountain in the middle surrounded by perfectly cut bushes.

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A tethered horse and a donkey are waiting for kids to climb all over them. The place in front of the garden has been turned into the playground. It took ages to get a photo without a child hanging on one of these wooden sculptures.

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After we left the playground, we looked at the castle for the last time and said Goodbye.

There has been a lot of work done to restore the castle. I hope that the new look with attract more people as it is worth a visit. I'm looking forward to visit the reconstructed Knight's house next year.

I hope you have enjoyed the castle Kyburg. It was my pleasure to take you on the tour with me!

All photos are taken by my Nikon D3200 AF-S NIKKOR 18-55 mm 1:3.5-5.6 G II (except of the ones indicated in the text)

Thank you for reading,

Cheers,
Martina

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