Switzerland · Restored
Kyburg Castle
Kyburg Castle is a large medieval castle above the Töss valley near Winterthur in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. The extant core dates from the 13th–14th centuries and the site today houses a museum and is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Its prime
1444
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1444
The shape it held in its prime.
A compact irregular quadrangle of pale grey-beige ashlar and rubble stone walls set atop a steep grassy hill above the Töss valley, with a ring wall enclosing a single large courtyard. Multiple steep red-clay tiled roofs and a high gabled main roof punctuate the skyline, plus a tall square bergfried with a pointed roof and a smaller round turret with a conical tiled roof. Facades show small medieval window openings, painted wooden shutters in red-and-yellow diagonal stripes and a painted sundial/fresco on the palas wall.
Its story
The story of Kyburg Castle.
The first fortification above the Töss was likely raised in the second half of the 10th century by the counts of Winterthur. Rebuilt, it became the centre of the county of Kyburg, formed in 1053 as a possession of the counts of Dillingen; by 1180 the counts of Kyburg had emerged as a cadet line of that family, rising to rank beside the Habsburgs and the House of Savoy among the great noble powers of the Swiss plateau.
When the last count died in 1264, Rudolph of Habsburg claimed the inheritance for his family. In 1424 the city of Zürich bought the county and the castle became the seat of its reeve. Plundered by the local populace in 1798, it served again as an administrative seat from 1803 until 1831, when it was sold at auction to Franz Heinrich Hirzel of Winterthur — who intended to use it as a quarry.
The exiled Polish count Alexander Sobansky bought the castle in 1835 to prevent its destruction, and in 1917 the canton of Zürich bought it back. The core standing today dates from the 13th and 14th centuries; the castle now houses a museum and is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
Step inside
10 places to explore in 1444.
The record describes 10 distinct spots at Kyburg Castle — including 1 interior: chapel interior with late gothic frescoes. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Kyburg Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1444 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Kyburg Castle.
The families that held Kyburg Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Kyburg
The counts of Kyburg, a cadet line of the Dillingen family emerged by 1180, held the castle until the death of the last count in 1264.
Dillingen
The county of Kyburg was formed in 1053 as a possession of the counts of Dillingen.
Habsburg
Rudolph of Habsburg claimed the Kyburg inheritance for his family in 1264; the county was sold to Zürich in 1424.
Sobansky
Bought by the exiled Polish count Alexander Sobansky in 1835 to save it from quarrying; the canton of Zürich bought it back in 1917.
