Switzerland · Restored
Laufen Castle
Laufen Castle (Schloss Laufen) is a medieval castle on a limestone crag above the Rhine Falls in Laufen-Uhwiesen, canton of Zurich, Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance and today houses visitor facilities while overlooking Wörth Castle across the river.
Its prime
1544
Today
Restored
Ranked among Europe’s castles
As it stood in 1544
What Laufen Castle looked like in its prime.
Perched on a sheer limestone crag above the Rhine Falls, Laufen Castle is a compact group of stone buildings: a prominent white-plastered stepped-gable residential block with tall rectangular windows, steep red clay-tile roofs, a round tower topped by a conical tiled roof at the eastern end, and a smaller polygonal turret; low curtain walls and terraces cling to the rock face and follow the cliff contours. The stone is pale local limestone and the rooflines and battlements are complete.
Its story
The story of Laufen Castle.
The Barons of Laufen and the Fulach Acquisition, 858–1547
Laufen is first documented in 858 as the home of the Barons of Laufen, perched on a crag above the Rhine Falls; the castle's lord or his bailiff held the Vogtei — jurisdiction over the neighbouring communities — while the underlying lordship remained with the Bishop of Konstanz. The castle passed through several owners until the Old Zurich War of 1439–1450, when the Fulach family acquired it; the city of Zurich bought Laufen from the Fulachs in 1544 and carried out substantial rebuilding between 1544 and 1547.
Private Ownership and the Bleuler Painting School, 1798–1941
The French invasion of 1798 that ushered in the Helvetic Republic brought an abrupt end to the castle's feudal lordship, and Laufen passed back into private hands. Between 1799 and 1804 the painter Johann Heinrich Bleuler the Elder ran a studio at the castle; his son Louis Bleuler then opened the Bleuler painting school there, first as tenant from 1830 and then as owner from 1845. Zurich reacquired the castle in 1941.
Renovation and the End of the Youth Hostel, 2009–2019
Between 2009 and 2010 the castle was restored and expanded, with a visitors' centre added in the former staff quarters, an exhibition in the northern wing, and a wheelchair-accessible circular walkway with a glass lift linking the castle to river level. The castle housed a youth hostel until October 2019; it now contains a museum and a restaurant. Laufen is a class B Swiss cultural property of regional significance and is listed as a Swiss townscape worthy of protection; across the High Rhine it faces Wörth Castle in the canton of Schaffhausen.
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1544.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Laufen Castle, including 4 interiors: main stepped-gable residential wing (principal chamber), round tower interior and stair, former staff quarters (later visitors' centre) and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Laufen Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1544, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Laufen Castle.
The families that held Laufen Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Laufen
Home of the Barons of Laufen from the castle's first documented mention in 858.
Fulach
Acquired by the Fulach family in the Old Zurich War era (1439–1450); sold to the city of Zurich in 1544.
