Werdenberg Castle

The history of counts, knights and damsels, battlements and loopholes, keep and bailey, palas residence andzwingerwall, roof truss and vault – many occupants left their own personal stamp on the architecture of Werdenberg Castle. Built as a typical castle of the High Middle Ages to secure passage into the neighbouring region of Toggenburg, it was converted into a palace and became the residence of an administrative official appointed by the town of Glarus. Remodelled as a bourgeois residence in the Romantic age, Werdenberg castle has recently been transformed into a palace of culture. And as a museum that presents 800 years of social history, the imposing edifice itself plays a central part in telling that story.

Successive phases in history can be read directly from the castle walls. Extensions and conversions, additional floors, openings made for windows, and whitewashed interiors bear witness to a constantly evolving history of use. Equipped with audio guides and stereo soundscapes, the castle is part of a museum tour that includes the Museums of Werdenberg. Thus the castle, the Städtli and the Schlangenhaus together form a cohesive narrative illuminating a historical landscape.