Castle …
The most amazing object of Kyburg Castle Museum is the building itself. Over 800 years of history have left their marks on the monument and their historical layers on its walls.
The first part of the exhibition in the counts’ building refers to these «archaeological windows» into the past, on walls, pannellings, ceilings as well as windows and floors. On the fassades the medieval bossage stones were re-plastered in the 18th century, and again re-painted in the 20th century.
… and reign
In the knights’ hall building on the opposite side, the exhibition is dedicated to the rulers of Kyburg castle. Within about 700 years the counts of Kyburg, the dukes and kings of Habsburg, and the Zurich bailiffs governed, ruled and exercised their power. And then for a good 160 years until now different museum operators presented their collections with their respective intentions.
Objects
Telling stories with objects, we try that as all museums do. In a castle of course this includes armours and weapons. But also everyday objects such as tallow lamps, wedding rings, tiled stoves and stove tiles, or a medieval shoe. The so called urbaria and significant town privileges prove that the medieval Kyburg and Habsburg rulers were forerunners in using written records for their administration. Jurisdiction is one important part of Kyburg’s history as the most important outside seat of Zürich’s government.
Hands on
Try it out yourself, how stones were clamped in order to manage their hoisting-up on medieval building sites. Determine the age of wooden beams through their annual rings. Or simply build your own castle with wooden blocks. The castle building site on the 3rd floor of the counts’ hall offers all this and more.
Models
Several models show what the rooms in the counts’ hall looked like in earlier times, who went in and out in them and who lived and was employed in there. And for all riddle enthusiasts: model makers always take the liberty of inserting a funny object, in our case things that were certainly not to be found in a castle back then.
Gallery
Just as today when Kyburg castle is a popular subject for photographs, it was a much-coveted motiv for copperplate engravers and painters in the past – and one that sold well for tourists as well as locals. Numerous oil paintings and prints can be admired on the 2nd floor of the counts’ hall. They reveal the structural alterations to the castle, as well as its symbolic meaning and changing importance for the contemporaries.
Animated
In the main hall of the knights’ hall building on the ground floor, six animated films recount important events in the castle’s history as short-stories: the origins of the Kyburg counts’ family, the purchase of the castle by the city-state of Zürich, the – quite peaceful – revolution of 1798, and a fast-paced journey through the history of the building itself.
Info sheets
You find sheets providing compact information in English, French and Italian in almost every room of the castle.
Audio guide
Audio tours are available in German, English, French and Italian, so visitors can explore Kyburg castle on their own as «Kyburg in your ear».
Virtual visit
A 360° virtual tour shows all the rooms of the exhibition as well as impressive bird’s eye-views of the outside. So you can visit the castle even at home, at any time, in any weather.
