Top 20 Castles around Gaienhofen

Hohenklingen Castle is a spur castle near Stein am Rhein in the canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. It is located at 594 m above sea level, almost 200 meters above the small town on a narrow Nagelfluh ridge running from east to west, the southwestern foothills of the Schiener Berg. Hohenklingen Castle was spared from warlike destruction throughout its history. Its silhouette with walls and roofs still corresponds to the medieval appearance from 1200 to 1422. The Bergfried is now used as a viewing tower. The name is derived from the Old High German klingo, Middle High German klinge, which meant something like mountain stream, gorge or rushing water. The name of the high Clingen ob Stain first appears in 1327. It refers to the Bachtobel, which unite at the foot of the castle hill. The history of Hohenklingen Castle is closely linked to the history of the town of Stein am Rhein and the St. Georgen Monastery. Around 1200, the Kastvogt of the monastery, Walter von Klingen, built a residential tower on the site of today's complex. It can be assumed that the earlier Kastvögte of the monastery, the Zähringer, had already built a wooden residential tower with a fortification ditch in the north, which after their extinction was taken over and expanded by the Barons of Klingen. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Hohenklingen family split into the Hohenklingen-Brandis and Hohenklingen-Bechburg branches. In 1359, Ulrich and Walter von Hohenklingen-Brandis sold their share of Burg Kastvogtei to Austria for financial reasons and received it back as a fief. In 1419, their descendants sold the fief to Kaspar von Klingenberg, Lord of the Hohentwiel Fortress, who in 1433 also bought the other half of the Hohenklingen complex. .... Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Hohenklingen

What you learn on a tour of the castle: After Napoleon's fall, his stepdaughter, the Dutch Queen Hortense, bought the Arenenberg castle estate in 1817 and made it her residence in exile. She renovated and furnished the magnificent salons in style. She brought her nine-year-old son Louis Napoléon with her from France, who later became the last emperor of France under the name Napoleon III. His wife, Empress Eugénie, expanded the castle to include additional salons before donating the property to the canton of Thurgau in 1906.

Hohenklingen Castle is a spur castle near Stein am Rhein in the canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. It is located at 594 m above sea level, almost 200 meters above the town on a narrow conglomerate ridge running from east to west, the southwestern foothills of the Schiener Berg. Hohenklingen Castle was spared from warlike destruction throughout its history. Its silhouette with walls and roofs still corresponds to the medieval appearance from 1200 to 1422. The keep is now used as a lookout tower. Source: Wikipedia

A fantastic view

Hohenklingen Castle has towered over the enchanting town of Stein am Rhein since 1200.

Steckborn, located on the Swiss side of the Untersee, is one of the beautiful places on the Swiss side that invite with a historic old town. The first written mention of Steckborn can be found in the middle of the 9th century in connection with the island of Reichenau. The first traces of settlement go back to the Neolithic Age. Pile-dwelling settlements were built here as well, as is known from the Überlinger See.

Church of St. John at Burg, Stein am Rhein The small church of St. John is hardly noticed by many visitors to the town of Stein am Rhein. But the Church of St. John at Burg is a little gem. It is the oldest church in the canton of Schaffhausen. Its origins date back to the end of the late Roman fort, the masonry of which can be viewed at the entrance to the church hill. Services have been held here for over 1400 years. The building shows that it has been rebuilt and expanded several times. Wall paintings from 1420 have been preserved in the Gothic choir. They were created shortly after the end of the Council of Constance. The three picture cycles show scenes from the Old and New Testaments (the story of creation, the story of John the Baptist and scenes from the life of Jesus). On the choir wall on the left, the birth vision of the Swedish Princess Birgitta is depicted for the first time since her canonization. The mother of eight children had made a pilgrimage to Bethlehem and witnessed the birth of Jesus there in a vision. Her visions are written down in several books. Birgitta was canonized in Constance on Candlemas 1415. Ext / Source: bodensee.eu https://www.bodensee.eu/de/was-erleben/uebersichtskarte/st.-johann_poi1858

The outside area is freely accessible and very nicely designed.