Some years ago, we were driving back home during a snowstorm. It was so bad that some roads were closed, and our GPS sent us through places that we didn't know before. It was late in the evening when we saw a castle on top of a hill. We checked the map as we always do and wrote down the name of the village. And of course forgot about it as we always do too.
Two weeks ago, I was looking for some old notes in my phone and found the name! We didn't have any plans for the day, so we jumped in the car and off we went. I will take you first to the castle, and then show you around the village.
Let's have a look!
The Regensberg castle is situated in the heart of the town Regensberg. It is built on top of a hill overlooking the region of Zürich and Aargau. Regensberg was built as a fortified town in the middle of the 13th century, but today there is no fortification walls left. The only original part of town walls that we can see today is the tower. This is also the only part which is available to public. But first, we need to get there.
You can reach Regensberg by car or public transportation. There is a bus which is coming here frequently as well as a large parking area if you decide to come by car.
The town itself is vehicle free (unless you live there), so either way you will need to walk uphill. The walk is only a few hundred meters long and the town is charming, so it's enjoyable.
It's a touristic town, so if you come outside of the main summer season you will enjoy the medieval tour almost on your own, but you will also have to accept that there will be no restaurants open, so take your own drinks and snacks with you.
Don't forget to look around you while walking towards the castle. When you're lucky you can see the full Alps range.
To reach the hilltop, you will pass through this narrow tunnel. I wouldn't believe that a car would fit through there if I wouldn't have seen it myself. It had about 1 cm from each side, but it fit!
Once you cross the tunnel, you will reach the heart of the town called Oberburg or Upper Castle. It is a ring of buildings which replaced the original fortification. Today, most of the buildings are residential and there are a couple of small hotels too.
They were built in the 16th century after the original fortification was destroyed by fire. Luckily, the castle didn't have any damage as it was separated from the rest by a ditch. Oberstadt
The Regensberg castle with its tower is located on the far left of the Oberburg. The castle belongs to the Regensberg Castle Foundation and cannot be visited, but you can still climb the tower. The entrance fee is only 1 CHF, but the machine only accepts cash, so make sure to have it ready as you won't be able to enter otherwise.
I didn't know what to expect. Honestly, I thought that we would only walk up the stairs to see the views, but to my surprise there is a museum located in the tower.
The ground floor shows some parts of the medieval life including artifacts that were found on the castle grounds.
On the first floor we learned some interesting facts from the history of the castle. It's important to notice that all information in the tower is presented in Germany only. It wasn't a problem for us as we live here for many years.
The castle was built by the Barons of Regensberg in 1250, but it didn't stay in their rule for long.
The son of the founder of the castle had to sell it to the Habsburgs only about 50 years after it was built. The Habsburgs were much stronger than the Regensbergs, and they would destroy the castle otherwise. This is one of the ways how the Habsburgs accumulated so much wealth in Europe.
The Regensbergs died out in the middle of the 14th century.
The tower has an unusual round shape for the eastern part of Switzerland. The Regensbergs took their inspiration from the western part of Switzerland, namely constructions built by the Savoy family.
It was not always directly accessible from the castle. It was only connected during the reconstruction in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The second floor shows Regensberg from 1798 until today. You can learn about the social institutions, development of its population, changes in the infrastructure and its history of being the capital town of a district.
In 1803 Zürich state changed its structure and became a canton. Zürich canton had its district and Regensberg was a capital town of one of them until 1871 when this function was taken over by Dielsdorf. This is when Regensberg started to lose its importance in the region.
This parquet floor tile was placed in 1857. It's interesting that it has a lot of original text written on it. I have visited many castles before but I have never seen a tile with handwritten text.
Between the floors there is a model of the roof which was placed on top of the tower in 1994. It's not inspired by the original roof as there were no construction plans found.
Here we can see how the roof was placed...
When you're inside it seems to be much taller than when you look at it from outside.
Now we reached the third floor. This is the place where there was the original entrance to the tower.
There is also some information about the foundation that owns the castle today.
And finally we reached the most important part of the tower - the sightseeing platform!
Here we are looking at the Unterstadt or the lower town...
There was a board with names of all mountains. I learned to recognize Säntis (more on left) and Churfisten (in the middle). One day, I'll be able to recognize most of them 🙂
And Oberburg from above...
Last glimpse at the Alps before heading back to the town. It was too windy on the platform...
Let's explore the lower town now!
The oldest buildings in this part of the town date back to the 14th century. They are protected by law and any alteration to them needs to be approved by the local authorities first. I can imagine it must be a lot of paperwork if something breaks down and you want to repair it.
Pay attention to the wall next to the fountain as you will find there the tombstone of Ulrich I. von Regensberg who was the son of the founder of the castle. He was the first person to live in the castle.
I have no idea what this should symbolize. Is it a cat? Is it a lion? Any idea?
And of course I have to show some signs of spring 🙂
This was one of those trip when you don't know what to expect as you just blindly give it a go, but in the end you are happy that you did.
It took us about 1 hour to get there, so I think that one day we might come back. But it will be in summer as there are some restaurants with nice terraces and I think having a meal with those views cannot go wrong 🙂
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Martina
Přiznám se, že jsem byl nejdřív trochu zmatený, protože jsem si automaticky myslel, že píšeš o Regensburgu, ale pak jsem se zorientoval :D No vidíš, jaký parádní výlet může způsobit jedna zapomenutá poznámka v mobilu :D Takhle jste si užili malebné středověké městečko bez všech těch davů, které tam v létě určitě jsou. Ten výhled z věže je úžasný!
Pravdu povediac, v mobile som to mala tiež ako Regensburg 😂, no veľmi rýchlo som zistila, že to nemôže byť ono, lebo je to v Nemecku.
Zapomenuté poznámky sa mi stávajú pravidelne. Hlavne, keď ideme niekam prvýkrát a po ceste vidíme nejaký hrad alebo zámok.
Presne tak, také výlety sú najlepšie 🙂
Nabudúci týždeň bude znova pokračovanie z Lotyšska 😉
No já jsem ani nevěděl, že je ve Švýcarsku město, které se jmenuje Regensberg, takže jsem nejdřív automaticky myslel, že se jedná o německý Regensburg, který leží nedaleko českých hranic a má i český název - Řezno :)
Na pokračování lotyšské série se těším už teď, snad bude další díl úspěšný jako tenhle post, i když to pak většinou znamená zvýšený počet "nice post" komentářů :D :/ Btw jak jsme se o tom bavili u toho mého článku o polském koncentračním táboře, tak z jednoho toho pochybného komentujícího se vyklubal scammer, který si už tady na Hive neškrtne ;) Asi je fakt potřeba takové lidi aktivně odhalovat a downvotovat, protože jinak by nám za chvíli mohli zamořit celý blockchain - zvlášť teď, kdy zase cena krypta začíná stoupat... Ale to jsem odbočil někam, kam jsem nechtěl :D Hezký jarní víkend přeju, snad máte u vás taky tak hezky a slunečno jak my teď v Praze ;)
Ceske mena nemeckych miest ma vzdy rozosmeju 🙂 napriklad Konstanz volate Kostnice 😁 Řezno je tiez super 🙂
Ja mam pocit, ze je uplne jedno aky uspesny je post, stale sa najde niekto kto napise nejaky odveci koment. Ale mas pravdu, treba ich downvotovat, len ked mne je ich tak luto.. Ale niekedy naozaj nemam daleko od downvotu..
My sme tu mali tento vikend krasne. Bolo 18 stupnov a VELA slnka 🙂 Dufam, ze ste si to uzili aj vy 🙂
Heh, to máš pravdu, taky nevím, kdy se všechny ty české názvy německých měst vzaly :D Cáchy, Chotěbuz, Kostnice, Mohuč, Řezno... a dalo by se pokračovat :D
Já myslím, že u těch úspěšných postů s velkými payouty bývá těch pokusů o comment farming nejvíc. Prostě vidí hodně dolarů, tak to tam zkusí :D Fakt je potřeba tohle chování potírat, pokud chceme na Hive udržet nějakou úroveň. Tohle ať si dělají na Steemu nebo Blurtu ;)
Taky jsme měli nádherný jarní víkend :) A podle předpovědi by ještě i celý tento týden mělo být moc hezky. Dneska jsem byl venku cvičit jen v tričku (letos poprvé) a bylo to super! :)
What a story ! It's fun that you went back to the site you came across years before :) I have to say that I envy you a little bit, because I think there are not really any sites like that where I am... There's a lot to see, but really it's what you visit that makes me want to see it the most 😂 So I thank you for this one !
I was also wondering with which camera you took your pictures... Thanks again for sharing this adventure, I wish you a nice weekend in advance ✌️
Switzerland is a lovely place to live. There are so many things to see, and it feels different than any other European country. Maybe it's because that even big cities are actually small here, so it's not so overloaded. Let me know when you manage to come, and we'll take you around 🙂
Lately, I'm only using my Samsung S22. I have a Nikon D750 too, but I have issues with my shoulder and the camera with lens is way too heavy for me to carry around..
I hope, you had a lovely weekend! 🙂
From the few time I came here, I can easily imagine that :) In fact, I don't remember any hurting or bad memory there ! I will tell you that in advance as soon I would plan on travel 😉 ✌️
Ouch, I understand that... Even with my small and lighter one, I already feel aching at the end of a long session.
I wish you a good recovery, you are stretching I guess ?
Thank you! Oh yes, I'm stretching, but it's not really helping since this problem goes back more than 5 years. My joints were so damaged that my doctor was surprised and thought that I was moving the furniture of entire apartment around 😁 I guess I have a high pain tolerance and it took me long before I decided to finally go to the doctor and it was a bit too late at that time. I was lucky not to undergo a surgery as I'm able to keep it 'so so' with regular chiropractor appointments.. Some days are good, other days rather bad, and this is why I stopped using my camera. I still use it for food photography at home but it's placed on the tripod, so it's good 🙂
I’ve the same thing in the wrist, one day I pushed to far at work and now, I can’t go more than admitted... Stretching an Taichi help but it didn’t solve the problem !
Know that some aliments such as collagen from fish skin can eventually help..! Also did you try to see an acupuncturist ?
Have a good day !
Acupuncturist not yet as I'm happy with my chiropractor, but if it will get worse then I would definitely try it 🙂
Have a lovely day too!
I hope it wouldn't come to this point 🤞 !!
Thanks 😊
Your article is a great example of how exploring unfamiliar places can lead to exciting and unexpected discoveries. I loved reading about the author's journey to Regensberg castle and the town around it. The photos included in the article are beautiful, and they made me feel like I was there with you. The information about the history of the castle and the town really interesting too.
Thanks for sharing @delishtreats 🙏🏻
Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words!
Very beautiful architecture, that tower is very similar to towers I have visited in castles here in Romania.
Quite hard to answer your question, cat or lion, I think it's lion but his ears mislead me, honestly I think it's a combination of lion and something else, hehe.
Hahaha, I also have no idea what it is. But it's ugly 😂 Why would you make something this ugly?!
One day, I'll visit those Romanian castles 😉
We think it's ugly, but the art critics and the creator definitely think it's a work of art, hehe.
I went through a comical experience once at a painting exhibition, in front of a painting I stopped and actually didn't realize what it represented (only after reading what it said in the right corner), instead when two people came next to me they discussed the painting for I think about 5 minutes, I just saw some lines, dots, different shapes but I didn't realize what it represented but they praised the painting and the painter's talent.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Those "let's go" travels normally go really well. Loved the castle, reminded me of a few we can find around the country too! !LUV
We always have this feeling that if we don't do something on the weekend then we're wasting the time. I know it doesn't sound good but when you work 10 hours a day or more then you don't want to just sit and let the weekend pass by 🙂
Thank you for stopping by!
Absolutely! We have to make the most of our free time, and there's tons of hidden gems to discover. Have a great weekend! !LUV
Fun spontaneous trip. I too have notes of places I HAVE to return to. But I don't often make it back. Great that you took the time. I like the tower and especially the views.
Oh, I have tons of such places. I would need a few more lives to revisit every place that I want to 😉
The views were really nice. I like that as long as you go on a small hill in Switzerland you will very likely see the Alps 🙂
Beautiful pictures of a gorgeous place! The views are spectacular and the clouds in the distance are interesting. Of course, the tower itself is magnificent and the fact that it is well-preserved shows that people there value history.
Hope to see more of your work. Keep in taking beautiful photographs!
Thank you for your kind words!
That's a worth visiting place
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I love castles, what beautiful pictures, they fascinated me.❤️
Thank you for stopping by!
❤️✨
Yes, this is a really interesting place with its original architecture. Yes, they really used to build for centuries. Thank you for sharing with us.
Great views uo there. I would be fine bringing my own food if it means that I don't have to deal with large crowds. Lol
Indeed, that's the best 😉
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Thank you, Pauline! 😘
Cool, my eyes are drawn towards downtown that you take from a height. And just also saw a lot of very unique buildings.
Great post guys.
Wow!!
I am sure that you had a wonderful trip to the castle. I could feel your happiness from the way you write. Also, the camera is so clear and the picture is very beautiful
I have never seen somewhere as beautiful as that!!!
Enjoy!!!
WOW! what a beautiful place it looks like something out of a movie
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Thank you very much for the tour! The secrets these walls must hide... I was very intrigued by what was written on the parquet. Definitely, the spot is enviably strategic. Although it doesn't look like a fortress made for wartime, the view from the tower was wide to see when friends or enemies would approach, I guess. Today it's useful to make tourists marvel at the stamp of the Alps, the valleys and the mountains with their names. Mountain with names! In my dad's village, a very small one (Northeast of Venezuela), the trees for directions in the wood 😆 Round the second mango tree, after the third cashew tree on the left, etc... I'm thrilled. Thanks for sharing! Amazing post 😍
Wow, this article was so inspiring! This castle is surprisingly beautiful and the scenery is breathtaking. I love how it highlights the resilience of the human spirit and shows that anything is possible with determination and hard work. I love visiting medieval buildings. Thanks for sharing, @delishtreats.