Fortresses and castles in Switzerland, by construction period

The term Burg (castle) basically refers to a high and late medieval fortification which doubled up as a place of residence for members of the upper class (aristocracy). They formed the centre point for a manorial goods and legal association as well as an economic enterprise and represented status, power and legitimate dominance with their construction styles. Latin sources primarily refer to such constructions as castrum, and less commonly as castellum, fortalicium or munitio. In addition to the term Burg, the synonyms Schloss, Haus and Feste came to use in the thirteenth century. From the fifteenth century onwards, the term Schloss (fortress) was more and more frequently associated with the names of specific fortresses (e.g. Schloss Wildenstein). In modern specialist terminology, Burg refers to the medieval fortification, whereas Schloss signifies a modern mansion without any real military character. Other types of fortification also included military and locking features.

Constructing castles and creating estates in the High Middle Ages
Between the tenth and fifteenth centuries, around 2,000 castles were built in Switzerland. They did not all exist at the same time – some were abandoned before others were erected. The most intensive construction activity took place in the thirteenth century. After 1350, few new constructions were started. The construction of castles is most closely associated with the process of creating medieval estates. As centres of estate property complexes, the castles of the tenth century took over the function of the earlymedieval (Fronhof) manors. The latter were often replaced by castles away from rural settlements or converted into castles. Many castles were built as part of the estate Landesausbau (medieval settlement and cultivation). The establishment of some castles failed and they remained uncompleted (e.g. Loppburg, Hergiswil, Nidwalden).
The earliest supporters of castle construction were families of free nobles and counts. From the twelfth century, rural and urban aristocrats (knights, nobles and officials) took part in it more and more frequently, partly independently on a ruined estate (Allod), and partly as vassals and servants of sovereign rulers. The originally royal, later sovereign, right to build fortifications led in the thirteenth century in the Savoy area of control, and in the rest of Switzerland from the fourteenth century, to the construction of castles as territorial administrative centres; these were inhabited by bailiffs and châtelains.

Castles in the Late Middle Ages
Between the fourteenth and sixteenth century around three-quarters of the existing castles were abandoned in German-speaking, Italian-speaking and Romansch-speaking Switzerland. In French-speaking Switzerland, they were more commonly retained but mostly converted into palace buildings. Territorial, political, economic, military and socio-cultural causes were behind the "castle dying" of the late Middle Ages. Destruction by war and natural disasters (earthquake in Basel, 1356) were only rarely the reason for permanent abandonment. The property of abandoned castles was often administered further by the former supply court. In the course of the late medieval territorial formation, the castles which continued to be used were partly transformed into authoritarian administrative headquarters (Landvogteischlösser) and partly into private country homes without estate functions. On the hunt for titles and coats of arms, wealthy citizens took over abandoned castles. Nearby country houses were occasionally set up to circumvent the guild regulations for commercial enterprises. Structural adjustments to the fighting technique with firearms were made to only a small extent, and were only rarely consistent (Mesocco, Montvoie, Morges).

Early modern castles
The creation of monumental Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo palaces in Switzerland lacked the political, social and economic prerequisites. The exceptions were the prince-bishop’s residences in Chur and Pruntrut as well as the palace of the Prince Abbot in St. Gallen. While the Swiss towns practiced sparing restraint in the transformation of their Landvogteischlösser (which has preserved many medieval buildings) and preferred modest new buildings (Lottigna, Blankenburg), the rural and primarily the urban upper class (patriciate) developed a great deal of land with the construction of prestigious country estates. In central Switzerland, the impetus for the construction of castles came primarily from families who had achieved wealth and noble titles by military service (Freuler Palace in Näfels, A Pro in Seedorf, Altishofen). Noble country estates were built in the valley bailiwicks of central Swiss officials and rulers like that of Beroldingen (Magliaso, Villa Favorita in Lugano) or the A Pro (Ca 'di Ferro in Minusio) as well as the native upper class such as the Marcacci (Brione Verzasca). In Western Switzerland, the possession of small castles with rural estates was one of the social norms of sophisticated lifestyles. From the eighteenth century onwards, urban industrialists also built representative country estates (e.g. Ebenrain in Sissach).
Up until the seventeenth century, the construction of castles was inspired by the defensive architecture of the Middle Ages using decoratively distorted towers, battlements, oriels and embrasures. Around 1700, more and more consideration was given to Italian and French models (Versailles), which also involved the creation of French gardens. Medieval building structures, even ruins, were often renovated (e.g. Bottmingen and Jegenstorf) or replaced by new structures (e.g. Mauensee). It was not uncommon for new castles to be built in the outer bailey of the abandoned castle (e.g. Pleujouse and Trostburg) or in the surrounding area in easily accessible locations (Pfeffingen nach Aesch, Basel-Landschaft, Grasburg nach Schwarzenburg). New constructions, more common in French-speaking Switzerland than in the rest of the country, appeared more and more from the seventeenth century onwards. With the construction of Empire-style castles (Arenenberg), building in the medieval tradition died away at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Historically-romantic attempts to revitalise medieval castle architecture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, partly by freely reconstructing ruins, remained isolated cases in Switzerland (e.g. Neu-Habsburg, Reichenstein BL, Schadau, Vaumarcus).