Stein Castle (german: Schloss Stein or ''Ruine Stein'') is a castle ruin above the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

History

The castle was built on a rocky promontory above Baden gorge some time before 1000. In the late 11th century the castle came to the

Lenzburg Lenzburg is a town in the central region of the Swiss canton Aargau and is the capital of the Lenzburg District. The town, founded in the Middle Ages, lies in the Seetal valley, about 3 kilometres south of the Aare river. Lenzburg and the neighb ...

family. By the early 12th century, the cadet line that lived in the castle called themselves the Counts of Baden. In 1172, the castle was inherited by the

Kyburg family The Kyburg family (; ; also Kiburg) was a noble family of ''grafen'' (counts) in the Duchy of Swabia, a cadet line of the counts of Dillingen, who in the late 12th and early 13th centuries ruled the County of Kyburg, corresponding to much of what ...

. When that family died out in 1263, the castle was inherited by the Habsburgs in 1264. The castle was occupied by a bailiff and was the seat of the Austrian administration for ''Vorderösterreich'' (Further Austria) and housed the archive. The castle was besieged and destroyed in 1415 by the

Swiss Confederation ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It was rebuilt in 1658-70 but was demolished in 1712. It remains in ruins since that time.

References

{{Castles of Aargau Castles in Aargau Cultural property of national significance in Aargau Baden, Switzerland Ruined castles in Switzerland