Altenklingen Castle

The site of the current castle was originally occupied by a defensive structure built around 1200 by the Barons of Klingen, serving as their residence until 1395. This influential family, who also exercised lower jurisdiction in Märstetten, Illhart, and Wigoltingen, founded several villages and monasteries. A prominent member was Walther von Klingen, a minnesinger and confidant of King Rudolf I of Habsburg. After the Klingen family died out in 1395, the castle changed hands multiple times, including the Bussnang and Enne families, who successfully defended it in 1407 against attacks from the Appenzellers and St. Galleners. It later passed to the Muntprat of Constance and the von Breitenlandenberg families. In 1585, the St. Gallen city judge Leonard Zollikofer acquired the property for 25,500 guilders. He had the old castle demolished and commissioned Mathäus Höbel from Kempten to build the current castle. Zollikofer endowed the castle and the lordship of Altenklingen as a fideicommissum for his nephews, ensuring it remained in the possession of the Zollikofer von Altenklingen family to this day. The lordship of Altenklingen was only dissolved in 1798 with the liberation of Thurgau.

Altenklingen Castle is located in Wigoltingen in the Weinfelden district, Thurgau canton, Switzerland, at an elevation of approximately 472 meters above sea level.

Altenklingen Castle remains in private ownership and is managed by a family council. It comprises the Great Castle (north wing) with three floors and thirteen rooms, the Small Castle (south wing) at a right angle to it, and a chapel dedicated to Saint Wiborada. The original enclosure walls and corner turrets were demolished in the 19th century. Access is via a bridge leading to the gatehouse of the Small Castle, which opens into the inner courtyard. The portal of the Great Castle is adorned with a Renaissance fresco and crowned by a Zollikofer-Klingen alliance coat of arms. Inside, visitors can find furnishings, stoves, furniture, paintings, and books collected over four centuries, including the ancestral hall and various parlors.

• Ruine Schleifenrain (Kemmental) (Castle Ruin), approx. 1.8 km away
• Schloss Bachtobel (Weinfelden) (Castle), approx. 2.4 km away
• Schloss Weinfelden (Castle), approx. 3.7 km away
• Schloss Scherbenhof (Weinfelden) (Castle), approx. 4.7 km away