Gayenhofen Castle

Gayenhofen Castle, together with the parish church, dominates the town of Bludenz (Vorarlberg) as part of a structural ensemble.

Between 1222 and 1245, the Counts of Werdenberg built a castle complex as the center of the Werdenberg-Heiligenberg lordship and the Bludenz lordship. Thus, Bludenz, alongside Bregenz and Feldkirch, was also a fortified town in Vorarlberg during the Middle Ages.

From 1377/78 to 1418, Count Albrecht III of Werdenberg-Heiligenberg resided within its walls. In 1491, the castle was destroyed by fire.

From 1745 to 1752, Johann Caspar Bagnato erected a new building, incorporating the medieval structure. Baron Franz Andreas Baron von Sternbach (1675–1755) gave the newly built castle the name Gayenhofen, thus creating the castle on the site of the medieval castle of Bludenz.

In 1936, the town of Bludenz bought the castle and handed it over to the state of Vorarlberg in 1959.

Between 1960 and 1963, the castle was rebuilt again. The north wing was demolished, thereby opening the previously enclosed square inner courtyard, and the castle was adapted on October 26, 1963, to serve as the administrative building for the Bludenz District Commission.