Oberhofen Castle

It once belonged to Walter IV of Eschenbach, who, along with other conspirators, murdered King Albert of Habsburg in 1308. The keep dates from the 12th century, the palas with chapel from the 15th century. In the 14th century, the castle came into the possession of the Habsburgs and was occupied by Bernese troops after the Battle of Sempach. The castle and the associated lordship first passed to the von Scharnachthal family and then to other Bernese patrician families. The Neuchâtel-Prussian Counts of Pourtalès fundamentally redesigned the complex in the mid-19th century.

From 1652 to 1798, the castle was the seat of a Bernese bailiff and came into private ownership in 1801. In 1954, a branch of the Historical Museum of Bern was opened here. Since 2009, Oberhofen Castle has been owned by the independent Oberhofen Castle Foundation.