Pratteln Castle

Pratteln Castle is a former moated castle in the center of the municipality of Pratteln. Originally, the castle stood freely on the northern edge of the village core. Today, the castle stands amidst a 19th-century development and is under the protection of the Swiss Confederation.

The castle has a square floor plan with rounded corners, supplemented by a tower and a gatehouse on the south side, and a kitchen facility on the east side. Approximately half of the floor area is occupied by the four-story main building located on the east side, the rest is used by an inner courtyard, which is bordered by two side wings on the north and south sides and a wall on the west side.

The outer facade is white plastered. The upper part of the entrance gate is designed as half-timbering, as are the inside of the side wings and parts of the facade of the kitchen extension. A drawbridge was formerly attached to the gatehouse. The main building has two round corner towers on the outer edge and a half-hipped roof. A tower located next to the gatehouse connects the main building with the southern wing. While the lower part of the tower is still round, the upper part has a polygonal shape.

In 1275, the castle was built by the Lords of Eptingen in the same year as Madeln Castle. On October 18, 1356, when the Basel earthquake occurred, the castle was completely destroyed. Immediately thereafter, it was rebuilt by the Eptingers. Due to financial difficulties and disputes within the Eptinger family, Hans Friedrich von Eptingen sold the castle with the village of Pratteln to the city of Basel for 5000 guilders in 1521. After Austria renounced the lordship of Pratteln in 1549, the castle became a Basel manor house and was assigned to the Münchenstein bailiwick. The lord of the castle then became a private "landed nobleman" without sovereign powers. The owners of the castle were Basel citizens, who changed frequently. In 1773, the castle and its large estate changed hands and from then on belonged to the public sector. However, the municipality sold the property in parcels to its residents the following year, but kept the castle and converted it into a poorhouse.

In 1910, the Bürgergemeinde of Pratteln donated the castle to the Einwohnergemeinde, which decided on a total renovation for 1,100,000 Swiss francs at the community assembly on June 24, 1963. On September 8, 1968, the castle was re-inaugurated with a large celebration. Meanwhile, the castle is under the protection of the Swiss Confederation.