St. Andreas Castle (Cham)

The origins of St. Andreas date back to the 14th century, when the then-castle was expanded into a fortress due to its strategic location, complemented by a moat towards the shore. Until 1370, it was owned by the Lords of Hünenberg, who were forced to sell it to the Habsburgs for financial reasons. As the Habsburgs were in conflict with the Confederates, and Zug had joined the Confederation in 1352, the fortress became a point of contention. In 1382, the people of Zug besieged the structure, and four years later, in the course of the Battle of Sempach, the Confederates, with the support of the Schwyzers, succeeded in capturing it. In the following centuries, the castle changed hands multiple times. A fiduciary commission under Zug's district clerk Franz Fidel Landtwing had to abandon the complex in 1775 due to financial difficulties. During the French occupation of Switzerland from 1798 to 1815, St. Andreas served as a stable and prison camp and gradually fell into disrepair. In the 19th century, the new owner, architect Heinrich Viktor von Segesser, restored its habitability. After his death in 1900, Adelheid Page-Schwerzmann acquired the complex in 1903. Parts of the estate, such as the chapel and chaplaincy, went to the Catholic parish of Cham-Hünenberg, while the Hirsgarten and the public bathing area went to the municipality of Cham. Today, the castle with its park and outbuildings is privately owned by an inheritance community of the von Schulthess Rechberg family.

St. Andreas Castle is located in Cham, in the canton of Zug, Switzerland, at an elevation of approximately 422 m above sea level.

St. Andreas Castle is currently privately owned and therefore not accessible to the public.

• Freudenberg Castle (Rotkreuz) (castle), approx. 2.8 km away
• Hünenberg Ruin (castle), approx. 3.3 km away
• Zug Castle (castle), approx. 4.1 km away
• Buonas Castle (castle), approx. 4.2 km away