Wartensee Castle (Rorschacherberg)

Wartensee Castle is a historic building complex in Rorschacherberg. It dates back to a residential tower from the 13th century and is now a conference and meeting center owned by the Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton of St. Gallen. It is not to be confused with Wartegg Castle, which is also located in the municipality of Rorschacherberg.

The western tower was built in 1243 by Knight Heinrich von Wartensee as a residential tower. Through the marriage of two female descendants, the tower passed to the brothers Walter and Diethelm Blarer from St. Gallen in 1377. The Blarer von Wartensee family owned Wartensee Castle until 1719 and expanded the castle into a triple residence. The alterations by the son of the English composer Robert Lucas Pearsall de Willsbridge between 1843 and 1853 were also formative for its current appearance: these gave the castle its present neo-Gothic character and the surrounding parkland.

After further changes of ownership, the property was acquired in 1955 by the Ostschweizerische Evangelische Heimstätte Schloss Wartensee association and used as an educational center. In 1984, Wartensee Castle finally passed into the possession of the Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton of St. Gallen, which operates it – after extensive renovations between 1994 and 1996 – as a conference and meeting center.

Wartensee Castle is a historic building complex in Rorschacherberg. It dates back to a residential tower from the 13th century and is now a conference and meeting center owned by the Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton of St. Gallen. It is not to be confused with Wartegg Castle, which is also located in the municipality of Rorschacherberg.

The western tower was built in 1243 by Knight Heinrich von Wartensee as a residential tower. Through the marriage of two female descendants, the tower passed to the brothers Walter and Diethelm Blarer from St. Gallen in 1377. The Blarer von Wartensee family owned Wartensee Castle until 1719 and expanded the castle into a triple residence. The alterations by the son of the English composer Robert Lucas Pearsall de Willsbridge between 1843 and 1853 were also formative for its current appearance: these gave the castle its present neo-Gothic character and the surrounding parkland.

After further changes of ownership, the property was acquired in 1955 by the Ostschweizerische Evangelische Heimstätte Schloss Wartensee association and used as an educational center. In 1984, Wartensee Castle finally passed into the possession of the Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton of St. Gallen, which operates it – after extensive renovations between 1994 and 1996 – as a conference and meeting center.