Arenenberg

Switzerland, Switzerland

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Arenenberg is a historic chateau and estate in Salenstein, Canton of Thurgau, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Constance, originally built in the early 16th century by Constance mayor Sebastian Geissberg on a site with possible Roman-era roots.

Purchased in 1817 by Hortense de Beauharnais, stepdaughter of Napoleon I and former Queen of Holland, it became her exile home where she renovated it in Parisian style, hosted luminaries, and raised her son Louis Napoleon, who later became Napoleon III and spent his youth there before selling it in 1843 and repurchasing it via Empress Eugénie in 1855 for further enhancements.

Donated to the Canton of Thurgau in 1906, it now houses the Napoleonmuseum, displaying Bonaparte family artifacts in a Swiss heritage site of national significance surrounded by parks, gardens, and vineyards.