Ruine Urstein

Herisau, Switzerland, Switzerland

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Ruine Urstein is a nearly vanished spur castle ruin in Herisau, canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland, once the largest and oldest of three fortifications in the area under the former St. Gallen monastery domain.

Commissioned around 1080 by Abbot Ulrich II. von Eppenstein as Rachinstein to protect abbey lands during the Investiture Controversy, it spanned a 60-meter molasse rock spur with thick sandstone walls up to 2.3 meters wide, including a bergfried tower and later quoin additions, suffering multiple fires and rebuilds with tiled stoves before its 1275 destruction by Ulrich von Ramschwag amid feudal disputes with the lords of Rorschach.

Erosion caused most remnants to slide into flanking ravines by the 20th century, prompting emergency digs from 1971-1985 that revealed Mesolithic tools, animal bones indicating local diets, and exhibits now in Herisau Museum, leaving scant traces today.