Schloss Spiez

Spiez, Switzerland, Switzerland

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Schloss Spiez is a strikingly preserved medieval castle on a peninsula jutting into Lake Thun in the town of Spiez, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, with origins tracing to a Bronze Age settlement and a 7th-century horseman's grave on the site.

First documented in 762 and built in stone around 1200 by the Barons of Strättligen, it passed to the Bubenberg family in 1338 and then the von Erlachs in 1516, who transformed it over centuries with a 39-meter keep, Baroque ballroom, and landscaped grounds amid regional power struggles like the 1386 Battle of Sempach.

Owned by the canton since 1875 after the von Erlachs' financial ruin, it now functions as a museum displaying the famous Spiezer Schilling chronicle, period rooms, and panoramic lake views, recognized as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.