Ruine Hochaltstätten

Switzerland, Switzerland

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Ruine Hochaltstätten is a barely visible medieval castle ruin hidden in the forest between Altstätten and St. Anton near Oberegg in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Switzerland.

Built between the late 12th and early 13th centuries by the Meier von Altstätten family, likely including the famous knight Konrad von Altstetten, it guarded the imperial road to Lake Constance with a pentagonal tower house, rock-hewn cellar, large cistern, and panoramic valley views from its once-clear hilltop.

Destroyed during the Appenzell Wars in the early 15th century and last mentioned in 1420, excavations from the 1950s to 1970s uncovered 13th- to 15th-century tiles, sparse artifacts, and evidence of rebuilds after earlier attacks, now leaving subtle depressions and legends of buried gold.