Rosenberg Castle

Rosenberg Castle was constructed around 1200 in the territory of St. Gallen Abbey, concurrently with Rosenburg. Both castles served the Lords of Rorschach, ministeriales of the abbey, to manage and expand their dominion in this cleared area. The Rorschach family, documented since 1176, branched out after the castle's construction, with one part of the family adopting the name "von Rosenberg." In 1271, Abbot Bertold von Falkenstein celebrated Christmas here with 70 knights. During the Appenzell Wars, Rosenberg, an abbatial stronghold, was stormed and burned, but not rebuilt thereafter. Nevertheless, the lordship and the castle fief remained in the Rosenberg family's possession for some time. In 1415, Rudolf von Rosenberg gifted his half of the property to the Holy Spirit Hospital in St. Gallen, while his sisters later sold their share to the people of Herisau. From the mid-15th century, the castle site again belonged to St. Gallen Abbey until it passed to the canton in 1805 and later to private owners. Today, the ruin is owned by the local municipality.

The Rosenberg castle ruin is located at an altitude of approximately 872 meters above sea level in Herisau-Burghalden, in the hinterland of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland.

Today, parts of a palace-like residential tower remain of the Rosenberg castle ruin, with walls up to three meters thick at the foundation and still reaching nine meters in height in places. The floor plan is adapted to the topographical conditions and is not square. Visitors can see a newer ground-level entrance and two original air slits. Traces of a former curtain wall and depressions in the molasse conglomerate floor, indicating an earlier subdivision, are also visible. A cistern hole, 1.2 meters in diameter and 1.6 meters deep, testifies to the water supply. The castle ruin is accessible to visitors.

• Schlössli Steinegg (castle), approx. 1.3 km away
• Oberberg Castle (Gossau) (castle), approx. 2.1 km away
• Rosenburg castle ruin (castle), approx. 2.3 km away
• Urstein castle ruin (castle), approx. 3.4 km away