Alt-Wülflingen Castle (Ruin) (Winterthur)

The locality of Wülflingen, first mentioned in 897, was likely an an Alemannic settlement. From the 10th century, it was the seat of a comital family. By the mid-11th century, a fortified complex must have already existed on the castle hill. Count Kuno von Achalm resided here and, around 1055, imprisoned Bishop Gebhard III of Regensburg. In 1089, Kuno and his brother Luitold founded the Zwiefalten monastery and transferred Wülflingen Castle to it. After Kuno's death in 1092 and Luitold's childless demise in 1098, the dominion passed to the Counts of Horburg and later to the Habsburgs. By 1239 at the latest, the castle and dominion were in the possession of the Habsburg-Kyburgs, who erected the tower still visible today. The Habsburgs granted the dominion as a fief to various nobles, including Konrad von Wülflingen and later the Lords of Seen, who renovated the complex. After the Battle of Sempach in 1386 and the death of Hartmann von Seen, the castle passed to Ulrich VIII von Landenberg-Greifensee.