Burgdorf Castle

The first documentary mention of the fortress dates back to 1130. In the 11th century, the castle, along with the High Burgundian estate, passed to the Counts of Rheinfelden and later, around 1090, to the Dukes of Zähringen. Berthold V of Zähringen had the castle expanded around 1200 into a palatial residence to make it the southern center of a planned territorial state. After his death in 1218, this state structure disintegrated, and the inheritance south of the Rhine fell to the Counts of Kyburg. Burgdorf Castle became the focal point of their western possessions. The decline of the Kyburgs led to the siege of Burgdorf in 1383 by Bern and the Confederates, marking the first use of artillery in Switzerland.