Nidau Castle

The first castle in Nidau was founded around 1140 by the Counts of Neuchâtel. It originally consisted of wood and is historically first documented by a charter from August 30, 1196, issued by Count Ulrich III of Neuchâtel. Parts of the keep, the Kefiturm (prison tower), and the curtain wall of the stone water castle built in the 13th century (the water level of Lake Biel was 2 meters higher in the Middle Ages) are still preserved.

After the death of the last Count of Neuchâtel in 1375 in the Gugler War, the castle first passed to the Diocese of Basel, then to the Counts of Neu-Kyburg, and finally in 1388 in the Sempach War to Bern and Solothurn.

Thereafter, the castle served as the seat of 86 Bernese bailiffs and four chief magistrates until 1831. The current building largely dates from 1627 to 1636 and houses offices of the cantonal administration (including the Government Governor's Office of the Nidau district) and a castle museum, which features an exhibition on the Jura Water Correction.

Since 1994, the Open-Air Cinema has taken place in the castle park every summer.