Restoration of the façades of Gottlieben Castle in Thurgau, former detention site of Pope John XXIII and Jan Hus
Gottlieben: the façades of the castle that imprisoned a pope are being restored in full view
On 12 September 2026, a conservator, site manager and stonemason opened the courtyard of Gottlieben Castle in Thurgau to the public to showcase the restoration of its crumbling façades, with cracked lime render and crumbling sandstone at risk of collapse.
Editorial journal · Carte des Châteaux ·
Deep cracks in the sandstone, layers of limewash peeling away in sheets: the façades of Gottlieben Castle, on the banks of the Rhine in Thurgau, had been showing alarming signs of wear for years. On Saturday, 12 September 2026, as part of Swiss Heritage Days, a conservator, site manager and stonemason opened the castle’s inner courtyard to explain, across four time slots, how they are saving the historic building stone by stone—one of the most historically significant landmarks in the canton.
Few Swiss castles can claim to have housed—even against their will—both a pope and one of Europe’s greatest religious reformers. Yet Gottlieben’s walls bore witness to the Council of Constance without losing this memory, which was so awkward for the Church of the time.
One restoration among many in Thurgau
Gottlieben is not alone in Thurgau: a few kilometres away, Sonnenberg Castle in Stettfurt is also undergoing restoration—but far more controversially, with the courts ordering the removal of a 13-year-old construction crane looming over the building.
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