Tower at the Gasthaus Tell

En un regard

Le château en bref

On the eastern façade of the Tell inn, on the Klausenstrasse side, at the entrance to the old village of Bürglen (Uri), the base level of a medieval tower, about three metres high, can still be made out. It was one of four towers that marked out the village, like the Meier tower and the Wattigwil tower, which still stand in the landscape, and it was probably attached to the Meier's office (Meieramt) of Bürglen, one of three administrative offices through which the Fraumünster abbey in Zurich had managed its Uri possessions since the beginning of the 13th century; a Meier is attested in 1256. Square in plan (about 7.9 m on each side), with walls one metre thick, the tower probably carried an upper storey of timber. Its builder remains unknown. It was levelled around 1860, when a new house was built that incorporates it, and the medieval masonry on the east side was uncovered in 1954. The date of 1135 carved into the wall is considered to be invented. The building now houses a restaurant, a café and a bakery; the exterior of the tower can be viewed at any time.