Feldkirch

Feldkirch was founded around 1200 by the counts of Montfort below their castle, the Schattenburg, and it kept the plan: arcaded streets, the Marktgasse under its vaults, towers of the town wall including the Katzenturm with its heavy bell, and the Gothic cathedral of St Nikolaus with a Wolf Huber altarpiece. The Schattenburg above holds a museum and is one of the better preserved castles in the region. The position matters: Feldkirch is a few kilometres from both Liechtenstein and Switzerland, on the rail line to Buchs and Zurich, and has been a crossing point for centuries. The Montforthaus, a curved concrete and glass hall of 2015, sits in the middle of the medieval streets and holds concerts, and the town runs a summer festival in the castle and the squares.

History

The Roman settlement of Clunia, probably a weigh station, lay here on the road between Mediolanum and Brigantium, and the medieval town is first named as a city in 1218, after Count Hugo von Montfort built the Schattenburg castle above it. Feldkirch was the birthplace of the astronomer Rheticus, and the Jesuit school Stella Matutina worked here from 1651 to 1773 and again from 1856 to 1979 (Wikipedia, Feldkirch, Vorarlberg).

What's there

• Arcaded medieval streets - the Marktgasse and its vaults under the houses.
• The Schattenburg - the Montfort castle above the town, with its museum.
• Town wall towers - the Katzenturm and the surviving stretches of wall.
• A three-country crossing - Liechtenstein and Switzerland a few kilometres away.

When to go

April to October; the summer festival is in July. A day.

Practical notes

The castle museum has seasonal hours. It is small - a day is generous. Rail traffic through to Switzerland makes the station busy but the town itself is quiet on Sundays.

Nearby

Liechtenstein is minutes south; Bregenz is north; the Montafon runs east.

Key facts