Eglisau
A painted riverside town on the High Rhine whose lower streets were drowned when a power station raised the water in 1920.
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Eglisau sits where the Rhine is crossed on the old road north, and its main street of tall painted houses with stepped gables is one of the better-preserved small-town frontages in the canton. The town's shape was changed by engineering: the Eglisau-Glattfelden power station, completed in 1920, raised the river by several metres and put the lowest row of houses and the old riverside quarter under water permanently - the loss is visible in photographs displayed locally and in the way the surviving houses now stand with their feet at the waterline. Vines grow on the slope above; Eglisau is one of the northernmost wine communes of the canton. Boats run downstream toward Rheinau in season.
What you actually see
- A painted main street - tall stepped-gable houses above the river.
- A drowned lower quarter - houses lost when the 1920 dam raised the Rhine.
- Northern Zurich vineyards - vines on the slope behind the town.
- River boats in season - services downstream toward Rheinau.
When to go
April to October. Half a day.
Honest expectations
The town is small - an hour or two covers it. Boats are seasonal. The railway viaduct dominates one end of the view. Parking near the waterfront is limited.
Nearby
Rheinau abbey is downstream; Schaffhausen and the Rhine Falls are north-west.
What to pack for Eglisau
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.