The château

The south facade of the three-story château faces the remise. The compact building features a mansard roof with dormer windows. The onion-topped belfry on the roof houses a bell from the former St. Michael's charnel house in Arth (Schwyz). The original one, which is now known as the Zollikofer bell, is located in the foyer.

The light-plastered facades are characterized by their simplicity and the sparing use of decorative elements.Simplicity and a sparing use of decorative elements characterize the lightly plastered facades, which are framed by pilaster strips at the corners. Above both the arched cellar portal on the north side and the main entrance on the south side show the (incorrect) date of 1590has been added.

Adjoining the east facade is a walkway that borders the symmetrical French garden on two sides. The center of the garden is embellished by the railings of a former well. 

The interior of the château was thoroughly renovated between 1972 and 1975. 1994 saw further renovation and conversion work, during which the original room divisions were retained but the mansard floor was converted into living space. In the most recent redesign, undertaken between 2011 and 2012, the two upper floors and the mansard floor were remodeled in line with the baroque style of 1732, with the addition of some modern elements, creating five luxury suites.

The ground floor is divided into two long, rectangular reception rooms. The foyer has a beamed ceiling with modestly contoured panel boards. The foyer most likely dates back to the original building that Junker Wolf Walter von Gryffenberg had built in 1576.

The castle hall facing the lake was formerly divided into two parts. A newer, narrow staircase leads from the foyer to the first floor. The rooms on this floor, a club room, a parlor, and the “Parry” guest room, can be accessed via a narrow central corridor and face partly towards the lake and partly towards the courtyard.

The second floor and the mansard floor have an almost identical room layout and now house the four guest rooms: “Guisan” and “Zollikofer” (on the second floor), and “Gryffenberg” and “Högger” (on the mansard floor). Half of the lake-facing guest room on the second floor is spanned by a Régence stucco ceiling, which was probably constructed in 1732 under the supervision of Johannes Zollikofer.

Among the few preserved historic pieces of furniture are the four white glazed, tiled stoves. The numerous present-day furnishings purchased by UBS in the 1970s include a late Gothic double-story cupboard of South-German origin with a richly pierced front that is gilded and painted, as well as four carved niche figurines.

Literature: This text is largely based on the Swiss Art Guide of the Society for Art History in Switzerland GSK (www.gsk.ch), published in collaboration with Wolfsberg: Cornelia Stäheli, Château Wolfsberg near Ermatingen, 3rd, updated edition, Bern 2013.