Burg Stein

Burg Stein stands on the Inseli, a rocky shell-limestone island in the Rhine at Rheinfelden, Switzerland. The five-to-six-metre outcrop now forms a public park with views towards the river and old town.

The Counts of Rheinfelden built the island castle in the tenth century as part of the city’s fortifications. Its massive tower had walls more than four metres thick, while the fast current, narrow riverbed and old Rhine bridge strengthened the crossing’s defence. Zähringers, Habsburgs and wealthy citizens later held the site, until conflict with Basel brought its destruction in 1446. An Austrian artillery fortress replaced it in the late seventeenth century, but that structure also disappeared, leaving only a plant-covered section of supporting wall.

Art now carries the memory of those rulers across the park. Christina Frey’s four-part work stands beside a statue of Agnes von Rheinfelden, a ruler’s crown, Rudolf’s oath hand and a commemorative stone. In summer, the Inseli also draws swimmers to the Rhine.