Description of the attraction
The picturesque ruins of what was once Europe's largest castle rise above the Market Square of Hohenems, in the Vorarlberg region, on a hill 740 meters above sea level. The Alt-Ems fortress, 800 meters long and 85 meters wide, was surrounded by a wall with seven towers and a drawbridge. The 47-room castle was built on a vertical rocky ridge in the 12th century. It was the fiefdom of the Ems nobles. At the end of the XII - beginning of the XIII century, a prison was equipped here for keeping high-ranking prisoners. So, in 1195, the king of Sicily, Wilhelm III, was brought here, and in 1206 - Archbishop Bruno von Cologne.
In 1407, during the Appenzell Wars, Alt-Ems Castle was destroyed. A hundred years later it was restored by Count Jacob Hannibal I von Hohenems, and in 1566 Count Caspar von Hohenems turned it into the most powerful fortress of the Renaissance. The plan for the reconstruction of the castle was drawn up by the architect Martino Longhi. After the von Hohenems dynasty ended in 1765, their ancestral castle was left unattended. In 1792 it was decided to demolish it.
In 1938-1940 and 1965-1966 the castle was partially restored. Another reconstruction of the fortress took place in 2006-2007. Today the imposing ruins belong to the Waldburg-Zell-Hohenams family. Tourists are happy to climb to the ruins of the Alt-Ems castle. These ruins, along with the castle of Noah Ems, built by the first owners of Alt Ems, the Lords Ems, have long become the hallmark of the city of Hohenams. Sometimes here, in the open air, they organize exhibitions of works of art.
