Research — Monument and Collection
Monument and Collection – Thun Castle in Research
The donjon of the dukes of Zähringen, the town of the counts of Kyburg, a collection of over 17,000 objects: Thun Castle is not only a museum – it is itself an object of research. On this page, the Thun Castle Foundation shows where the monument and the Historical Museum feature in scholarship today, and invites students and researchers to join in: from Bachelor’s thesis to doctorate.
Around 1200, the dukes of Zähringen erected one of the mightiest towers of the Alpine region above the River Aare. Its Knights’ Hall is among the best-preserved high-medieval halls in Europe – and it still poses riddles to scholarship today: was the great tower a fortification, a residence, or – as recent building archaeology puts it – a «hall building in the form of a tower»? After the death of the last duke of Zähringen in 1218, the counts of Kyburg inherited castle and town; in 1264 Countess Elisabeth granted Thun its charter, the Handfeste. On the castle hill, the history of two great high-medieval dynasties is condensed into one place.
How much this monument occupies the academic world was shown most recently by the international conference «Grosse Türme» (Great Towers) of the Wartburg-Gesellschaft: in May 2025, castle researchers from all over Europe met in Spiez to discuss donjons, keeps and bergfrieds – with an excursion to the town and castle of Thun. The travelling exhibition «Die Zähringer – Mythos und Wirklichkeit» (The Zähringer – Myth and Reality), with venues in south-west Germany as well as in Thun and Burgdorf, has also placed the dynasty in a new light.
The Thun Castle Foundation sees the monument and the collection of the Historical Museum as an open archive: over 17,000 objects from the Neolithic to the 20th century, scholarly annual reports since 1923, and a network reaching into archives and universities. What grows out of this, we present here – and we encourage more.
The Research Cluster
Four fields, one place: where Thun Castle features in scholarship today – with the latest literature for further reading.
Zähringen · Building Archaeology
The Zähringen Donjon
Four corner turrets and a great hall: the tower of around 1200 is considered a key building of Zähringen castle architecture – and is being reinterpreted by building archaeology.
- Armand Baeriswyl: Der zähringische grosse Turm im Schloss Thun – ein Saalbau in Turmform?Forschungen zu Burgen und Schlössern, Wartburg-Gesellschaft, 2019 (in German)
- Jürgen Dendorfer, Heinz Krieg, R. Johanna Regnath (eds.): Die Zähringer. Rang und Herrschaft um 1200Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2018 – the standard work of recent Zähringen research
- Thomas Zotz: Die Zähringer. Dynastie und HerrschaftKohlhammer, Stuttgart 2018
- Armand Baeriswyl: «Zähringerstädte» – ein städtebaulicher Mythos unter der Lupe der Archäologiearticle as PDF on schlossthun.ch
Kyburg · Town History
The Counts of Kyburg and the Town of Thun
In 1218 the counts of Kyburg inherited castle and town; in 1264 Countess Elisabeth granted the town charter. Recent research tells the Kyburg story as a «noble history with ruptures».
- Peter Niederhäuser (ed.): Die Grafen von Kyburg. Eine Adelsgeschichte mit BrüchenMitteilungen der Antiquarischen Gesellschaft in Zürich 82, Chronos, Zurich 2015
- «Kyburg, von» – Historical Dictionary of Switzerlandthe current state of research at a glance
- Project «Coats of Arms and Seals of Thun»our own research on the 1264 charter and the de Chalon family
Castle Studies · International
Thun in the Eye of International Research
From Scotland to Bohemia: castle studies compare the «great towers» of the Middle Ages – and stop off in Thun.
- Conference «Grosse Türme – bergfrieds, tower houses, donjons, keeps», Spiez 2025Wartburg-Gesellschaft with the University of Bern, the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern, Spiez Castle Museum and the Swiss Castles Association – with an excursion to the town and castle of Thun
- Conference volume in the series «Forschungen zu Burgen und Schlössern»in preparation – we will link it here once published
- Travelling exhibition «Die Zähringer – Mythos und Wirklichkeit»Alemannisches Institut, City Archive and University of Freiburg i. Br. – with venues including Thun and Burgdorf
Collection · Historical Museum
The Collection as a Source
Over 17,000 objects from the Neolithic to the 20th century: much has been catalogued – much still awaits scholarly study.
- CERAMICA CH – the holdings of the Thun Castle Foundation in the national ceramics inventoryCeramica Foundation Basel; including Thun majolica and Heimberg pottery
- Annual reports & bibliographyscholarly contributions on the castle since 1923, to read and download
- The collection at a glancecontinuously catalogued – a treasure trove for theses
A new title, a new conference? Let us know via the form – we keep the cluster up to date.
Bachelor’s, Master’s or doctoral thesis? Research with us
The Thun Castle Foundation supports scholarly work on the monument, the collection and the history of the museum – expressly including qualification theses from seminar paper to dissertation, for example in history, archaeology, art history or museology.
- Access: By arrangement, we open the collection, the depot and our documentation for your research question.
- Networking: We put you in touch with the Burgerarchiv Thun, the State Archives of the Canton of Bern, the Archaeological Service and academic supervisors.
- Visibility: Results can be published in the Thun annual report and on this page.
There is no shortage of topics: the interpretation of the donjon, uncatalogued parts of the collection – from ceramics to militaria – or the history of the museum since the 19th century. We are happy to develop your topic together with you.
Your enquiry to the research team
Are you planning a thesis, looking for literature or sources on Thun Castle, would you like to point us to a new publication or propose a cooperation? Write to us – we read every message and reply by email.
Visit the places yourself
This history is most impressive inside the tower itself: the royal history tour «Before Sisi – The Swiss Road to the Habsburg Crown» leads through the dynastic history of the castle hill. And in the collection you will encounter the witnesses of this era – from the executioner’s sword to Thun majolica – in the Knights’ Hall of the donjon.