Balzers is Liechtenstein's southern gateway and one of its most peaceful corners: a village at the far end of the Rhine Valley, right on the Swiss border, crowned by one of the prettiest sights in the country. On a rocky hill in the very centre stands Gutenberg Castle, an intact medieval fortress that, unlike the prince's castle in Vaduz, you can actually partly visit, with its chapel and rose garden.
There is no hustle and bustle or big crowds here. Balzers is all rural charm, well-kept houses, vineyards, chapels and the murmur of the Rhine. The castle hill, inhabited since prehistoric times, has witnessed thousands of years of history, from the first Neolithic settlers to medieval knights; in fact, this is where the famous Roman figurine known as the 'Mars of Gutenberg' was found, now the pride of the National Museum. It is a place to wander at your own pace, climb up to the fortress and enjoy the views over the valley.
This guide takes a practical, friendly look at Balzers: how to visit Gutenberg Castle and its garden, what to see in the village and its chapels, how to get there using the nearby Swiss connections, and how to start the Liechtenstein-Weg here, the trail that crosses the whole country. It is a quiet, charming destination, perfect to combine with the capital and to discover the most peaceful side of the principality.
The rocky hill where Gutenberg Castle now stands has been inhabited since the Neolithic. Excavations have uncovered prehistoric objects and, above all, the famous bronze figure known as the 'Mars of Gutenberg', from the Roman period, now in the National Museum in Vaduz. The medieval castle dates from the 12th century, and its name first appears in records in 1296. It belonged to the lords of Frauenberg and, after the last of them died in 1314, passed to the House of Habsburg. It was remodelled around 1500 on the orders of Emperor Maximilian I after damage in the Swabian War (1499), and remained inhabited until the 18th century, when fires and neglect ruined it; its stones were even used to rebuild the village after the great fire of 1795. It fell into ruin until it was rebuilt between 1905 and 1912. Balzers, like the rest of the southern valley, was part of the County of Vaduz and, from 1719, of the Principality of Liechtenstein. The full story is on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The south of the principality: Balzers, crowned by Gutenberg Castle and its prehistoric finds, and Triesenberg, the mountain village founded by the Walser that still keeps its own dialect.
Read the history of Castles and the south →They depart from Vaduz, 8 km away. If you book from this link we earn a commission and you pay no more.
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Origins, formation and what the sources say.
At the southern tip of Liechtenstein, where the Rhine valley narrows before entering Switzerland, a rocky hill rises suddenly from among the houses of Balzers. Gutenberg Castle stands on top of it, and beneath its walls lies one of the longest stories in the country: that of a place lived in without a break for thousands of years, from the first Neolithic farmers to medieval knights and today's tourists.
Few hills this small have seen so much history go by. Stone Age tools, Bronze Age and Iron Age objects have been found on its slopes, along with a Roman treasure that is the principality's archaeological pride: the Mars of Gutenberg, a bronze statuette of the god of war. Each layer of earth on this hill holds a different era, and on top of them all the fortress that still crowns it was built in the Middle Ages.
Balzers is neither a grand town nor a busy one; it is quiet, rural, almost sleepy. But its hill makes it one of the places in Liechtenstein with the deepest history. Climbing up to Gutenberg is not just about seeing a pretty castle: it means standing on seven thousand years of human presence in the Rhine valley.
The Gutenberg Castle hill is one of the most important archaeological sites in Liechtenstein, and people have lived on it since the Neolithic. Its raised position, easy to defend and with good views over the valley, made it attractive for settlement thousands of years ago. Excavations have uncovered remains from several prehistoric periods: stone tools, pottery, and Bronze Age and Iron Age objects, proof of a continuous presence over millennia.
The most famous find dates from Roman times: the 'Mars of Gutenberg' (Mars von Gutenberg), a fine bronze statuette about twelve centimetres tall depicting the Roman god of war. It was found on the hill and dates from the first centuries AD. It is one of the most valuable and most reproduced archaeological pieces in the country, and today it is on display at the National Museum (Landesmuseum) in Vaduz. Its discovery confirms that the hill was also a place of worship, or at least of some importance, in Roman times, when the Rhine valley was fully part of the Empire.
That depth of time is what makes Balzers special. While many Alpine villages were founded in the Middle Ages, life here goes back to prehistory, and the hill acted as a magnet for the successive cultures that settled the valley. The medieval castle we see today is really just the latest in a long line of occupants of that same rock.
Gutenberg Castle as we know it dates back to the 12th century, when a lord's fortress was built on the old hill. Its name first appears in records in 1296. In the 12th and 13th centuries it belonged to the lords of Frauenberg (Frauenberg-Gutenberg), a noble family from the region. After the death of the last of them, Heinrich von Frauenberg, around 1314, the castle passed to the powerful House of Habsburg, the dynasty that ruled much of the land south of Lake Constance.
Like so many fortresses in the region, Gutenberg suffered in the wars of the late Middle Ages. In 1499 the Swabian War — the conflict between the Swiss Confederation and Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg — left damage in the valley and at the castle. In the early 16th century, on the orders of Maximilian I himself, the fortress underwent major rebuilding and strengthening to repair that damage, which gave it much of its present appearance. For centuries Gutenberg was one of the key fortresses in the southern Rhine valley.
Along with Vaduz Castle, Gutenberg is one of only two fortresses in Liechtenstein to have survived intact (the country once had as many as five castles, several of which are now ruins). That survival was neither easy nor unbroken: as we will see, the castle very nearly disappeared, and it stands today thanks to a much later reconstruction.
From the 17th century onwards, Gutenberg Castle lost its military role and fell into decline. It suffered several fires, and although it was still used as a residence around 1750, its decay could not be stopped. The final blow for Balzers as a whole came in 1795, when a great fire destroyed much of the village: to rebuild their houses, the villagers used the stones of the already ruined castle as a quarry. Bit by bit, the medieval fortress was taken apart, and it remained a ruin throughout the 19th century.
Its rebirth came in the early 20th century. Between 1905 and 1912 the castle was carefully rebuilt, recovering its silhouette and the dignity of a fortress it had lost. That reconstruction is why today we can see an intact castle rather than a heap of ruins, and why Gutenberg has become one of the symbols of Balzers and of the country. Over time, the site passed into the hands of the State of Liechtenstein.
Today Gutenberg Castle belongs to the State and serves a cultural purpose: its outer courtyard and hill are open all year, and its chapel and rose garden — the latter rebuilt in 2010 — can be visited on Sundays during the summer season. It hosts concerts, weddings and cultural events, and guided tours let you see the interior in the warmer months. From Habsburg war fortress to a setting for weddings and concerts, Gutenberg sums up the peaceful fate of a country that has not known war for centuries.
Beyond its castle, Balzers is a village with a history of its own. Made up of two parts — Balzers itself and neighbouring Mäls — it was for centuries a farming community in the southern Rhine valley, living from agriculture, livestock and the vineyards on its sunny slopes. Like the whole south of today's principality, it belonged to the County of Vaduz, and when the House of Liechtenstein bought the county and the principality was created in 1719, Balzers became one of its municipalities.
Life in Balzers, as in other riverside villages, was shaped by the Rhine: its floods threatened the low-lying land, and channelling the river in modern times was key to gaining farmland and safety. Catholic faith left its mark on the parish church of St. Nicholas and on the many chapels dotted around the municipality. In the 20th century Balzers went through the same transformation as the rest of the country, with some industry and services, while keeping its quiet character and rural feel.
Today Balzers is the southern gateway to Liechtenstein: the starting point of the national Liechtenstein-Weg trail, which crosses the whole country to the Austrian border, and a stop well worth making for anyone who wants to see the calmest, most authentic side of the principality. Its intact castle, its ancient hill and its valley-village atmosphere make it a perfect counterpoint to the capital, and a place where you can feel history under your feet just by climbing up to the rock of Gutenberg.
