Thielle Castle, Medieval castle in Gals, Switzerland

Thielle Castle is a water castle on the right bank of the Zihl Canal in Gals, built between 1270 and 1300 to guard the Zihl bridge. Its former ring walls enclose a nearly rectangular courtyard; two round tower stumps flank a baroque entrance portal. At the opposite end stands the rectangular three- to four-storey main building with a hipped roof, narrow Romanesque windows and two tall stair towers with conical roofs. A 5,300 m² park with old trees surrounds it.

Berchtold of Neuchâtel commissioned the castle in 1261 to protect the Zihl bridge, and it was built between 1270 and 1300. It is first mentioned in 1311 as chastel du pont de Tele and was rebuilt with late Gothic and Baroque additions between 1320 and 1325. In 1476 it formed part of the Swiss Confederation's defensive line against the Burgundians. It remained the seat of a Neuchâtel castellan until 1807, served as a prison until 1848, passed into private ownership in 1861, and was restored in the 1960s and 1980s.

The name Thielle comes from the Zihl river and its bridge, which the castle was built to protect; the closed bridge made it a toll and crossing point. Until 1807 the castle was the seat of a Neuchâtel castellan, and the surrounding park of about 5,300 m² retains old large trees.

The castle stands a few dozen metres north of the A20/A5 motorway where it crosses the Zihl canal, on the right bank in the hamlet of Zihlbrügg, commune of Gals. It is private property and not open to visitors, so it can only be viewed from outside. The former ring walls enclose a large rectangular courtyard, and a park of about 5,300 m² with old trees surrounds the building.

The claim that Rudolf of Habsburg tried to take the castle by surprise in 1269 rests on an unverified account: the chronicler David Guillaume Huguenin himself noted that his statements could not be confirmed. The castle is first documented in 1311 as chastel du pont de Tele.