Burg Wackenau, Castle ruin in Grisons, Switzerland

Burg Wackenau is a castle ruin sitting on a forested outcrop above the Rhine River near Bonaduz. The stone walls and structural remains show how the medieval fortress was built and positioned to overlook the river valley below.

No written records document the castle's construction or early history, and the surviving masonry gives no clue to its founding date. It is thought to have guarded the road to Trin, which crossed a bridge called Punt veder just east of the site.

The name Wackenau was explained around 1573 by Ulrich Campell as "Wache über die Au" (watch over the meadow) or "wachendes Auge" (watchful eye). Fortunat Sprecher recorded the form Vackenou in 1617, which matches the site above the boulders the Vorderrhein deposited here, since Wacke means fieldstone or pebble. The viewing platform above the ruin hill carries the castle's name.

The ruins can be reached by a 20-minute walk from the parking area west of Bonaduz village. Good hiking boots are recommended since the path goes through forest terrain with uneven ground.

The viewing platform above the ruin hill is named after the castle and gives a wide view into the Ruinaulta, the gorge of the Vorderrhein. The castle itself has no tower, and the cistern that Erwin Poeschel still found in the late 1920s can no longer be seen.