Hohenlandenberg Castle, Medieval castle ruin in Wila, Switzerland

Hohenlandenberg is a medieval castle situated on a hillside near Wila, commanding views over the rolling landscape of the Zürich region. The stone ruins are surrounded by woodland and occupy a strategically chosen location that would have provided defensive advantages.

Hohenlandenberg was probably founded around 1300 by the Lords of Landenberg and is documented in 1300; it served as a secondary castle of the family. In 1344 Zürich and Habsburg forces destroyed it, apparently because the lord Beringer II of Hohenlandenberg had committed robbery and coin counterfeiting. Beringer died during the Zürcher Mordnacht.

The castle takes its name from the Landenberg family, who founded it around 1300 as a secondary seat; the surviving walls are those of a ruin destroyed in 1344. Beringer II of Hohenlandenberg, the lord at that time, was accused of robbery and counterfeiting, and died during the Zürcher Mordnacht. The site is listed as a class A Swiss cultural property of national significance.

The ruin sits at 794 m above sea level on a rocky spur in the municipality of Wila. The plateau was artificially levelled and is flanked by two neck ditches to the south and one to the north. The foundation walls visible today were uncovered in the winter of 1925/26.

The castle was a secondary seat of the Landenberg family, and its lord Beringer II von Hohenlandenberg was executed after the 1344 destruction for robbery and counterfeiting. Stones from the crumbling ruin were later reused to build the first cotton spinning mill in Turbenthal.