Guided Tour: Rapperswil as a Theatre of War – 27 June 2026

A tour of Rapperswil as a theatre of war begins in the Middle Ages, when its strategic position on Lake Zürich made Rapperswil Castle both a symbol of power and a target: in 1350, during conflict with Zürich and the failed uprising against Rudolf Brun, the town and castle were destroyed and later rebuilt under Habsburg rule.

In the 19th and 20th centuries the Castle became a sanctuary for the stateless nation’s heritage, housing the Polish National Museum and later, with Switzerland remaining neutral in WWII, turning into a site of “cultural guardianship” for about 13,000 Polish soldiers who were interned in Rapperswil after the fall of France.

This layered past is embodied in Tadeusz Kościuszko’s presence, whose heart—once kept in an urn on the castle grounds—anchors Rapperswil in transnational memory politics, a cultural and political battleground over history, identity, and ownership of the past.

We uncover more of these stories while visiting Rapperswil Castle, Polish Museum and Kunst(Zeug)Haus.