Diessenhofen

7 September 2021

Diessenhofen means “farms of Diezo”. Later, a priest named Lazarus donated the village with the church to the monastery of St. Gallen (757).

Count Hartmann II of Kyburg granted city rights. The charter is considered the oldest surviving text of a city charter on Swiss territory. After the Kyburg counts died out, the town came into the hands of Rudolf von Habsburg (1218-1291) in 1264.

The Eidgenossen conquered Diessenhofen in 1460 after a ten-day siege. The Eidgenossen ruled the town (and Thurgau) for over three hundred years (1460-1798) until the founding of the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803) by Napoleon.

The first mention of a town hall in Diessenhofen was in 1415. Around 1470, the town erected a new building on the present site. In 1760, the council demolished this building and constructed a new one. In 1833/34, the building was renovated. In 1988, the town hall was completely rebuilt.

Since 1803 and the founding of the Confederation (1803-1813), the town has been part of the canton of Thurgau.

The city is also well-known for its castle and Amtshaus.