http://www.schellenberg.li
( 626 meters elevation )
smallest municipality by area
Upper and Lower Castle Ruin
modern parish church
historic "Russian Memorial" mountain path in Hinterschellenberg
"Biedermann Haus" (rural residential museum)
sports facilities

General information on Schellenberg
Schellenberg is the smallest town by area in Liechtenstein. The spread-out settlement with the three neighborhoods of Vorderer, Mittlerer, and Hinterer Schellenberg are located on the ridge of the Eschnerberg. The historical mountain path is of particular interest.
It shows the interested hiker images of the settlement areas of prehistoric significance. Finds testify to a continuity of settlement from the Neolithic Era, ca. 3000 B.C., to the La-Tene Era, 400 A.D.
The name Schellenberg derives from the knightly dynasty of Schellenberg of Bavaria. In the 13th century, the dynasty owned the lordship of Schellenberg with the fortresses New and Old Schellenberg. In 1699, the Princes of Liechtenstein purchased the lordship. Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein gave the fortress ruins to the Historical Association in 1956. Schellenberg is also the town where the oldest wooden residence in Liechtenstein is located. Built as a simple interlocking timber construction in 1518, the so-called Biedermann House stands in the center of town as a document of late medieval building culture and is open to the public.

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Historical buildings and sites in Schellenberg

• Church of St. Mary the Immaculate
  Until 1881, Schellenberg belonged to the old parish of Bendern. The first church of its own stood in Mittelschellenberg. Today’s modern parish church was built between 1960 and 1963 according to plans of Eduard Ladner of Wildhaus.
• Schellenberg fortress ruins
  The Lower Fortress, also called the Anterior Fortress, was probably founded in the second half of the 12th century.
  The Upper Fortress or Posterior Fortress was likely built in the middle of the 13th century by the Lord of Schellenberg from the Bavarian Isar Valley. It was destroyed during the Appenzell Wars of 1405 and apparently rebuilt soon thereafter.
  It changed hands frequently and became the property of the Princes of Liechtenstein through their acquisition of the lordship of Schellenberg in 1699. In 1956, Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein gave the two ruins to the Historical Society of the Principality of Liechtenstein, which supervised their preservation.
• Biedermann House No. 12
  After 14 months of construction, the translocation work on the wooden residence No. 12 in Schellenberg was completed in October 1993. This successfully preserved one of the oldest, largely original wooden homes in Liechtenstein. It is a classic, two-story interlocking timber construction with a quarrystone cellar.
  Investigations have shown that it was constructed in 1518 and that its original, late-medieval room and building structure has largely been maintained. The house has often been taken apart, relocated, and rebuilt, demonstrably in 1687 and 1793/94. The small residence, the property of the Biedermann family since 1809, was inhabited until 1964.
• St. George´s Chapel in Hinterschellenberg
  The chapel was first documented in 1824 in a report of the imperial administrator Schuppler. Archeological excavations in 1980/81 showed that the chapel was built between 1650 and 1750. The new altarpiece portraying St. George is a gift of H.S.H. Princess Gina of Liechtenstein.

Schellenberg has a population of
around 1,000 and is the smallest
municipality of Liechtenstein
by area

The Biedermann House, built in
1518, is the oldest wooden
dwelling in Liechtenstein

The two fortress ruins of
Schellenberg are from the 12th
and 13th centuries