a Habsburg fief held by the Counts of Marmels, who added a mill, bath houses, a jail and housing. Also, in 1553 the round bergfried on the eastern side of the castle had to be demolished, probably because the Hinterrhein river had so undercut the eastern side of the castle and wall that it was threatened with collapse. In 1553 it was acquired by Bartholomäus von Stampa, followed by Johann von Planta in 1558 and Rudolf von Schauenstein in 1573. It then went to the Planta-Wildenstein family for about a century. In 1674 the Habsburgs were able to take the castle away from Johann Heinrich von Planta and his Protestant wife and gave it to Johann Travers von Ortenstein. In 1595 the Habsburgs dissolved the hereditary fief and instead just appointed a vogt to oversee the Rhäzüns land. Under the Austrian vogt the castle was expanded with a new chapel on the north side and an outer gatehouse on the south-west. Over the next two centuries the castle was home to a number of Austrian vogts. In 1809, after the end of the War of the Fifth Coalition, Austria was forced to hand over the castle and territory to Napoleon. Austria was able to reclaim Rhäzüns after the War of the Sixth Coalition and the defeat of Napoleon in 1814. However, the Congress of Vienna gave the castle to the Canton of Graubünden in the following year, and it finally was fully handed over on 19 January 1819. A few years later, in 1823, the canton sold the castle to private owners and until 1860 it was the home of the Vieli family. Later it was home to a school for girls before being abandoned and allowed to fall into disrepair. In the early 20th century it was repaired and in 1929 became a vacation resort. During World War II tourism dried up and the resort had to be abandoned. In 1960 it was acquired by Ems-Chemie and after the company was acquired by SVP leader Christoph Blocher the castle was rented by Blocher from Ems-Chemie for the rest of his life. The castle is closed to tourists, except for fourth graders from the school in Rhäzüns who have been invited to tour the castle every year for over 30 years. Castle site The castle is located on a cliff above the Hinterrhein river near the village of the same