Feldkirch

Feldkirch was a small imperial county in Vorarlberg, centred on Schattenburg Castle above the town. In 1337 it belonged to the Montfort-Feldkirch counts.

Emperor Louis the Bavarian unsuccessfully besieged Schattenburg in 1345. The last count, Rudolf, sold his indebted lordship to Leopold III of Habsburg in 1375; the townspeople won a charter of liberties in 1376. During the Appenzell Wars the castle fell and burned after an eighteen-week siege in 1405 and 1406. Swedish troops occupied Feldkirch without a fight in 1647.