Yverdon - Castle / Historical Museum

(Local Name: Château d'Yverdon-les-Bains) The town center of Yverdon-les-Bains is dominated by the mighty château, with four towers, once surrounded by water. It was originally the property of the Dukes of Savoy and it was Peter II who built it in the characteristic "Savoy square" form. Later, the castle came into the hands of the Bernese governors (Landvögte) and, from 1805, it was the headquarters of the Pestalozzi Institute, where Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi ran his school for 20 years. The two rooms in which he lived (Salle Pestalozzi) contain the furniture and memorabilia of the pedagogue. Since 1912, the castle has housed a library and a historical museum, with interesting finds from the locality and an ethnographical collection.