Schloss Nidau

NOT far from Biel/Bienne is Schloss Nidau, a castle I came across by chance while seeing what lay on the other side of the (railway) tracks from the main town.

The first wooden castle on the site was apparently built in 1140, with a stone version following almost 100 years later.
The town of Nidau was not founded until the 14th century, but presumably there would have been some farming activity and work connected with the castle before then.
A river and water-filled moat surrounded the castle for many centuries, but disappeared due to major anti-flooding measures undertaken from 1868 in a region known as Swiss Seeland.