Schloss Grüningen, in the old town of Grüningen in the Zurich Oberland, rents eight seminar rooms for 6 to 22 people, a banquet cellar for up to 50 guests and two rooms for civil weddings. The seminar rooms are open all year from 7:30 a.m. to midnight. The castle is about 30 minutes from Zurich and is a member of the seminarland.ch network.
Seminars and company events
The seminar rooms sit on the second and third floors, with a shared anteroom on each floor included in the rental. On the second floor, the Ratstube takes up to 22 people in a banquet layout on 69 square meters. The Lavater-Stube takes 10 on 24 square meters, and the Hagenauer-Stube and the Gessler-Stube take 8 each on 21 and 20 square meters, all with a block table layout. The anteroom on this floor measures 30 square meters and holds up to 25 people.
On the third floor, the Oberamtstube takes up to 14 people in a banquet layout on 32 square meters. The Berger-Stube takes 8 on 20 square meters, the Edlibach-Stube takes 8 around a round table on 17 square meters, and the Escher-Stube takes 6 around an oval table on 16 square meters. The anteroom is 36 square meters. The kitchen is reserved for the castle team and the caterer.
Rooms are modern in equipment, and the castle describes them as working spaces with a plain look. Coffee and break snacks are served. For lunch, the castle recommends local restaurants a few minutes away. A session can end with an aperitif in the Schlosskeller.
Weddings and receptions
Civil weddings take place on selected Thursdays and Fridays and on one Saturday each year, in time slots of about 20 minutes. The registry office in Wetzikon gives information on free slots. Ceremonies are held in the Ratstube, which takes 22 people, or the Oberamtstube, which takes 14. The Schlosskeller can be rented for the aperitif afterwards. The castle courtyard is public ground and cannot be rented exclusively for an aperitif.
Free ceremonies, which have no civil legal effect, are also possible in the rooms, the cellar and the courtyard. The castle names six celebrants who offer them there.
Rooms and capacities
For celebrations, the Ratstube takes 22 guests, the Oberamtstube 14, and the Schlosskeller, on the ground floor, takes up to 50 guests at various tables on 78 square meters. The castle suggests family parties, company dinners, baptisms, confirmations and wedding dinners in these rooms.
Catering
The castle team offers aperitif pastries, finger food and drinks. For fuller catering, selected local caterers who know the building are available. Hiring your own caterer is possible by agreement with a rental surcharge. Self-catering is not allowed in the castle rooms, except in the Schlosskeller.
History and setting
The castle was begun as a fortress around 1220 and was damaged by several fires. The fire of 1551 destroyed much of the old town and the church tower, and a third fire in 1685 destroyed 13 houses. The destroyed third floor was rebuilt in the 1970s. The municipality of Grüningen rents the castle's rooms from the canton of Zurich on a long-term lease and financed a renovation of about 750,000 francs from the Alfred Tanner fund, completed between October 2015 and April 2016. The castle also houses a museum on the first floor and a café that opens on Sundays.
Getting there
The address is Kirchgass 5, 8627 Grüningen. The nearest S-Bahn stations are Wetzikon and Uster, with bus 867 from Wetzikon or 845 from Uster to the stop Grüningen-Stedtli. By car, take the A53 or the A52 from Zurich, Winterthur or St. Gallen.
