Stockalper Palace

The Stockalper Palace is a castle in Brig-Glis, Switzerland. It was built between 1658 and 1678 by Kaspar Stockalper, a silk merchant of Brig. The Stockalper Palace was the largest private construction in Switzerland at the time. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The first building on the site is known as the Stockalper House, which was built in 1532 by Peter Stockalper. Over the following century it was expanded toward the north, but it remained generally unchanged until the rise of Kaspar Stockalper. Kaspar Stockalper was born to a wealthy family in Brig on 14 July 1609. After studying at the university in Freiburg im Breisgau from 1627 to 1629, he returned to Brig and began building an extensive trading empire. By 1647 he had the local salt monopoly and built a road over the Simplon pass which gave him a monopoly on trade over this pass. Between 1651-59 he built a canal from Vouvry to Collombey which expanded his trading empire. At the peak of his power, Kaspar employed around 5,000 people .

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