The Chillon Castle guest book

The guest book in its velvet-lined wooden box

For over 60 years, the castle guest book has kept a record of some of the famous faces who have paid us a visit from the politics, art, sport and media worlds.

The first signature came from the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, in 1960. Over the decades, many other personalities have left their mark, with the likes of Salvador Dalí, Queen Elizabeth II, Pelé, Shania Twain, Swiss singer Stephan Eicher, founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival Claude Nobs, author George R. R. Martin, and more recently the Swiss President Guy Parmelin… to name but a few.

The guest book, featuring Queen Elizabeth II’s illustrated signature

Page after page, the book shows the enduring interest in the castle over the years and across borders – testament to the monument’s more recent history and its Swiss icon status.

This prestigious work is now practically fit to burst. So, a new copy will shortly take its place in the wooden box, ready to gather many more autographs and messages. The book is currently being valued for insurance purposes and we’re exploring the possibility of loaning it out for an upcoming exhibition.

The guest book will also be digitised to make it available to the public.

Stay tuned!

The guest book, featuring Salvador Dalí’s illustrated signature

To delve deeper, you can admire some of the 300 objects that tell the story of our monument throughout our permanent collection.