Historians mention a 10th-century ferry station assumably at the so-called "Einsiedlerhaus" in Rapperswil – in 981 AD as well as the vineyard on the Lindenhof hill – between Kempraten on lake shore, Lützelau and Ufenau island and assumably present Hurden, which allowed the pilgrims towards Einsiedeln to cross the lake before the prehistoric bridge at the Seedamm isthmus was re-built. By 1358, ferry services between Rapperswil and Hurden are mentioned. Between 1358 and 1360, Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, built a wooden bridge across the lake that has been used to 1878 – measuring approximately in length and wide. A small wooden bridge from Ufenau island to Hurden is mentioned around 1430, so-called "Kilchweg in die Uffnow", meaning "chorchgoing to the Ufnau island". During Old Zürich War in 1443 the bridge was set on fire, and as a result of the Second Battle of Villmergen in 1712, Hurden was reigned by the Protestant cantons of Zürich, Bern and Glarus.