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Cultural attractions
South Tyrolean museums: witnesses to a turbulent history
The history and culture of our borderland is very interesting. This is where Ötzi the Iceman fought at the Hauslabjoch and where the Rhaetians and Romans made wine. Medieval emperors and kings feared our mountain land, while Oswald von Wolkenstein loved it, as did Andreas Hofer.
Luis Trenker climbed here for the German cinema industry when South Tyrol was a part of Italy, while Reinhold Messner from the Villnöss valley conquered the peaks of the world.
South Tyrol has seen a great deal. It is worth finding out a bit more about the culture, society and history of the area. Apart from the well-known museums (for instance the Ötzi Archaeological Museum in Bozen, the mining museums at Ridnaun and Prettau, the Brixen diocesan museum, the Messner Mountain Museum at Firmian, the Bozen natural history museum, the mineral museum of Teis, the Museion for contemporary art in Bozen and the Touriseum in Meran), we can recommend numerous other small museums.
Just look around South Tyrol’s varied museum landscape! Here is a guide to the museums of South Tyrol
Castles, keeps and dungeons
South Tyrol is a land of castles, keeps and manors. Here the Middle Ages live on. Over 780 of these romantic buildings from days gone by can be found in South Tyrol, mostly on the imperial transit routes or at the former border posts.
Today they accommodate museums, collections and restaurants.
Your castle tour begins just around the corner from the **** Bacherhof Hotel:
| Rodeneck Castle |
The castle was built in 1140 by the Lords of Rodank and in the 16th century was turned by the Wolkensteiner family into one of the strongest castles in the land. The drawbridges, towers, ramparts, armoury and Iwein frescoes are particularly worth seeing! |
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Mühlbacher Klause |
Former customs post and ancient fortress, build in 1260 under Count Meinhard II of Tyrol. Now beautifully restored. |
| Franzensfeste fortress |
The once supposedly impregnable bulwark on the Austro-Hungarian frontier was completed in 1833 by Emperor Francis I of Austria. Today the fortress, which has never seen combat, looks majestically over an artificial lake. |
| Hofburg Brixen |
The princely residence of the Brixen bishops boasts renaissance loggias, baroque facades, castle gate, church and the diocesan museum in 70 rooms with its fine collection of sacral art. |
| Schloss Sigmundskron |
With its origins in prehistory, it later served as the castle and seat of the court of the bishops of Trento. This where Reinhold Messner sited his fourth museum project, the Messner Mountain Museum or MMM Firmian. Absolutely recommended |
| Schloss Trauttmansdorff |
Empress “Sissi” of Austria resided at Trauttmansdorff Castle in Meran/Obermais. Today it is home to the botanical gardens and the South Tyrol Museum of Tourism |
| Schloss Wolfsthurn |
A splendid baroque castle in Mareit near Sterzing, which today houses a museum of hunting and fishing. |
| Burg Taufers |
The mighty medieval castle of the Lords of Taufers is fully furnished and very well maintained: it ranks among the largest and most beautiful castles in all Tyrol and contains furnishings and art objects from the 12th to the 17th centuries. | |
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