Runkelstein Castle (German: Schloss Runkelstein; Italian : Castel Roncolo) is a medieval fortification on a rocky spur in the territory of Ritten, near the city of Bolzano in South Tyrol, Italy. In 1237 Alderich Prince-Bishop of Trent gave the brothers Friedrich and Beral Lords of Wangen permission to construct a castle on the rock then called Runchenstayn.
In 1277 it was damaged during a siege by Meinhard II of Tirol, who after winning the war against Heinrich Prince-Bishop of Trent, entrusted the castle to Gottschalk Knoger of Bozen. In 1385 the Niklaus and Franz Vintler wealthy merchant brothers from Bozen bought the castle. Niklaus was counselor and financier of the Count of Tyrol, Leopold III, Duke of Austria, which allowed them to buy the castle, a type of residence unfitting – in those times – for people of their rank. The brothers Vintler commissioned a vast restructuring of the castle: a new defence wall, moat, a cistern and more rooms were built. In 1390 the construction of the Summer House began. The house was painted with frescos, for which the castle is most famous today, inside and outside. The frescos topics were of literary nature, depicting i.e. King Arthur and his knights, Tristan and Isolde, Dietrich von Bern. The family also commissioned the frescoes in the Western and Eastern Palace. They were created by an unknown masters and some of them depict scenes from Pleiers romance Garel . [1]
In 1407 the monetary conflict between Frederick IV, Duke of Austria "mit der leeren Tasche“ (with empty pocket), Count of Tyrol and wealthy Tyrolean noble families resulted in open war. The Vintlers were drawn into these disputes and Runkelstein was besieged. Niklaus, who had allied himself with the nobles in the "Hawk League" lost all his wealth and possessions. His brother Franz, who had allied with the Duke remained owner of the Castle until Sigismund, Archduke of Austria "der Münzreiche" (rich with coins) acquired it.
The Habsburg family owned the castle until 1530. Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I gave order to renovate the castle. He furnished his apartment and commissioned a restoration of the frescos. He also ordered his Coat of Arms to be prominently displayed in the castle. Around 1500 Maximilian gave the castle to his vassal Georg von Frundsberg, famous "Father of the Landsknechte". Frundsberg entrusted the care of the castle to a vicar. In 1520 the powder magazine on the groundfloor of the tower exploded. The explosion damaged parts of the outer wall, entrance and Eastern Palace and destroyed the tower. Afterwards the castle was neglected until King Ferdinand I bestowed it in 1530 to Sigmund von Brandis, Knight Commander of Bozen. [2]
Later the Prince-Bishop of Trent obtained the castle anew and Prince-Bishop Bernhard von Cles gave it as a feud to the Counts of Lichtenstein-Kastelkorn. In 1672 a fire destroyed the eastern palace, which was never rebuilt. In 1759 the last Lichtenstein-Kastelkorn gave back the fief to the Trentine bishops. At the time the castle was in grave decay.
During the Romanticism period in the early nineteenth century romanticists rediscovered Runkelstein. Johann Joseph von Görres, a German writer was the first to come and was soon followed by the many artists in the service of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. In this time the castle became a symbol for the Romantic period. In 1868, the northern wall of the Summer House collapsed, but in 1880 the castle's fortunes changed: Archduke Johann Salvator of Austria-Tuscany bought Runkelstein and gave it as a gift to Emperor Franz Josef in 1882. The emperor commissioned Friedrich von Schmidt to restore the Castle and after the restoration donated it to the city of Bozen in 1893. The last restoration, including a careful restoration of the frescos was carried out in the late 1990s. [3]
Bolzano is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The greater metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants and is one of the urban centers within the Alps.
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The House of Schönborn[ˈʃøːnbɔrn] is the name of an ancient noble and mediatised formerly sovereign family of the former Holy Roman Empire.
The Prince-Bishopric of Trent was an ecclesiastical principality roughly corresponding to the present-day Northern Italian autonomous province of Trentino. It was created in 1027 and existed until 1802, when it was secularised and absorbed into the County of Tyrol held by the House of Habsburg. Trent was a Hochstift, an Imperial State under the authority of a prince-bishop at Trento.
The Prince-Bishopric of Brixen was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the present-day northern Italian province of South Tyrol. It should not be confused with the larger Catholic diocese, over which the prince-bishops exercised only the ecclesiastical authority of an ordinary bishop. The bishopric in the Eisack/Isarco valley was established in the 6th century and gradually received more secular powers. It gained imperial immediacy in 1027 and remained an Imperial Estate until 1803, when it was secularised to Tyrol. The diocese, however, existed until 1964, and is now part of the Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen.
The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised prince-bishoprics of Trent and Brixen, became a crown land of the Austrian Empire. From 1867, it was a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary.
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Arco Castle is a ruined castle located on a prominent spur high above Arco and the Sarca Valley in Trentino, northern Italy.
Karneid Castle is a castle in northern Italy situated in the comune (municipality) of Karneid in the province of South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 4 km east of the city of Bolzano (Bozen).
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bolzano/Bozen in the Trentino-South Tyrol region of Italy.
The cathedral Maria Himmelfahrt is the parish church of the South Tyrolean capital Bolzano and cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bozen-Brixen. While the Bishop has resided in Bozen since 1964, the cathedra and the cathedral chapter remain in Brixen. Maria Himmelfahrt is therefore with Brixen Cathedral co-cathedral of the diocese.
Mergentheim Palace is a historic building located in Bad Mergentheim, Germany. The palace was first a castle, built in the early Middle Ages as the seat of the Taubergau, but then became a Teutonic possession in 1219, and then seat of the Mergentheim Commandery. The castle became the residence of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in 1527 and remained the headquarters of the Order until 1809.
Schloss Blühnbach is a stately home in the Blühnbach valley in Werfen, Salzburg (state), Austria. Formerly, it was a hunting lodge of the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg and Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, whose assassination in Sarajevo triggered World War I. The estate is privately owned and ‘hermetically closed’ to the public.
46°31′02″N11°21′32″E / 46.51722°N 11.35889°E
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