The Story of Trauttmansdorff Castle
A tumultuous history alternating between glory and ruin
1327 The site is first mentioned in writing as the Neuberg estate.
1543 Nikolaus von Trauttmansdorff buys the estate. Two generations later his legacy ends with no male heir. The castle is abandoned and left to ruin.
1777 The tower collapses onto the chapel, destroying it. Today, a stairwell occupies the
former tower.
1846 Count Joseph von Trauttmansdorff discovers the castle his relatives had abandoned
150 years earlier in the resort town of Merano. He has the dilapidated structure renovated and embellishes it with neo-Gothic elements. Trauttmansdorff Castle, as it is now known, is regarded as the earliest example of neo-Gothic castle construction in the region of Tyrol.
In 1867 it is inherited by Free Imperial Knight (Reichsritter) Moritz von Leon, presumably the Count’s illegitimate son.
1870/71 and Austria’s Empress Elisabeth chooses Trauttmansdorff Castle as her winter residence for its
1889/90 sunny and sheltered location. In total, the Monarch visited Merano five times, which bolsters the town’s reputation as a resort to the point that it becomes a top destination
for nobility seeking spa treatments.
1897 Baron von Deuster from Kitzingen, near Würzburg, purchases the extensive estate of Trauttmansdorff Castle and its grounds, including its external dining hall, cellar houses for fermentation and brandy distillation, winter garden and outdoor dining garden, warehouse for fruit storage and export house, creamery, smithy, and brickworks, as well as orchards, vineyards and wooded parcels. Baron von Deuster renovates the Castle’s east wing with neo-Rococo décor, and significantly alters the silhouette of the Castle.
He commissions and installs Sissi’s Throne, a marble tribute to the Empress Elisabeth.
1921 In the wake of World War I, Friedrich von Deuster is expropriated from the estate, like many other German residents of Italy. Trauttmansdorff Castle is renamed ‘Castle di Nova’ and the complex is assumed by the ‘Opera Nazionale per I Combattenti’ (ONC), an aid fund for Italian soldiers.
1939 During World War II the Castle is used for storage by the German military. Most of the estate’s facilities are destroyed, and Trauttmansdorff is left once more to ruin. The Castle grounds are parcelled out to various families for agricultural use.
1977 The dilapidated Castle and the property of the former Deuster estate are assumed by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen, South Tyrol.
1988 During a trip with some fellow garden enthusiasts, engineer Manfred Ebner comes up with the idea of establishing a botanical garden in Merano. In October, Ebner submits a feasibility study for the construction of a botanical garden on the grounds of Trauttmansdorff to then Chief of Agriculture Luis Durnwalder, Merano’s MP Toni Kiem, Merano’s Mayor Franz Alber, Laimburg Estate Management Director Klaus Platter, and journalist Robert Asam.
While standing at the Castle gate, eventual Province Head Durnwalder pledges to see the botanical garden project through to completion.
1989 Assumption of the Trauttmansdorff Castle fruit and wine estate by Laimburg Estate Management
The Province Government approves the space allocation plan for the project.
1991 The Province Government issues the planning order to Ebner.
1992 Approval of the project by the Province Technical Advisory Board.
1994 Construction begins under the supervision of the Province Administration‘s Construction and Technical Services Department, Department Director Josef March and Managing Director Lukas Lantschner. The Project is overseen by surveyor Stefan Canale, and the site manager is Ebner. Terracing and terrain restructuring are performed by the Department of Hydraulic Engineering under Director Rudolf Pollinger.
1995 Laimburg Estate Management assumes management duties for the botanical garden under Director Klaus Platter, and begins planting and further development of the
garden project under its own supervision. Valentin Lobis serves as Technical Director
(through 2000).
1996 and 1997 Planting of the Sun Gardens begins.
1997 The second stage of construction begins (nursery, steelwork and foundation).
The communication design by Dr. Otto Jolias Steiner is approved by the Provincial Government.
1998 The botanist Karin Kompatscher is appointed Curator of the botanical garden.
Assignment of various landscape designers for the planning of individual plant areas and appointment of architect Wolfram Pardatscher for the realisation of the communication design.
Planting of the Water and Terraced Gardens
1999 Completion of planting in the parking area
Approval of the title ‘The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle’
The concept for a Province Museum of Tourism – the Touriseum - is accepted.
2000 Chief Gardener Klaus Messmer assumes responsibility for the management of technical operations. Irene Schullian is responsible for press, publicity and garden pedagogy, while Karin Ortler manages the plant and visitor database.
Renovation and restructuring begins at Trauttmansdorff Castle.
In autumn, the area now occupied by Forests of the World suffers from severe
erosion due to extreme rainfall.
2001 In spring, planting begins at Forests of the World.
The Gardens open on the 16th of June.
1543 Nikolaus von Trauttmansdorff buys the estate. Two generations later his legacy ends with no male heir. The castle is abandoned and left to ruin.
1777 The tower collapses onto the chapel, destroying it. Today, a stairwell occupies the
former tower.
1846 Count Joseph von Trauttmansdorff discovers the castle his relatives had abandoned
150 years earlier in the resort town of Merano. He has the dilapidated structure renovated and embellishes it with neo-Gothic elements. Trauttmansdorff Castle, as it is now known, is regarded as the earliest example of neo-Gothic castle construction in the region of Tyrol.
In 1867 it is inherited by Free Imperial Knight (Reichsritter) Moritz von Leon, presumably the Count’s illegitimate son.
1870/71 and Austria’s Empress Elisabeth chooses Trauttmansdorff Castle as her winter residence for its
1889/90 sunny and sheltered location. In total, the Monarch visited Merano five times, which bolsters the town’s reputation as a resort to the point that it becomes a top destination
for nobility seeking spa treatments.
1897 Baron von Deuster from Kitzingen, near Würzburg, purchases the extensive estate of Trauttmansdorff Castle and its grounds, including its external dining hall, cellar houses for fermentation and brandy distillation, winter garden and outdoor dining garden, warehouse for fruit storage and export house, creamery, smithy, and brickworks, as well as orchards, vineyards and wooded parcels. Baron von Deuster renovates the Castle’s east wing with neo-Rococo décor, and significantly alters the silhouette of the Castle.
He commissions and installs Sissi’s Throne, a marble tribute to the Empress Elisabeth.
1921 In the wake of World War I, Friedrich von Deuster is expropriated from the estate, like many other German residents of Italy. Trauttmansdorff Castle is renamed ‘Castle di Nova’ and the complex is assumed by the ‘Opera Nazionale per I Combattenti’ (ONC), an aid fund for Italian soldiers.
1939 During World War II the Castle is used for storage by the German military. Most of the estate’s facilities are destroyed, and Trauttmansdorff is left once more to ruin. The Castle grounds are parcelled out to various families for agricultural use.
1977 The dilapidated Castle and the property of the former Deuster estate are assumed by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen, South Tyrol.
1988 During a trip with some fellow garden enthusiasts, engineer Manfred Ebner comes up with the idea of establishing a botanical garden in Merano. In October, Ebner submits a feasibility study for the construction of a botanical garden on the grounds of Trauttmansdorff to then Chief of Agriculture Luis Durnwalder, Merano’s MP Toni Kiem, Merano’s Mayor Franz Alber, Laimburg Estate Management Director Klaus Platter, and journalist Robert Asam.
While standing at the Castle gate, eventual Province Head Durnwalder pledges to see the botanical garden project through to completion.
1989 Assumption of the Trauttmansdorff Castle fruit and wine estate by Laimburg Estate Management
The Province Government approves the space allocation plan for the project.
1991 The Province Government issues the planning order to Ebner.
1992 Approval of the project by the Province Technical Advisory Board.
1994 Construction begins under the supervision of the Province Administration‘s Construction and Technical Services Department, Department Director Josef March and Managing Director Lukas Lantschner. The Project is overseen by surveyor Stefan Canale, and the site manager is Ebner. Terracing and terrain restructuring are performed by the Department of Hydraulic Engineering under Director Rudolf Pollinger.
1995 Laimburg Estate Management assumes management duties for the botanical garden under Director Klaus Platter, and begins planting and further development of the
garden project under its own supervision. Valentin Lobis serves as Technical Director
(through 2000).
1996 and 1997 Planting of the Sun Gardens begins.
1997 The second stage of construction begins (nursery, steelwork and foundation).
The communication design by Dr. Otto Jolias Steiner is approved by the Provincial Government.
1998 The botanist Karin Kompatscher is appointed Curator of the botanical garden.
Assignment of various landscape designers for the planning of individual plant areas and appointment of architect Wolfram Pardatscher for the realisation of the communication design.
Planting of the Water and Terraced Gardens
1999 Completion of planting in the parking area
Approval of the title ‘The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle’
The concept for a Province Museum of Tourism – the Touriseum - is accepted.
2000 Chief Gardener Klaus Messmer assumes responsibility for the management of technical operations. Irene Schullian is responsible for press, publicity and garden pedagogy, while Karin Ortler manages the plant and visitor database.
Renovation and restructuring begins at Trauttmansdorff Castle.
In autumn, the area now occupied by Forests of the World suffers from severe
erosion due to extreme rainfall.
2001 In spring, planting begins at Forests of the World.
The Gardens open on the 16th of June.
