Trauttmansdorff: South Tyrol’s Award-Winning Top Tourist Attraction

On Wednesday 6th October the "Diversity" project presented by the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle won the European Award for Ecological Gardening 2021.

Since 2015, "Natur im Garten", represented by the province of Lower Austria and the associations "European Garden Association - Natur im Garten International" and "Natur im Garten" GmbH, has been awarding a prize every two years to recognize the most outstanding achievements in ecological gardening.

The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle presented the project "Diversity - the importance of biological diversity for humans, animals and plants" and entered the competition in the category "Promotion of biodiversity in gardens and green spaces". 

"Diversity" won against 11 other high-quality projects from Germany, Austria, Russia and the Netherlands. The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle project represents real added value for people and the environment and is a contribution to increase biodiversity.

"Sculptures and installations guide garden visitors along many paths that, with scientific precision, provide important information about ecology, the plant world and the world of invertebrate animals in a garden. This is a perfect way for the whole family to understand how to create a garden full of diversity," said the jury.

Receipt of the Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence. This award honors select accommodations, attractions, and restaurants that consistently demonstrate a commitment to hospitality excellence.

On 19 March 2013, the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle received the coveted International Garden of the Year Award for 2013 at the Garden Tourism Conference in Toronto, Canada. The jury was particularly impressed with Trauttmansdorff’s evolution: having opened only in 2001, the complex records more than 400,000 visitors a year during the garden season, which runs for 7.5 months. The botanical garden is thus an important driving force for the tourism industry in Merano and South Tyrol. The distinction of being named the 2013 International Garden of the Year now recompenses efforts to skillfully unite and market gardens and tourism, providing economic stimulus to the region.

Trauttmansdorff was named Europe's Garden No. 6 for 2006 by Briggs & Stratton’s Best Parks, a competition in which twenty gardens in Germany, France, Italy, Sweden and the UK were evaluated. The comparatively young Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle, which are extremely forward thinking and innovative, were awarded sixth place amongst Europe’s most beautiful gardens.

Trauttmansdorff was named Il Parco più Bello d’Italia, or Italy’s Most Beautiful Garden, making its interplay of art and nature a real triumph: This competition is carried out under the auspices of Briggs & Stratton, an international company, and is conducted in partnership with the Grandi Giardini Italiani Association. In the third year of the competition, a five-member jury of experts looked at 64 gardens throughout Italy and named the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle Italy’s Most Beautiful Garden 2005.

Special mention in the Città del Verde competition