Topography of Merano and Surroundings (Part 1)

Appendix.

Topography.

Description of the surroundings of Merano. 1/4

Merano, a burgraviate jurisdiction, once the capital and residence of the country, has always been and continues to be visited by many travelers, who are magically drawn to its vicinity partly by Castle Tirol, the remarkable historical monument and ancient ancestral castle of the Counts of Tyrol, and partly by the charming surroundings of Merano, adorned with the treasures of Bacchus, Flora, and Pomona.

The region of Merano is enclosed to the north by the high chains of the Ziel and Muth mountains. At the foot of the latter lies the town; on the adjacent hill (called the Küchelberg, notable for its excellent wine and for the engagements that took place in that area on November 16 and 19, 1809) lies the village of Tirol, a quarter of an hour from which stands Castle Tirol, one hour northwest of Merano; the path there is carved into the rock, and a wide mountain ruin leads to it. To the right, on a pack-horse track through the narrow side valley of Passeier, one reaches Sterzing to the east over the Jaufen, and the Oetz Valley to the north over the Timmels; to the left, over the Töll on the main road into the Vinschgau. On both sides, from the entrance to the Passeier and from the access to the Vinschgau downwards toward the south, the mountain chains extend in a line curved here more outward, there more inward, east to Bozen, west to Eppan. The background is formed by the bare mountain peaks peering out from the area of Bozen down to below Leifers, between the Mittelberg above the ruined fortress Maultasch and the high Mendel. At the foot of the eastern mountain chain runs the highway coming up from Bozen, originally a Roman construction. In the middle of the valley, the Etsch flows down from the Töll in foaming eddies through the plains with gentle serpentine curves between beautiful fields and lovely meadows toward mild Italy. Into this, shortly outside Merano, the Passer empties, and just below Mais the Rametzbach, plunging down from the steep Naiferberg beneath the Ifinger Ridge, separating Obermais from Labers. Directly in front of Gargazon flows the Vöranerbach (from 1810 to 1814 the border between the Kingdom of Bavaria and Italy), and beyond the Etsch the Falzaur, bursting out of the rock cliffs of the Ulten Valley. The ascending mountain walls on the left and right are cultivated up to the woods, sometimes even between or above them up to the bare rock peaks. From almost every high point one overlooks the parishes of Merano, Tirol, St. Peter, Algund, Partschins, Marling, Lana, Mais, Schenna; in the distance Tisens, Girlan, and also a part of St. Pauls in Eppan; the castles that partly crown the hills, partly rise among vineyards and farmsteads; Tirol with the picturesque ruins of the old Brunnenburg, Thurnstein, Forst, Löwenberg resembling a small mountain town, Braunsberg, Brandis, Massenburg, the high-situated Fragsburg, Katzenstein, Neuberg, Rubein surrounded by high feathers, Rametz, Labers, Knillenberg, Winkel, Reichenbach, Rosenstein, Rundeck, Rottenstein, Greifen or Planta, Goyen, the once splendid Schenna, Auer, the ruins of St. Zenoberg, once the favorite residence of King Henry, son of Meinhard II.

Castle Tirol stands near Merano, a short hour away, on a somewhat projecting and elevated slope of the high Muth mountain, right on the edge of a terrible landslide that may have already swallowed several parts of the old building and threatens the remainder.

Three paths along with a few footpaths lead there from Merano. On the shortest, via the Küchelberg, one reaches it in an hour. Every access is somewhat arduous, but the views at the destination amply compensate for the difficulties endured. Once past the so-called stone footbridge, which connects the town with Obermais to the northeast, and having ascended the Zenoberg with its castle of the same name, the Passeier Valley opens up. One looks into it past Cains and Riffian on this side, and behind Schenna and Thall on the other. Only isolated farmsteads are visible among the heavily wooded and picturesquely grouped mountains; in the background Glaiten rising above St. Leonhard, and the Jaufen connecting the Passeier with the Wipp Valley. In the depths, the rushing Passer roars forth through the fresh tracks of its destructive path. Now one turns westward, still climbing slightly, over the ridge of the Küchelberg, often under shady walnut and chestnut trees, often through fine vineyards, toward the village of Tirol. The footbridge mentioned above, with a Tyrolean eagle clinging to it with its talons, forms the town coat of arms of Merano. — Straight toward this village one comes directly behind the parish church of Merano, initially over many steps, partly carved into the rock and partly laid stone slabs, then along the front of the Küchelberg, now over rugged stones, now through a desolate stretch, but now beneath the vineyards. At the foot of the mountain, the town extends lengthwise between it and the Passer flowing by, at the lower end crosswise. Among the many rear buildings, the old sovereign residence, the chapel with the so-called imperial rooms behind the cellars or rent office of the Prince of Taxis, should not be overlooked. Right outside the Maria-Louisa Bridge stands the church with the adjoining buildings of the hospital, founded by Duke Meinhard II in 1271, destroyed in 1419 by the people of Passeier, but restored in 1483 with the help of Archduke Sigismund. Behind it, looking down over the lowest part of the great burial mound of ancient Maja, one sees the beautifully situated estates and dwellings of Untermais. — High above, where this path meets the one from Zenoberg, the ancestral castle of the old Lords of Auer catches the traveler's eye in the distance at the entrance to the narrow side valley of Langvall. To the left, the expectant eye is greeted by the venerable old Tyrolean princely castle. — In the churchyard of the village of Tirol, which one passes, two gravestones can be seen, dating from approximately the 13th or 14th century, which were only recently excavated. — Only a small valley now separates the village of Tirol from the castle. There one enters a vaulted passage dug through the friable mountain, about 80 paces long. Jakob Andrä Freiherr v. Voglmair, then the sovereign cellar-master in Merano, built it in the year 1682. Presumably, communication between the village and the castle could no longer be maintained in any other way. — Shortly outside this miners' hole, as it is rightly called, one stands at approximately the viewpoint from which Franz Schweighofer captured the castle and the region, lithographing it in Vienna. Here one stands at the edge of the abyss described above. Opposite, on a high, nearly vertical wall of stone and sand covered only here and there with green turf, between bushes, one looks down upon the ruins of the entirely black Brunnenburg resting on a mound of debris, with its perforated tower. From the remains of old walls that are still occasionally found in the vineyards descending from the main castle on the landward side, it can be presumed that Tirol and Brunnenburg were once connected before the landslide. For reasons unknown, the Brunnenburg is still commonly called the old chancery. Margrave Louis of Brandenburg, husband of Margaret Maultasch, presented it to his favorite, the priest of Tirol, Heinrich v. Bopfingen, in the year 1356. (To be continued.)