Topography: Description of the Surroundings of Merano (Tyrol Castle)

Appendix.

Topography.

Description of the surroundings of Merano. 2/4

(Continued.)

Looking out through the gap, one sees at the foot of the mountain a portion of Gratsch, to the east the lower part of the town of Meran, to the west the mouth of the Passer into the Etsch, to the south Untermais encircled by the Passer and Etsch as far as the prominent Sinichkopf; in the middle the beautiful valley; beyond the Etsch the Marlinger-Berg appearing rounded at the top; further down the opening of the Ulten Valley with the continuous mountain chain down to the Mendel rising almost straight above St. Pauls and St. Michael in Eppan.

Now the path leads across a small bridge towards the castle hill to the old high walls of the castle and its gates. In the very uneven castle courtyard, one sees in the background the large square tower, presumably the only remnant of the old castellum Teriolis. Adjoining it is a building now also completely deserted, resembling a common farmhouse from the outside. The front castle facing south is of a newer, though by no means modern, architecture.

Of antiquities, nothing is currently to be seen other than the marble portals in the large remodeled vestibule of the chapel and at its actual entrance, featuring various symbolic bas-reliefs; in the chapel itself, on its upper part—that is, on the entire surrounding gallery or tribune—a wooden crucifix with the Mother of God and St. John standing beside it, of colossal size, all in the rough taste of the 12th or 13th century; and finally some stained-glass windows. Formerly, a small, very old altar with so-called wing doors stood in the upper part, into which various remarkable signatures from ancient times were carved. Among the church books was a missal beautifully written on parchment and a choral book where, in the preceding liturgical calendar, the death dates of several princes and lords of the castle were recorded by various hands. These, along with a gilded silver goblet allegedly belonging to Maultasch (of no great value), were lost during the last plundering of the castle in 1808. The latter, along with all church paraments and castle furnishings, indeed the castle itself, was sold to the highest bidder in that year. — The first buyer had intended it for demolition and had already begun work. In order not to be crushed by the ruins, the Burgbauer farmer living directly beneath bought it from him, rescuing it from already active destruction. As soon as Tyrol became Austrian again, the city of Meran redeemed the venerable ancestral castle of the territorial princes and returned it in 1814 to its original lord, the beloved monarch Francis I as Count of Tyrol. — Soon the necessary restoration was initiated. On May 19, 1819, the newly appointed castle captain v. Lutterotti moved in, followed on November 10 of the same year by the castle chaplain, Mr. Philipp Moser. — Now the two weekly masses for the most serene founders, along with three anniversaries, were once again held in the castle chapel.

The view enjoyed from here is delightful. The eye is attracted by so many remarkable and charming objects that it finds choice difficult. To the east it rests on the Schennaberg, cultivated almost to its peak, along with the Ifinger ridge towering behind it; there towards the west it fades beyond St. Peter on the Kronsbichl, over Algund with its associated Vellau on the right, on the left Steinach, Forst, Josefsberg, over Partschins above the gorge of the Töll, into the mountains encircling the area of Latsch in the Vinschgau; opposite, to the southwest, it feasts upon the Marlinger-Berg, still cultivated on its ridge and shaded, then wanders across the flat plain in the large Augarten traversed by the Etsch—though unfortunately silted up in places—along the slopes of the high mountain walls curving in and out right and left, in the magical surroundings of Mais, Labers, Freiberg, Burgstall, Gargazon, the heights of Terlan with Maultasch Castle. Beyond the Etsch, one sees the widely extending municipalities of Marling, Tscherms, Lana, Tisens, Mals, Andrian, Girlan, and St. Pauls in Eppan. Already from up here on the crest of the Maiser mountain, St. Katharina in der Schart stands out; at the very bottom, in the southeastern high mountains closing the valley behind Bozen and Leifers, one perceives the former Servite monastery of Weißenstein. — With a good telescope, one notices on the Mittelberg between Andrian and Eppan the remaining ruins of the old ancestral castle of the Eppan counts.

Human bones are still often found during excavations in the surroundings of Tyrol Castle; presumably the remains of enemy warriors who fell during attacks upon it. Blood flowed in those areas in more recent times as well; many a brave Tyrolean and many a courageous Frenchman found their grave in 1809 in the perimeter from the stone bridge up over Zenoberg and Tyrol down to Gratsch and into the town itself. No battle took place within the castle itself. (To be continued.)