Views of South Tyrol: Castles, Excursions, and the Salubrious Climate of Meran

Extraordinary Supplement to the Allgemeine Zeitung. No. 277. 1834 (15 July.)

Views of South Tyrol.

Meran.

(Conclusion.)

The number of castles in this region is very great; neither the Rhine nor Franconia can bear comparison with it. They date mostly from the Middle Ages, yet are well preserved and in very habitable condition. Several of them have recently passed from the hands of their ancestral owners into those of buyers, such as Löwenberg, Rametz, and Fragsburg, the latter two belonging to Professor Flarer in Pavia and the court opera director Cornet in Braunschweig, native Tyroleans who entered upon their new estate with graceful and useful improvements. Professor Flarer is having his ancient castle transformed into a villa by Italian builders and surrounding it with numerous mulberry trees in order to cultivate sericulture, which once flourished here before being displaced by viticulture. Above Meran rises the ancient ancestral castle of Schloß Tyrol, reached by an agreeable path through vineyards and then through a gallery blasted into the rock, the so-called Knappenloch. Beside it lies the pleasant village of Tyrol, where one may spend a delightful summer stay in the clean inn. The view commands the entire Adige Valley as far as Kaltern and beyond. The place is also of great historical interest. A Roman settlement bearing the name Teriolis is attested by ancient authors; the present name appears in records for the first time in 1140. It was Gerung and Albert, however, sons of Otto, the last Count of Chur-Raetia, who made the remains of the ancient Roman Teriolis habitable again around the middle of the eleventh century and dwelt within it themselves. Below Schloß Tyrol lie the picturesque ruins of the Brunnenburg; not far off to the northeast, at the entrance to the narrow side valley of Langvall, overgrown with ivy, stands the ancient ancestral seat of the von Aurs. Toward Passeier rises proudly the Zenoburg (Mons S. Zenonis); opposite it, upon a prominent eminence, Schloß Schenna, formerly the residence of the Counts of Lichtenstein. Labers, Rametz, Rubein, Knillenberg, Winkel, and several other castles are strung close together here, appearing from a distant vantage point to be one with Meran. Below Fragsburg (Trifragium), perched upon a prominent foothill, granted as a fief to the knight Otto von Aur in 1356, one catches sight of Katzenstein, further down Neuberg, both set amid picturesque scenery. On the other side of the valley stand the ruins of the collapsed castle of Brandeis, alongside the newly built Löwenberg, the ancient seat of the now extinct Counts v. Fuchs, the ruins of Forst, Josephsberg, and many others besides. This chain of castles stretches in an unbroken line through the entire Vinschgau up to the border of Lombardy. Old Hohen-Eppan, Tyrol's mighty rival, beckons across toward Meran from a slope of the picturesque Mendola (Mändel); not far off are the ruins of Schloß Maultasch and the remarkable Sauschloss perched upon a bold crag, about which the well-known popular legend lives on. One can readily imagine what magnificent excursions this immediate vicinity invites. Added to this are the charming villages of Mais, Lama, Gratsch, Algund, and Partschins, with a substantial waterfall, Marling, and so forth. The region also boasts a sulfurous healing spring. At the Töll, an easy hour from Meran, lies the spa called 'das Badl', which is heavily visited particularly on Sundays. More extensive and highly interesting excursions can be undertaken from here at little cost and slight expenditure of time. In a single day, one can travel by post via the new wonder road past the Ortler peak to Bormio; in an equally short time, one reaches the remarkable pass of Finstermünz, the Engadine, and the Ultental, where a restorative bath is the destination of many seeking relief. Trent is likewise only a solid day's journey from Meran, and in four hours one can traverse the entire Passeier Valley on foot and find oneself 'am Sande' in Hofer's famous inn. On good mules, sent for upon request, one rides to the neighboring Nonsberg and Sulzberg to the efficacious health spas of Rabi and Pejo. These brief remarks demonstrate the delights that a summer in Meran affords, which scarcely any other region in Germany will easily surpass. — A stay in Meran itself is entirely rural and very agreeable. An evening stroll beneath the trees along the Passer, 'auf der Mauer', gathers the inhabitants after the business of the day. There are, moreover, two coffeehouses and two good inns, the Adler and the Post, the latter being highly recommended for its open location and good, inexpensive, and courteous service. Among the residents, many are distinguished by higher education, and all vie in hospitable attentiveness toward strangers. — Many examples already exist of the salubrious effect of Meran's climate upon the health of debilitated individuals, and it can even be demonstrated that incipient phthisis has been checked on more than one occasion. This year as well, sick persons and convalescents are present here who now undertake mountain excursions with cheerful spirits that, upon their arrival, would have seemed insuperable obstacles. — Already the grapes have filled out and are beginning to take color; already one sees the Saltner, the watchmen in the vineyards, letting their beards grow so that later, in outlandish, wild attire as walking scarecrows, they may ward off thieves of all kinds. In its ancient customs too, the heartland of Tyrol appears most charming, and everything in it remains unfamiliar and fresh, whereas the beauties of other provinces have long since been exhausted. — Much has recently been said in the most widely read newspapers concerning the great benefit of sea bathing, securing it well-deserved favor among society; let it not be held against us, therefore, if we attempt here to present the Meran 'air bath' with all its amenities in its proper light, so as to win for it a similar success, for these lines are written in the spirit of all who had the opportunity to enjoy its wholesome effects this summer.