Fontana Castle Museum

Fontana Castle in Tirolo village is home to an agricultural museum with animals and the Ezra Pound memorial site

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In the holiday resort of Tirolo near Merano, Fontana Castle or Brunnenburg, named after a nearby spring, rises on an ice-age debris cone.
© Museum Brunnenburg
From the centre of Tirolo village (Dorf Tirol) it is a short 10-minute walk on the Castle Path to the castle with its agricultural museum.
© Museum Brunnenburg
Also the castle itself is worth seeing: The complex dates back to the 13th century and was restored in an exemplary manner in the 20th century.
© Museum Brunnenburg
The interior houses an interesting agricultural museum, widely known as the Fontana Castle Museum (Museum Brunnenburg).
© Museum Brunnenburg
The museum deals with ethnology and folk art - it is directed by the South Tyrolean cultural historian and writer Dr. Siegfried de Rachewiltz.
© Museum Brunnenburg
The golden calf, The golden serpent, A stream of gold - numerous legends grow around the castle and the treasures hidden here.
© Museum Brunnenburg
To the delight of the young visitors, several kinds of farm animals such as goats, donkeys, pigs and rabbits are waiting in the castle grounds.
© Museum Brunnenburg
Autumnal impressions: view on Fontana Castle and the spa town of Merano.
© Museum Brunnenburg

In Tirolo near Merano, just below Tyrol Castle, you can see another castle on a large debris cone: It is Fontana Castle, which can also be visited and has opened a very special museum. Today, the old walls house an agricultural museum and various farm animals. Under the direction of Dr. Siegfried de Rachewiltz, the museum focuses on ethnology, folklore and folk art.

By means of photo and film documentations, it brings the visitor closer to agriculture, the processing of grain and bread baking, the production of butter and much more. The former life of the South Tyrolean farmers with their hard everyday life is shown. Old professions are also presented and saved from being forgotten, such as the professions of weaver and shoemaker.

Special exhibitions such as the one about the potato, which is called "Eardêpfl" in South Tyrolean dialect, complete the offer. And how can the Fontana Castle Museum - "Museum Brunnenburg" in German, "Museo Castel Fontana" in Italian - be reached? It is a 10-minute walk with beautiful views from the car park in Tirolo village. Also a hike on the Apple Trail or Wine Trail can be combined with a visit: Museum and castle are accessible during the warm months from April to October.