Runkelstein Castle - The illustrated castle
A short history

In 1237 Alderich Prince-Bishop of Trent, authorized the Lords of Wangen to erect a castle on a rocky slap called “runchenstayn” located at a favourable strategic position.

In 1277, after a war against Heinrich Prince-Bishop of Trent, Count Meinhard II of Tyrol took possession of the castle and it was handed over in fief  to Gottschalk Knoger of Bolzano. 

In 1385 the castle was bought by Niklaus and Franz Vintler, descendants of a wealthy merchant family. Niklaus was a reliable man, counsellor and financier of the Count of Tyrol, Duke Leopold III of Austria. Thanks to their wealth the Vintlers could realize their aspirations and achieved a higher standard of living than would have been in accordance with their rank.

An inscription dated 1388, now unreadable, described the works commissioned by the Vintlers: the erection of the defence wall, the moat, a cistern and some rooms. Only the Summer House was built later.

The family also commissioned the frescoes in the Western and Eastern Palace as well as inside and outside (Triaden) of the Summer House while the inner courtyard was decorated with the portraits of kings and emperors. In 1407 disputes worsened between Duke Friedrich “mit der leeren Tasche“ (with empty pocket), Count of Tyrol and the Tyrolean nobles who allied in the “Hawk-Leage”.

The Vintlers were drawn into these disputes and also Runkelstein Castle was besieged. Niklaus was deprived of all of his wealth and died in 1413. His brother Franz Vintler owned the Castle until Archduke Sigmund “der Münzreiche” (rich with coins) brought it into his possession. He allowed Georg Hack Prince-Bishop of Trent to take refugee in the castle in 1463.The Bishop left his golden exil in 1465.

The castle remained in possession of the Duke until 1530 and started to blossom during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I, who renovated the castle. He furnished his apartment in the Summer House, commissioned the restoration of the freskos in the Summer House and installed his coats-of-arms above the door of the Room of Tristan as well as on top of the chimney in the Room of Garel.

In 1493 the Emperor placed the castle in the hands of his chancellor and later he entrusted it to Georg von Frundsberg, the famous “Father of the Lansquenets”. They both settled their own vicars and it was under one of them that  the powder magazine in the groundfloor of the tower exploded in 1520. Besides the tower, the explosion seriously damaged parts of the enclosure wall, the entrance and the Eastern Palace.

Since then the castle was neglected as neither Maximilian’s successor nor Frundsberg took care of it anymore. In 1530 King Ferdinand I bestowed the castle to Sigmund von Brandis, his Knight Commander of Bolzano. Later the Church of Trent obtained the castle again and Prince-Bishop Bernhard von Cles gave Runkelstein Castle as a feud to the Counts of Lichtenstein-Castlecorno. In 1554 a branch of this family settled there. Count Hans Jakob’s coat of arms on top the entrance testifies this period in the history of the castle.

Under the rule of the Counts of Lichtenstein the castle was neglected and unfortunately, in 1672 a fire destroyed almost the entire Eastern Palace. The Diocese of Trent took direct charge of the Castle which by then had more or less become degraded to the state of a manor.

 In the nineteenth century romanticists rediscovered Runkelstein. Josef Goerres, a a German romanticist, came first followed by the circle of artists of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who were enchanted by the castle which became a symbol of the Romantic period. In 1868, the nothern wall of the Summer House collapsed after the foundation of bedrock had been blasted for building a new road into the Sarntal valley 10 years before. 

In 1880 Johann Salvator Archduke of Austria bought Runkelstein Castle and in 1882 he gave it as a gift to Emperor Franz Josef who commissioned Friedrich von Schmidt to restore the Castle.