Burg Reifenstein Castello di Reifenstein

Burg Reifenstein is perched on a mighty rock southwest of the Fugger city of Sterzing, rising from the legendary Sterzinger Moos. Around 1100, Reifenstein was first mentioned as a fief of the Bavarian counts of Lechsgmünd, at that time the castle probably consisted mainly of the square residential tower - a donjon, as was common especially in France - and a surrounding curtain wall. From 1110, the Lords of Stilfs were enfeoffed with the castle. They extensively expanded Reifenstein and from 1140 also called themselves "von Reifenstein". The Lords of Stilfs were followed by the Trautsons and from 1405 by the Lords of Säben. After their extinction, Duke Sigismund seized the fief and sold the castle in 1470 to the Teutonic Knights.

With the beginning of modern times, further alterations followed, the commanders of the order moved their living quarters from the donjon to the newly attached palace, which they furnished comfortably by the standards of the time. The defensive installations had also been reinforced, to the north there was now a complex outer bailey with defensive corridors, a portcullis, and a deep moat to the main castle.

In 1813, after the dissolution of the Teutonic Order, the Counts of Thurn and Taxis received the castle as compensation for the loss of the profitable postal monopoly.

Reifenstein has never been conquered or destroyed, and the castle has also been spared from fires. It is therefore one of the best-preserved and most authentic castle complexes in the Alps. Several rooms can be visited, particularly beautiful are the magnificent Gothic parlor and the Green Hall with rich late Gothic figurative painting on walls and ceiling. Also worth seeing are the courtroom, where prisoners were also tortured, the eight-meter-deep dungeon, and the Landsknecht room with sleeping bunks from the 12th century.

Near the castle is a small chapel dedicated to Saint Zeno. Here, Bavarian tree coffins from the 4th to 8th centuries were found, suggesting that the chapel is much older than the castle. However, St. Zeno received its current form around 1660 when the then Teutonic Order commander had it baroquized.

Burg Reifenstein is open from April to early November and can be visited as part of a guided tour.