Forts & Castles along the Alto Adige Wine Road

The “Weißes Rössl” Inn marked the southern gate to the hotel district in the lower part of the village. In the 17th century the "Weißes Rössl" was owned by the Lanser, von Moß and Festenstein families while being run by several hosts. From 1700 ti 1750 it was owned by the Bombardas, who, in the person of Josef Bombarda, supported the project for the construction of the Fountain of Hercules. The inn had a successful fish farm near the old fountain. After the owners went bankrupt, the hotel frequently changed management up to its sale to Josef Handlmayr in 1868.

Historic inn on the northeast side of the main square, formerly also known as the Gasthof Post as horses
would be changed here. In its present form the three-storey Renaissance building dates back to the

early 16th century, as indicated by the outside staircase, double-arched window with rosettes, stone-
framed rectangular windows and stucco ceilings.

The „Wohlgemuth zu Wendelstein“ estate dates back to 1592. The date is above the portal in the fresco of the triangular pediment on the double-arched window, which is adorned by a beautiful wrought-iron balustrade. The Renaissance building has an irregular floor plan and is set around an inner courtyard. The hall on the first floor with the aforementioned double-arched window has a precious coffered ceiling.

The stone-framed round-arched portal opens towards Goethe Street on the west side of the An der Lan estate, a Renaissance building from the 16th century. Above it you find the beautiful double-arched windows. The south façade is adorned by a belt cornice and large rectangular windows set in stone with wrought-iron grilles. Inside, the central halls have vaulted ceilings, with the wood-panelled room on the first floor a testament to expert woodcarving and inspired by the Renaissance style. In 1817, the building was acquired by the Gelmini zu Kreuzhof family.

Ansitz Freienfeld was built in 1521 by the Earl of Indermauer. (Courtyard surrounded by embattled walls.) In the large windows of the Trinkstube beautiful frescoes can be seen.

This imposing 3-storey Baroque building “Herrenhof” (17th century) has a façade with two rows of eleven wide windows topped by oeil-de-boeuf windows. The large round-arch portal framed with marble ashlars is noteworthy. Known as “maso Schnatterle”, the “Schnatterle farmstead” (1550-1600), it belonged first to Andreas von Fenner, then in the 17th century, to the Thun-Filippini family, before passing to the important Zenobio-Albrizzi family and finally, towards the mid-19th century, to the Noldin family.

Another point of interest is the Baumgarten Castle in the historical center of Auer/Ora. During the 12th century, it was used as a fortification. Afterwards, many modifications were made and additions built. Nowadays, it is part of the agricultural high school.

The beautiful building "In der Titschen" had been an inn since the 16th century and also served as a seat for court meetings until the middle of the 18th century. Here the minutes of the various sections into which the social life of the village was divided were written and offices and tasks were periodically distributed. With the takeover by the Venetian Counts Zenobio, the importance of the inn declined, as the court seat was moved to Mitterdorf.

The rectory, a baroque building and former Vilas residence, was owned by the Lutterotti family in 1741. In 1858 it was acquired by the municipality to house the school and the parish office. The windows and the entrance portal of the three-storey building have stone surrounds, and the attic has nine ox eyes. Inside, there are numerous stucco-decorated rooms and delicate wrought-iron balustrades. The 17th century chapel was originally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. Anthony of Padua.

Three-storey building in neo-Romanesque style; adjacent park with high trees. Single-run outside staircase to the first floor on the northwest side of the palazzo-like main building, with corner pilaster strips to the side, topped with a small turret. An aedicule with the Queen of the Rosary faces the main street. The courtyard entrance features portal pillars in the Mannerist style dating from 1612.

Estate building in the “Fuchsloch” quarter, consisting of two wings connected by a gate.
The older north wing (formerly the “Anichhaus”) is of 13th-century medieval origin: the newer south wing
(the “Cazanhaus”) was added around 1600 during the Renaissance. Vaulted courtyard passage and
remains of a Baroque façade painting.

The “De Campi” estate dates back to the 16th century and is connected to the Wohlgemuth manor by a stone portal on which the coat of arms and three pinnacles can be seen. The street-side façade is symmetrically divided into three storeys. The windows and doors are also stone-framed. The upper floor has two polygonal corner oriels. In the middle of the two is an elegant double-arched window and above it is a wide French door with a wrought-iron balcony. The year 1563 is written on the cellar door.

Majestic estate house with imposing residential quarters and adjacent farm wing to the west. Originally owned by the Wohlgemuth family from Planitzing. In 1874 it was acquired by Josef Malfèr and rebuilt.

The front garden and staircase date from this time.

The property was acquired in the interwar years by the merchant Daniel Graiff.

Structure built on L-shaped plan consisting of two wings. The residential building to the north, facing the
road, dates from the Middle Ages as indicated by regular stone layers and corner blocks. It is topped by
a late-medieval extension that is linked to the core building under a single gable roof. The upper floor
features Renaissance fixtures: a panelled room with coffered ceiling, dentil friezes and a wall closet
dating from 1628. Immediately to the northeast is a round-arched entrance to the courtyard.
The south-facing wing has a passage with vaulting cells at ground level; an outside staircase in the
courtyard runs round a corner to the first floor. Topped with hip roof.

The Gasthof zur Rose is located in the southern quarter of Salorno/Salurn, which is called "Gries". The first references with a description of the Gasthof "Zur Rose" go back to the year 1584.

The Hausmann-Locherer estate dates from the Renaissance period, was built in the second half of the 16th century and is characterised by architectural elements of Nordic and Italian origin that are typical of the Überetsch/Oltradige architectural style. Architrave-shaped windows and an entrance portal with a round arch decorate the façade of the building. Above this round arch is the coat of arms of Andrä Locherer from 1593, consisting of a unicorn standing on its hind legs. The interior rooms with their central hall are arranged symmetrically. Some rooms have stuccoed ceilings, others are covered with 17th century woodcarving decorations. The entire building encloses an inner courtyard.

From a medieval core, remodelled in the 17th century during the Renaissance, a pointed-arch courtyard gate with stone surround and family crest leads onto the street. The stone archway features the letter "A" with an arrow as a bar. Above the front door is a coat of arms in stone consisting of three wavelike curving lines and the initials "L.H.". The ribbed vault and shouldered-arch doors date from 1500; the stone-framed rectangular and double-arched windows, as well as a bay on the façade, are from the 17th century.

The “Hofkeller” was first mentioned in documents at the beginning of the 14th century. It has a massive gable roof. It was once the seat of the feudal administration, which passed from the Lords of Salorno/Salurn to the Counts of Tyrol. On the east side of the building, on the ground floor, there is a large hall with a cross vault supported by two rows of seven slender columns made of Prun stone and by pilasters. The imposing building already impressed the first South Tyrolean chronicler Marx Sittich von Wolkenstein, as he wrote in his description of Tyrol published in 1600.

The town hall of Salorno/Salurn was once owned by the family of the Barons von Winklhofer, whose coat of arms can also be found on the portal, is characterized by Nordic and Italian building elements typical of the Überetsch/Oltraadige style of the 16th century. The open archway of the old building rests on mighty stone blocks. On the façade, the stone-framed rectangular windows are arranged next to the two-storey bay window and alternate with two superimposed double round-arched windows.

Late-Gothic church, closed under the reign of Emperor Joseph II in 1785, which was dedicated to the Irish abbot and itinerant monk Columba (d. 615). A chamfered, sandstone-framed pointed-arch portal on the ground floor of the west façade, two stone-framed rectangular windows at the sides and the large sandstone corner blocks (15th century) all recall the former church.

Extended structure consisting of three components dating from the Renaissance of the early 17th century. The starting point for its architectural development was a two-storey Gothic core on the Kirchplatz with the basement containing two large, vaulted rooms used for agricultural purposes. Several sandstone-framed windows and a portal in stone with lozenge-shaped ashlars and rosettes indicate the significant extension works during the Renaissance.

A large park is located directly to the east of the Steinkellerhaus.

The buildings of the "Happacherhof" estate can be dated back to 1604. Originally, the estate consisted of two farmsteads belonging to two different families. One of them was the Happacher family; for several generations, the mayors of the municipality of Auer/Ora came from this family. In 1911, the Theodor Steinkeller acquired the estate. His family was employed in the fruit trade and supplied the Habsburger monarchy from Bolzano/Bozen. Due to the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s, the family was unable to keep the estate. In 1938, the farmstead was put up for auction and bought by the "Ente di Rinascita," an organization that focused on buying farms in South Tyrol and making them available to interested Italian investors. It sold the estate to the Rovereto-based Botta family. A family supervisor ran the farm, but the family did not invest in its maintenance. In February 1984, the farm was purchased by the provincial administration for use as a "practice farm for the secondary school for agriculture" and named "Happacherhof" after the original owner family. Today, it is an important place for students of agriculture to practice their trade. The extensive restoration

The Hausmann-Locherer estate dates from the Renaissance period, was built in the second half of the 16th century and is characterised by architectural elements of Nordic and Italian origin that are typical of the Überetsch/Oltradige architectural style. Architrave-shaped windows and an entrance portal with a round arch decorate the façade of the building. Above this round arch is the coat of arms of Andrä Locherer from 1593, consisting of a unicorn standing on its hind legs. The interior rooms with their central hall are arranged symmetrically. Some rooms have stuccoed ceilings, others are covered with 17th century woodcarving decorations. The entire building encloses an inner courtyard.

 

Two-storey building from the 17th century. Stone-framed, round-arched portal on façade with sandstone-
framed double-arched window (bifora) above. A marble plaque with Latin inscription and chronogram at

the entrance to the courtyard recalls the 1765 encounter of Francis I and his royal daughter-in-law
Elisabeth, the Infanta (princess) of Spain.

The ruin Kaldiff is locaded at Mazzon, above Egna . This castle was probably built around 1200. Between the 16th and 18th century it was inhabited by the noble family Von Enn. However, unfortunately it decayed partially after a fire. Today, after remediation work, there are only remains of curtain-walls as well as some frescoes and mural paintings available.

L’affascinante paese di Ora è circondato da vigneti che gli conferiscono il suo tipico carattere rurale. Il centro del paese è fiancheggiato da mura in pietra naturale e vicoli stretti che ricordano un labirinto, da cui il nome labirinto di vicoli. Le origini del primo insediamento risalgono all'età della pietra e ancora oggi gli edifici medievali, che conferiscono al paese il suo fascino particolare, testimoniano i tempi passati.

The “Weißer Adler'' Inn dates back to the latter half of the 17th century and features stone-framed windows and a turret stairway. The beautiful building has passed amongst many owners. In the 18th century, the Bombardis and later, it was home to a branch of the Fenners family; between the 19th and 20th centuries, it was owned by the Hofers and the Seppis. With the establishment of the Taxis family's postal service, the "Weißer Adler '' hotel became a post house and its owners were made postmasters. The 3-storey building stands at the southern end of Via Trento, concluding the street at this end, which, from here to the "Schwarzer Adler'' hotel at the northern end, is quite closely arranged, showing the intention behind the urban layout in its main use as hotel district, thoroughfare and centre of movement for guests.

Birthplace of the famous South Tyrolean composer and provincial director of music Sepp Thaler in the
Oberdorf quarter. Born in Auer in 1901, Thaler, who died in 1982, as a young man worked there as
choirmaster and organist. In 1922 he took over leadership of the local music band, holding the position
for 58 years. After the Second World War, in 1948 Thaler became the musical director of the Association
of South Tyrolean Music Bands and, from 1980, the Association’s honorary musical director.
Thaler composed numerous works for brass instruments and a variety of secular and sacred choral
pieces. A recipient of the Tyrolean Service Cross and other awards, the Sepp Thaler Music School and
the Sepp-Thaler-Weg in the Mitterdorf are named after him.

Three-storey building with regular window axes and south-facing loggia in the Mitterdorf quarter. The
origin was a tower-like core at the southwest corner dating from the late 13th-century, extended in at
least five development phases between the 14th and 17th centuries to create the present structure.
Further developments took place in the neo-Classicist and Historicist periods. The two lower levels of
the three-storey loggia structure on the southern façade date back to the Renaissance; the finishing
balustrade with its Tuscan columns is a neo-Classicist addition from around 1800.

Large estate building on an L-shaped plan, surrounded by a walled enclosure. The original medieval core, realised in the 13th century, was extended in the early 17th century. Its alternative name, the “Pottaschenhof [potash farm]”, refers to the potash once produced here that was used for laundry purposes.