Prösels Castle (German: ''Schloss Prösels''; Italian: ''Castello di Presule'') is a castle in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style which stands on the high plain below the

Schlern The Schlern (; it, Sciliar ; lld, Sciliër; 2,563 m) is a mountain of the Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. The peak at the north west end of the mountain (left, in the image at right) was first ascended in July 1880 by Johann Santner. It i ...

mountain, in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

. Prösels is a

location In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

within the municipal boundaries of the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Völs am Schlern Völs am Schlern (; it, Fiè allo Sciliar ; lld, Fíe or ), often abbreviated to Völs, is a municipality in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is located at the foot of the Schlern mountain, about east of Bolzano. Geography As of November 30, 2 ...

(Fiè allo Sciliar).

History

The castle was first named in a document from 1279, as ''castrum Presil'', whereas the settlement close to the castle compares in 1373 as ''Bresels''. It is believed that the lords of Völs, feudatories of the

Bishopric of Brixen The Prince-Bishopric of Brixen (german: Hochstift Brixen, Fürstbistum Brixen, Bistum Brixen) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the present-day northern Italian province of South Tyrol. It should not be confused wi ...

, had built the castle here just by 1200. Today the central palace with a Romanesque archway are surviving parts of this first fortress. In Italian it is sometimes called ''Castel Colonna'', reflecting the fact that around the time of Leonhard II the Völs (Fiè) family started to add the

Colonna The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Martin V) and many other church and politic ...

family name to their own. The reason for this is unclear, although a number of hypotheses have been advanced. According to some the family originated as a branch of the Colonnas who came to Tyrol in the twelfth century; others believe that Leonhard II, fighting alongside

Marcantonio Colonna Marcantonio II Colonna (sometimes spelled Marc'Antonio; 1535 – August 1, 1584), Duke of Tagliacozzo and Duke and Prince of Paliano, was a Roman aristocrat who served as a Viceroy of Sicily in the service of the Spanish Crown, Spanish gener ...

(1535–1584) at the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

, was affirming his family’s origins in the Colonnas of

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome ( ...

. A third version speculates that Marcantonio adopted Leonhard in order to enable the latter to display his membership of the noble Roman dynasty. Most probably, perhaps, Leonhard II simply requested and obtained the right to add the name Colonna to his own. The

castle of today was built by Leonhard of Völs (born 1458). He was the administrator of the

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

s of Hall in Tirol, a highly profitable position, furthermore he was married three times to wealthy noblewomen, which enabled him to spend extravagantly on the expansion of his castle. In 1498 Leonhard, thanks to his friendship with the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and

Archduke of Austria This is a list of people who have ruled either the Margraviate of Austria, the Duchy of Austria or the Archduchy of Austria. From 976 until 1246, the margraviate and its successor, the duchy, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, thos ...

, became governor of the

County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised ...

. Leonhard showed his gratitude by including the emperor on one of the frescoes in the newly built arcade of his castle. During the Peasants' War of 1525 the castle was briefly occupied by the revolting subservient farmers, who burnt all the documents in the vain hope of destroying all proof of their debts and

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

s. The uprising was squashed and six leaders executed. Leonhard of Völs also instigated the burning of nine local woman for

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

. To deflect blame placed on him by his subjects for a high infant mortality rate, Leonhard found nine women, had them

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

d and after they confessed

burnt at the stake Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment ...

for

. Most probably the high infant mortality was due to the farmers being starved and very poor owing to Leonhard's very high taxes. The woman confessed that they had "stolen the babies and ridden on their brooms to the

where they had eaten the babies together with the

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

." The many local legends about the so-called ''Schlernhexen'' (''Schlern witches'') date back to this time. The castle remained in the hands of the family until its last member, Felix, Freiherr von Völs, died childless in 1810. For the next 50 years the castle stood empty and nearly fell into ruins. Between 1860 and 1978 the castle changed hands no fewer than 14 times, suffering periods of decay followed by attempted restoration before finally being abandoned to its fate. However, in 1981 the ''Kuratorium Schloss Prösels'' (Prösels Castle Curatorship) was formed to restore the building; the work was completed the following year.

Visiting the castle

Guided visits are available during the summer months and during the Christmas holidays, various cultural events are held here including concerts, exhibitions and theatrical performances. Permanent displays include: * A collection of weapons and suits of armour * The "Batzenhäusl" restaurant collection of paintings (The "Batzenhäusl" being the oldest restaurant in the city of

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

) * A modern art collection

Footnotes

Gallery

Image:Schloss Proesels-1.jpg, Image:Schloss Proesels-2.jpg, Image:Schloss Proesels-3.jpg, Image:Schloss Proesels-4.jpg, Image:Völs am Schlern - Prösels Castle.jpg,

External links

Official Website
** More extended information on the history of the castle can be downloaded from this site as pdf documents i
German
an
Italian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prosels Castle Castles in South Tyrol

History

Visiting the castle

Footnotes

See also

Gallery

External links