I know of no way of judging the future but by the past. (Patrick Henry)

Castel Rundegg… a proud history! Castle Hotel Rundegg is located in the elegant Obermais area, nestling in between the stately castles of Reichenbach and Rosenstein, surrounded by blooming meadows to the right of Schennastraße.

Unfortunately, only little is known about the first owners of Rundegg. However, it is widely assumed that this noble home was constructed in 1154. Today Castel Rundegg is a luxury and beauty hotel, yet its unique atmosphere is fuelled by tradition and still tells of its beginnings as a fiefdom.

In the year 1564, the manor was bought by Christoph Maminger. Until then it had been inhabited by the proud Talhacker farmers’ family, members of which were elected judges of Merano nine times in the period between 1495 and 1550. The manor was situated in the midst of a productive wine cultivation area, protected from the outside world by 4 round towers. It is also said that a chapel was featured on the premises. A copper engraved picture from 1854 shows Merano with a square tower and wing in the foreground, which bears the inscription “Rundeck”.

In 1621, the manor was taken over by the refugee Jakob von Mohr of Lichtenegg. On 3 March 1625 archduke Leopold, then bishop of Strasbourg and Passau, granted him to right to declare Rundegg his official manor.

From 1684 onwards the property was owned by Ferdinand von Kiepach of Ried, Zimmerlehen and Haßlach. On 15 October 1714, his widow Dorothea sold the property to Baron Bernhardus Paravizini of Capelli of Trahora thereafter called Herr auf Rundegg, Rametz and Moerling. Bernhardus was an officer employed in the French army. Rumor has it that he quit the army after having been challenged to a dual, and killed his opponent. Bernhardus died on 29 April 1770, at the proud age of 104 years.

After Bernhardus’ death, his widow was to bear another child, at a time where Bernhardus’ daughter from his first marriage was already 80 years old. Even during the time shortly before his death, Bernhardus did not need glasses to read, and he is said to have taken a 2-hour walk on his final day. He was married four times. One of these marriages alone, to Anna Margarethe Baroness of Zinnenberg (*1930), yielded seven children. The family’s gravestone can be found at the Merano parish church.

Bernhardus’ son, Johannes Franziskus Nepomuk Sales Maria, Baron Paravizini de Capelli, was born on 29 January 1765 and died here in Merano on 17 January 1813. In the year 1792, he married Maria Theresia of Battaglia Pontealto and Sopramonte, from a noble family. Together they had nine children, including two girls who both, one after the other, married the mayor of Innsbruck, Felix Adam von Riccabona of Reichenfels.

The second of the daughters died at Rundegg on 19 February 1878. The property was inherited by Josepha von Riccabona, born Paravizini, who gave it to her niece, Maria von Riccabona, widow from the Kostner family. In a guidebook published in Bolzano as early as in 1851 the Rundeck castle is already listed as a place for nonnatives to stay. In 1901, the property, which over the years had suffered some substantial losses in territory, was handed to Maria’s daughter Josepha, who was then forced to sell it in 1935.
Finally, Rundegg was bought by the Spitaler brothers, who in 1976 sold it to the South Tyrolean entrepreneur Paul Sinn. He was responsible for the stunning renovation of the castle, which was then transformed into a luxury hotel which officially opened its gates to the public in 1978. The hotel was then bought by the South Tyrolean entrepreneurs family Spögler.

Today, this unique holiday paradise in Merano is run by the Schanung family. They are very well aware of the rich, dramatic tradition of the place and certainly run the Castle Hotel in the right spirit. Castel Rundegg Health & Beauty Farm in Obermais still breathes tradition and stands for luxury in a unique atmosphere, with the aim of providing the best possible health and beauty treatments for all guests of the castle.