Welcome to the early 13th Century. Genghis Khan has just conquered China, King John has signed Magna Carta and Western Europe is gearing up for another pointless Crusade.
In northern Italy the Habsburg empire is thriving and the local gentry are building grand, new, fortified residences in dramatic, mountainside locations. to show off their new wealth and status. Karneid Castle, just east of Bozen is an early example.
The heart of the castle is built around 1215 CE, probably by the Greifensteins, relatives of the Counts of Eppan. In the 150 years that follow several prominent local families extend the castle and add a chapel, generous living quarters & extensive fortifications.
In 1386 a local landowner named Heinrich von Liechtenstein takes possession of Karneid. In a civil war between the Habsburg Empire and local Tirolean nobility Heinrich sides with the latter and the castle is besieged, Heinrich and his family are taken prisoner but after some smooth talking plus the payment of a large ransom they are released and allowed to return to Karneid.
In 1580 a fire destroys much of the castle. Extensive rebuilding work by Bartholomäus von Liechtenstein saves the house but bankrupts the family and for the next 200 years Karneid remains largely untouched. After the death in 1761 of Count Anton the last Tirolean Liechtenstein, his heirs sell Karneid to the city of Bozen. Over the next hundred years the estate changes hands numerous times and falls into disrepair.
In 1884 Baron Ferdinand von Miller, a wealthy Munich artisan & entrepreneur buys and restores Karneid. Today it is owned by his descendants and is one of the last intact, privately owned medieval fortresses in South Tirol. The castle continues plays an important role in the life of the local community and since 2015 is also available in the summer months for private hire as a base for activity holidays in the surrounding Dolomites.
Welcome to the early 13th Century. Genghis Khan has just conquered China, King John has signed Magna Carta and Western Europe is gearing up for another pointless Crusade.
In northern Italy the Habsburg empire is thriving and the local gentry are building grand, new, fortified residences in dramatic, mountainside locations. to show off their new wealth and status. Karneid Castle, just east of Bozen is an early example.
The heart of the castle is built around 1215 CE, probably by the Greifensteins, relatives of the Counts of Eppan. In the 150 years that follow several prominent local families extend the castle and add a chapel, generous living quarters & extensive fortifications.
In 1386 a local landowner named Heinrich von Liechtenstein takes possession of Karneid. In a civil war between the Habsburg Empire and local Tirolean nobility Heinrich sides with the latter and the castle is besieged, Heinrich and his family are taken prisoner but after some smooth talking plus the payment of a large ransom they are released and allowed to return to Karneid.
In 1580 a fire destroys much of the castle. Extensive rebuilding work by Bartholomäus von Liechtenstein saves the house but bankrupts the family and for the next 200 years Karneid remains largely untouched. After the death in 1761 of Count Anton the last Tirolean Liechtenstein, his heirs sell Karneid to the city of Bozen. Over the next hundred years the estate changes hands numerous times and falls into disrepair.
In 1884 Baron Ferdinand von Miller, a wealthy Munich artisan & entrepreneur buys and restores Karneid. Today it is owned by his descendants and is one of the last intact, privately owned medieval fortresses in South Tirol. The castle continues plays an important role in the life of the local community and since 2015 is also available in the summer months for private hire as a base for activity holidays in the surrounding Dolomites.
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On a farm in Unter Völs there lived a good and pious girl who used to attend mass in her local village church every day but because the farm was far away from the church she always had to get up very early before dawn in order be back in time from mass for work.
One night she woke in the dark and thinking she had heard the bell ringing for early mass jumped out of bed, hurrying so as not to be late. When she reached the church it was still dark, the church door was open but she could see no-one inside. "Better too early than too late," she thought, knelt down in a pew and began to pray.
As she knelt and prayed, she saw no one enter the church but suddenly it was as if she could hear several people praying behind her, murmuring in low voices she could not understand. Nervously, she looked behind her but could see no one. Suddenly the church clock struck midnight and she felt something tugging at her sleeve in the darkness. The girl looked around in fright and by the faint light of a church lamp saw the face of her beloved grandfather who had died the year before. The girl shivered in fright and when the ghost noticed this, he said: "Annie, don't be frightened but you must leave the church now because you see the night time belongs to us spirits. Before you get to the door, leave something as an offering and nothing will happen to you. The next moment the terrified girl saw the floor open up next to her in the church and ghosts floating up from the vaults below. Throwing her shawl on the floor she ran from the church and without looking back down the path and home.
The next morning her shawl was found by the priest lying on the church floor torn into a thousand pieces laid out in the shape of a cross.
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