Lodrone Castle

On a gentle hill above San Michele Appiano there’s Lodrone Castle, or Freudenstein Castle, with its golf exercising area

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video : Freudenstein Castle in Appiano
In 1716, the castle was in possession of the noble Lodron family from the Trentino for a short time - this results in the Italian name “Castel Lodrone”.
Foto: EMS, © Peer
Lodrone Castle offers a private golf training course with integrated Golf Academy, facilities which are also open to the public.
Foto: EMS, © Peer

Lodrone Castle (Schloss Freudenstein, in German) rises in the north-west of San Michele Appiano on a flat hill which offers a stunning view on Bolzano, Mt. Catinaccio and Mt. Sciliar. The complex - initially composed of two small Castles - was built by Eysenbrand von Freudenstein in the 13th century. Above the entrance, the year 1519 is engraved, in which the private St. Andrew Chapel was erected. At that time, Lodrone Castle was already in the hands of the noble Fuchs von Fuchsberg family which united the two small castles to create a larger one at the end of the 16th century.

At the beginning of the 20th century, however, Baron Seilbald, once Ambassador of the German Reich in Tokyo, renovated the building and its beautiful gatehouse and changed it into its present form. There are several pieces of art attracting particular attention, including the late-Gothic flat wood carvings in the chapel chamber, wall paintings in the residential building, a panelling with inlaid works in the northern wing and coal inscriptions which decorate the large hall. Today Lodrone Castle hosts a hotel and its park comprises a Golf exercising area with Golf Academy.