Fürstenburg Castle

Fürstenburg was built in the 13th century near Burgeis (municipality of Mals) in South Tyrol (Italy) as the seat of the Prince-Bishops of Chur. The first documented mention is a document signed in 1292 by Berthold von Heiligenberg (in caso nostro Furstenburch). Until the secularization in 1803, it served to administer the extensive possessions of the Chur church princes in the upper Etsch Valley and in the Münstertal, including the delivery of monetary and in-kind contributions from the "Churish" serfs and subjects. During the Bavarian rule over the Princely County of Tyrol from 1806 to 1814, the castle became the seat of the district court for the Upper Vinschgau. After the transfer to Austria, it became the seat of an imperial and royal rent office until 1850. The municipality of Burgeis acquired the castle in 1859. Today, a technical school for agriculture and forestry is located in the castle. After a partial collapse of the tower in 1996, the then director Georg Flora suggested an expansion. The plan of the architect Werner Tscholl included the comprehensive renovation and modernization of the complex, without irrevocably changing the existing complex. Only architectural elements or extensions were added.