Naudersberg Castle

The area around Nauders belonged to the County of Vinschgau at least since the 10th century. In 1150, a Cunrat de Nudris is mentioned for the first time. He was a ministerialis of the Bishop of Chur. However, Naudersberg Castle is only documented in 1325. Its construction likely took place at the beginning of the 14th century under Duke Meinhard II.

In 1363, Count Ulrich the Younger of Matsch succeeded in obtaining the court of Nauders as a fief from Margarethe Maultasch shortly before her death, but soon had to relinquish it and content himself with Nauders as a pledged possession. In 1429, the pledge was dissolved again. In 1499, the Engadiners, who had invaded Tyrol, also attacked Naudersberg and set it on fire.

The castle was quickly restored to a defensible state. In 1518, Niklas von Trauttmansdorff was entrusted with its care. He was succeeded in 1523 by his brother Herrand. A visitation by Jörg Kölderer in 1524 revealed the castle to be in poor structural condition. The threat from the Engadiners necessitated ongoing expansions of the defensive facilities until 1542. In 1535, the jurisdiction of Nauders was pledged to the knight Jakob Khuen von Belasy. He also carried out extensive construction work inside. In 1622, an attack by the Engadiners on the castle was successfully repelled. After the French invasion of 1799, the castle had to be restored. When Tyrol belonged to Bavaria between 1806 and 1809, the court was temporarily moved to Fürstenberg near Burgeis.

In 1919, the majority of the judicial district fell to Italy. The remainder was assigned to the Landeck court. However, Naudersberg continued to be used as an administrative building and gendarmerie barracks. In 1978, the Republic of Austria ceded the already heavily neglected castle to the State of Tyrol. At that time, it was still in use as a youth holiday home. In 1980, the hotelier family Köllemann from Nauders acquired the complex and subsequently had it extensively restored.