Heinfels Castle 2023: A year full of cultural highlights and discoveries

This year was characterized by a lively museum, concerts, exhibitions and exciting activities at Heinfels Castle. The castle remains an important cultural hotspot in East Tyrol and beyond.

The start of an exciting museum year began with the East Tyrolean Museum Days in May. An exciting puzzle rally led young and old through Heinfels Castle. In the museum store, Gertrud Mair presented a game she had developed. An Interreg project highlighted the forgotten connections, the historical relationships between Cadore and Alta Pusteria. In June, this year's special exhibition of the Tyrolean Photo Archive TAP was opened at Heinfels Castle. It shows East Tyrol's path to modernity in the period from 1870/71 to 1970.


The special TAP exhibition 2023 in the castle tavern showed East Tyrol's path to modernity from 1870/71 - 1970.

Varied program as part of the "Heinfelser Burgsommer"

The "Heinfelser Burgsommer" once again offered a wealth of events this year, from concerts and readings to a spectacular sports competition. The "International Choir Festival" took place in June, with seven choirs from Switzerland and Italy performing in front of the impressive castle backdrop. The brilliant concert by Katrin & Werner Unterlercher, known from the Herbert Pixner Project, thrilled the audience and transported them into the multifaceted world of "string music of an extraordinary kind". In July, author Christian Schnalke presented his new novel "Gewitterschwestern", which is inspired by personal experiences in the mountains.

But modern music also has its place within the old walls: The "Runway Quartet" from Innsbruck played Broadway hits and pop songs in their own arrangements. In August, the "Heinfelser Turmlauf" provided a sporting challenge on the demanding route from the Punbrugge to the keep. The "Passacaglia della Vita" concert with works by Claudio Monteverdi and other Renaissance and Baroque composers delighted the audience in summer and underlined the uniqueness of the castle as a venue.


As one of the many venues in the Pustertal Valley, the castle provided an impressive setting for the "International Choir Festival".


Katrin and Werner Unterlercher delighted the audience at the "Heinfels Castle Summer".


The "Heinfelser Turmlauf" with start at the Punbrugge and finish on the keep was once again a spectacular sporting event this year.

The concerts by "Waldauf³" and "Cordes y Butons" brought the "Heinfelser Burgsommer" 2023 to a more than worthy close. Outside the historic walls, the castle parking lot provided a festival site for the up-and-coming young musician Chris Steger with support act ElisaLeen for the first time. This concert alone attracted 800 guests from near and far to Heinfels at the beginning of September.

"Cultural Dialogues" 2023: The return of Fortuna

A sensational find from 2021 returned to the castle as part of the "Cultural Dialogues" in September: the "Fortuna of Heinfels", a bronze statuette measuring just 12.5 cm, was presented to the public for the first time as part of a lecture. It will find a permanent place in the castle's permanent exhibition in the near future.


The "Fortuna of Heinfels" was presented to the public for the first time in September.

There were also lots of exciting activities for children. First and foremost the children's birthday parties, but also numerous special guided tours and, for the first time, a herbal workshop in September, which immersed the youngest visitors in the magical world of castle herbs.

"Kulturgestöber&Kulinarik", an event of the "Osttiroler Kulturspur", focused on regional cultural treasures in October. Heinfels Castle was once again an important event venue - with guided tours of this year's special exhibition and the castle grounds.

A total of 35 events took place - including 12 weddings - attracting a total of 2,300 visitors. In addition, the museum welcomed an impressive 12,000 guests in 2023.

Preparations for 2024 have been underway since the autumn and visitors can once again look forward to a varied program and new museum content. Construction work on the restaurant in the west wing is scheduled to begin in the summer and the wing is expected to open in 2026 with around 180 seats in the restaurant.

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From May 2018 to the end of October 2019, more than 2800 visitors gained insights into one of the most exciting construction sites in the region.

It was a special day for the "Queen of the Puster Valley": On the 12th of July the guardian angel bell was cast in the bell foundry Grassmayr in Innsbruck. This is a continuation of the old tradition of bells in the castle.

During the restoration work, a special red chalk drawing from the early 16th century was uncovered. But this is not the only discovery!

Heinfels Castle’s main redevelopment should be complete and open once again to the general public within five years. An ambitious goal if you were to take a peek inside the imposing castle, as the last centuries haven’t been kind to the halls and chambers, leaving them to dilapidate.

On 16 November 2015, the concept regarding the future use of Heinfels Castle was presented to the district councils of the Tyrolean Oberland. If everything goes according o plan, the main redevelopment can take place during summer 2016.

The Südtiroler Burgeninstitut (the South Tyrolean Castle Institute) invited Management of the Museumsverein and the Steering Group to visit a number of castles in and around South Tyrol on 14 July 2015.

On 2 June 2015, the members of the ‘New Uses’ and ‘Redevelopment and Maintenance’ groups were met by gorgeous weather as they set out to visit the border fortress of Altfinstermünz in Nauders at the foot of the Finstermünzpass.