Katrin&Werner Unterlercher

Heinfels Castle opens its doors: special exhibition and varied cultural program

 

On May 4, Heinfels Castle starts again into a new museum and event season. A colorful and varied program should attract many visitors. For the first time, a special exhibition will be shown in the rooms of the future castle tavern together with the Tyrolean Photo Archive (TAP).

"East Tyrol - The Road to Modernity. 1870/71 to 1970" is dedicated from mid-June to the end of October to the development of the district based on the main themes of mobility, mechanization and tourism. Numerous previously unpublished pictures from the TAP's holdings and films from private collections provide insight into the eventful history of East Tyrol in the past century.

 

Birthday trip: "To the border for the first time on April 15, 1928" (Photographer Unknown; Collection Ulrike Parisi - TAP)

 

The exhibition is curated by Martin Kofler, the director of the TAP: "The path of East Tyrol into the modern age basically runs upwards, not always equally consistent, but nevertheless steady. Looking at the 100 years, the context is determined by the construction of the Pustertal railroad in 1870/71 and the opening of the Felbertauern road in 1967. The fact that there were setbacks, crises, stagnation with the separation of South Tyrol and the resulting even greater isolation of the district of Lienz after 1918 and into the Second World War must also be a topic.

Real and virtual tours of the castle, new offers for schools, families and children

The castle's permanent exhibition remains unchanged. Guides will again lead visitors through the entire castle complex, through chambers and halls: Authentic history and moving stories are made vivid with castle models, films, radio plays or animations. Museum director Ramona Hofmann: "This year, too, the popular evening tours will take place every Thursday during the summer months. In addition, the outdoor areas of Heinfels Castle can be explored on your own during opening hours as part of the panoramic tour."

Starting in June, the castle will also be brought to life digitally in cooperation with the cultural platform discover-culture.com. The entire castle with all its indoor and outdoor areas can be discovered in a virtual tour.

In the future, there will be space for special programs and workshops for school classes in the newly equipped museum education room. Special events such as children's birthday parties can also be held here. "Fairy tale tours are once again part of our offerings this year. We are always developing new formats, especially for families," says Ramona Hofmann.

 

On June 17, various choirs will give a guest performance at Heinfels Castle as part of the "Alta Pusteria International Choir Festival".

 

Varied program of events

14 public events and a large number of private celebrations such as weddings, company and birthday parties ensure a full program. At the foot of the castle, the swearing-in ceremony of around 300 recruits will take place on May 17, and on June 17, Heinfels will be one of the venues for the International Choir Festival, as it was last year. Katrin and Werner Unterlercher - known from the Pixner Project - will perform at Heinfels Castle on June 23. For many other concerts, a reading and also a sports event such as the spectacular Heinfels Tower Run, the "Queen of the Puster Valley" offers an impressive backdrop.

"With a great deal of dedication, we have once again succeeded in putting together an exciting program this year," says a delighted Peter Leiter of the Heinfels Castle Museum Association.

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The 25th edition of the International Choir Festival brings some choirs for the first time to Heinfels Castle! On Saturday, 18. 6., choirs from Italy will give a guest performance in the impressive historical scenery, starting at 1 pm. Free entry, welcome!

Recently, a Viscope telescope has been added to our castle tour! With a look through the telescope you get the most important info about the panoramic points like mountain peaks or places in the region.

We are really looking forward to the regular start of the new season on May 1st! In addition to our guided time travel through the historical castle, you can also explore the outdoor areas, the platforms and the keep on your own during the panoramic tour. In summer, many events invite you to visit the castle!

The museum opened as early as May, but it was not until July that the travel restrictions fell. By the end of the season on 7 November, 12,372 visitors had been counted at Heinfels Castle.

For the first time, the 10,000-visitor threshold was exceeded in one season. We were very happy about this together with our guests from Germany!

 

After more than 200 years, a bell rings again at Heinfels Castle. Bishop Hermann Glettler consecrated the new guardian angel bell on May 9.

New at the beginning of the 2021 season: The outdoor areas of Heinfels Castle can be explored on your own as part of the panoramic tour during opening hours! As soon as conditions permit, our guided tours of the extensive castle grounds will also take place.

Only rarely does the castle experience such winters; for weeks the complex lay under a thick layer of snow of over 150 cm. The access roads were barely kept clear and only with difficulty could the most important parts of the castle be reached.

On 15 July 2020 we opened Heinfels Castle. In this short and very challenging season, we were nevertheless able to welcome 5508 visitors in 659 guided tours until October 26 due to the worldwide pandemic with many travel restrictions!

On Wednesday, July 15, we started the first summer season with the museum, shop and castle tavern. The preparations for this were already in full swing for some time.

The current situation also has Heinfels Castle firmly under control. Construction work has resumed after the obligatory break and we are continuing to work flat out to complete the museum.

Three years ago the elaborate work on the largest profane restoration project in Tyrol began. All the roofs of the castle, with the exception of the tower from 1992, have now been newly roofed and the access paths inside the complex have already been paved. The opening of the museum is planned for early summer 2020