If walls could talk: the new audio guide for Maretsch Castle

The impressive Renaissance castle of Maretsch Castle rises up amidst the vineyards on the edge of Bolzano’s old town. The new audio guide from Hearonymus now invites visitors to explore these walls – with fascinating insights into the art, history and personalities that have shaped the castle.

The origins of Maretsch Castle date back to the 13th century. Over the centuries, a small fortress belonging to the Lords of Maretsch was transformed into a magnificent residential castle, which enjoyed its heyday in the second half of the 16th century under the Römer family. The new audio guide takes visitors through these eras – from the medieval keep to the magnificently painted halls and up to the observation tower with a view over the whole of Bolzano.

Art, faith and the spirit of the Renaissance

Particularly impressive are the numerous Renaissance paintings in the castle, which still adorn many rooms today. Allegorical figures, virtues, scenes from mythology and the Bible. All of them are artfully designed using the grisaille technique and feature numerous details that bear witness to humanistic education and Reformation ideas. Maretsch Castle is not only a work of art, but also a testimony to an exciting religious period in which 16th-century Protestantism found its visible expression in Tyrol.

A castle full of history and vision

The audio guide accompanies visitors through all the important rooms: from the Gallery of Philosophers with its ancient thinkers to the Roman Hall with its large-format frescoes to the loggia, where the tragic love story of Pyramus and Thisbe, the inspiration for ‘Romeo and Juliet’, is told in pictures. But visitors from past centuries have also left their mark on the castle. In the tower rooms, you can still discover old carvings and names of visitors from the 16th century (however, we kindly ask you to refrain from such actions today).

Today, Maretsch Castle is a popular venue for exhibitions and events and, thanks to the new audio guide, also a place of lively storytelling. Those who follow the audio guide will not only learn more about architecture and art, but also discover a piece of South Tyrolean cultural history.

Discover Maretsch Castle via smartphone

The castle can now also be explored using a mobile phone: together with the Hearonymus app and the ‘Maretsch Castle’ audio guide, your smartphone becomes an interactive guide, accompanying visitors through 14 chapters with lots of background information.

The app and audio guide can be downloaded to your mobile phone in just a few clicks. Once downloaded, the guide can be listened to without restriction and without an internet connection. Whether at home or on site, the audio guide can be listened to anywhere, as often as you like. Both the Hearonymus app and the audio guide are available free of charge.

(c)Pictures: Maretsch Castle