Runkelstein Castle Runkelstein Castle ( ; ) is a medieval fortification on a rocky spur in the territory of Ritten , near the city of Bolzano in South Tyrol , Italy . In 1237 Alderich Prince - Bishop of Trent gave the brothers Friedrich and Beral Lords of Wangen permission to construct a castle on the rock then called " Runchenstayn " . History . In 1274 it was damaged during a siege by Meinhard II of Tirol , who after winning the war against Heinrich Prince - Bishop of Trent , entrusted the castle to Gottschalk Knoger of Bozen . In 1385 the Niklaus and Franz Vintler wealthy merchant brothers from Bozen bought the castle . Niklaus was counselor and financier of the Count of Tyrol , Leopold III , Duke of Austria , which allowed them to buy the castle a type of residence unfitting in this time for people of their rank . The brothers Vintler commissioned a vast restructuring of the castle : a new defence wall , moat , a cistern and more rooms were built . In 1390 the construction of the Summer House began . The house was painted with frescos , for which the castle is most famous today , inside and outside . The frescos topics were of literary nature , depicting i . e . King Arthur and his knights , Tristan and Isolde . The family also commissioned the frescoes in the Western and Eastern Palace . They were created by an unknown masters and some of them depict scenes from Pleiers romance " Garel " . In 1407 the monetary conflict between Frederick IV , Duke of Austria “ mit der leeren Tasche “ ( with empty pocket ) , Count of Tyrol and wealthy Tyrolean noble families resulted in open war . The Vintlers were drawn into these disputes and Runkelstein was besieged . Niklaus , who had allied with himself with the nobles in the " Hawk League " lost all his wealth and possessions . His brother Franz , who had allied with the Duke remained owner of the Castle until Sigismund , Archduke of Austria “ der Münzreiche ” ( rich with coins ) acquired it . The Habsburg family owned the castle until 1530 . Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I gave order to renovate the castle . He furnished his apartment and commissioned a restoration of the frescos . He also ordered his Coat of Arms to be prominently displayed in the castle . Around 1500 Maximilian gave the castle to his vassal Georg von Frundsberg , famous “ Father of the Landsknecht e ” . Frundsberg entrusted the care of the castle to a vicar . In 1520 the powder magazine on the groundfloor of the tower exploded . The explosion damaged parts of the outer wall , entrance and Eastern Palace and destroyed the tower . Afterwards the castle was neglected until King Ferdinand I bestowed it in 1530 to Sigmund von Brandis , Knight Commander of Bozen . Later the Prince - Bishop of Trent obtained the castle anew and Prince - Bishop Bernhard von Cles gave it as a feud to the Counts of Lichtenstein - Kastelkorn . In 1672 a fire destroyed the eastern palace , which was never rebuilt . In 1759 the last Liechtenstein - Kastelkorn gave back the fief to the Trentine bishops . At the time the castle was in grave decay . During the Romanticism period in the early nineteenth century romanticists rediscovered Runkelstein . Johann Joseph von Görres , a German writer was the first to come and was soon followed by the many artists in the service of King Ludwig I of Bavaria . In this time the castle became a symbol for the Romantic period . In 1868 , the northern wall of the Summer House collapsed , but in 1880 the castles fortunes changed : Johann Salvator Archduke of Austria bought Runkelstein and gave it as a gift to Emperor Franz Josef in 1882 . The emperor commissioned Friedrich von Schmidt to restore the Castle and after the restoration donated it to the city of Bozen in 1893 . The last restoration , including a careful restoration of the frescos was carried out in the late 1990s .