South Tyrolean Museum of Hunting and Fishing

The South Tyrolean Museum of Hunting and Fishing - "Südtiroler Landesmuseum für Jagd und Fischerei" in German, "Museo Provinciale della Caccia e della Pesca" in Italian - is one of the 10 Provincial Museums of South Tyrol, an entity that also comprises other museums such as the Fortezza Fortress or the South Tyrolean Wine Museum. It is housed in Castel Wolfsthurn, a magnificent Baroque building with 365 windows, 52 doors, 12 chimneys and four portals reminding - by their figures - on the days, weeks, months and seasons of the year.

The castle is owned - such as the Mair am Hof Residence in Teodone, which houses the South Tyrolean Folklore Museum - by the Sternbach family. The museum was inaugurated in 1996: the 1st floor is dedicated to hunting and fishing from a cultural and natural historic angle. Exhibited are dioramas of local wildlife, objects of daily use from the field of hunting such as powder horns and hunting instruments, as well as objects of folk arts, e.g. pipes and drinking glasses. The 2nd floor is dedicated to the Baroque castle and the history of the Wolfsthurn family. This is where you can admire the originally preserved State Apartments, telling about the aristocratic life of the 18th and 19th century. In the cellar, however, information are illustrated in a child-friendly manner. Here kids can learn more about animal traces, animal voices and a little bear cave.

And how to reach the South Tyrolean Museum of Hunting and Fishing? Castel Wolfsthurn enthrones the hill above Mareta (Mareit) in the municipality of Racines (Ratschings). In the village there are parking possibilities, from the Mareta Parish Church the "Forest and Water" hiking trail takes you slightly uphill to the eastern entrance of the castle. The 1 km long path is accessible for prams and leads also past the castle pond and a fallow deer enclosure.