Villa Freischütz House Museum

In 1909, a villa was built in a top location in Maia Alta. The stately house no longer presents itself in Art Nouveau style like many other buildings in the spa town, but already in the style of architectural modernism, which was predominant in the first half of the 20th century. From the Via Priami path, which leads past the villa, it is hard to see in its park between the trees.

But it houses a special exhibition: the impressive art collection of Franz Fromm, who bought the house in 1922. Franz Fromm was a wine merchant from Prussia, but he had a passion for works of art from all over the world. He died in the Villa Freischütz in Merano in 1941. His granddaughter Rosamaria Navarini (1926-2013) donated the villa and its art collection to a foundation that was to make it accessible to the public. This Fondazione Navarini-Ugarte now runs the museum, which displays everyday objects from the period 1922-1941, including board games and household books, as well as works of art such as paintings by Ellen Tornquist and Georg Greve Lindau.

The villa itself is also worth a visit: The high rooms, the magnificent terrazzo floors, the Asian wallpapers and the furniture from all corners of the world provide a fascinating environment. It is surrounded by the wildly overgrown "Garden of Living Silence". In 2024, as one of only two Italian museums - the other one is the Giovanni Poleni Museum of Padua - it has been nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award, the "Oscar of the museum world". And how to reach the museum, called "Hausmuseum Villa Freischütz" in German and "Casa Museo Villa Freischütz" in Italian? It is located in the Via Priami in Maia Alta (for those coming by foot), there is a bus stop (line 1) about a 5-minute walk away. Access to the parking space for cars: Via Belvedere road 8.