Burg Reifenstein (Italy)

Castel Reifenstein (Castel Tasso) is located on a rocky castle hill in the Wipptal in the municipality of Freienfeld near Vipiteno in South Tyrol. On the opposite side of the valley is Talking Stone Castle.

From 1110 the castle was given as a fief to the Bressanone ministries of Stelvio-Reifenstein-Monguelfo. When they died out in 1189/90, the castle passed to the Trautson family. In 1470 Duke Sigismund of Austria-Tyrol sold the feud to the Teutonic Knights. Until the dissolution of the order in 1813, the castle remained in the possession of the order and was further expanded and militarily strengthened. Reifenstein has never been conquered or destroyed in its history and is therefore today considered the best preserved castle complex in South Tyrol.

In 1813 the Innsbruck line of the Counts Thurn and Taxis, who were based at Neuhaus Castle on the Danube from 1729 to 1868 and operated the Tyrolean post office until 1769, received Reifenstein Castle from the Kingdom of Bavaria as compensation for the postal system they possessed in parts of the country; the castle is still in their possession today.