Brunnenburg () is a 13th-century

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the province of

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

, in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

Schloss Brunnenburg is situated above the city of

Merano Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its Spa town, spa resorts, it is located within a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to Height above mean sea ...

, on the outskirts of the municipality of

Tirol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. Originally built circa 1250, the castle was completely restored and updated in the mid-20th century by

Boris de Rachewiltz Boris de Rachewiltz (born as Luciano Baratti) (1926–1997) was an Italian Egyptologist and writer on Africa and the ancient world. Biography Boris de Rachewiltz, brother of the historian Igor de Rachewiltz, married Mary, the daughter of Ezra ...

, an

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

, and his wife

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

, daughter of the poet

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist

Olga Rudge Olga Rudge (April 13, 1895 – March 15, 1996) was an American-born concert violinist, who had a long-term relationship with the poet Ezra Pound, by whom she had a daughter, Mary. A gifted concert violinist of international repute, her consid ...

; Mary lives there to this day. Surrounding the castle is the family's vineyard. Pound stayed with his daughter and her family at the castle in 1958 after he returned from the United States. It was there that he wrote the last 6 of his 116 "

canto The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry. Etymology and equivalent terms The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from th ...

s" of ''

The Cantos ''The Cantos'' is a long modernist poem by Ezra Pound, written in 109 canonical sections in addition to a number of drafts and fragments added as a supplement at the request of the poem's American publisher, James Laughlin. Most of it was wr ...

.''

The Ezra Pound Centre for Literature

"The Ezra Pound Centre for Literature" was established at the castle by his daughter, where students come from all over the world to study the poet's works. A large guesthouse on the castle grounds is used as temporary housing for students, usually for a semester at a time.

References

* ''Brunnenburg'' (1980). In Oswald Trapp (ed.). ''Tiroler Burgenbuch'', vol. II, ''Burggrafenamt'', Bozen, Athesia 1980.

External links

Brunnenburg Castle

The Ezra Pound Center for Literature

Great Adventures at Brunnenburg Castle
Castles in South Tyrol Museums in South Tyrol Ezra Pound 13th-century establishments in Italy Establishments in the Princely County of Tyrol {{Italy-castle-stub