Schloss Mentlberg

Schloss Mentlberg stands on a forested hill southwest of Innsbruck, featuring a distinctive entrance tower with pyramidal roof, three-story main building with corner turrets, and partially preserved interior oak paneling from its aristocratic past.

Originally mentioned in 1303 as a manor farm of Wilten Monastery, the castle was transformed into a noble residence by Heinrich III. Mentlberger in 1485, later acquired by French Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans in 1890 who rebuilt it in French Renaissance style.

The site became a major pilgrimage destination during the Thirty Years' War when a miraculous Pietà statue attracted up to 15,000 faithful annually, leading to the construction of the current Rococo chapel in 1770 with frescoes by Matthäus Günther.

Currently owned by the State of Tyrol since 1928, the castle serves as temporary quarters for the Pedagogical University of Tyrol during renovations and is accessible via a road branching from the Wilten district.

The castle uniquely combines its role as a protected monument with active educational use, while its adjacent chapel continues the centuries-old Mentlberg pilgrimage tradition that began with a weathered Pietà sculpture found during wartime.