Rottenstein Castle, Ansitz in Obermais, Merano, Italy

Rottenstein Castle is a fortified manor house with an L-shaped floor plan and two distinctive corner towers located in Merano. The northwest tower rises four stories while the south tower stands three stories, creating an asymmetrical silhouette.

The von Priami family, who gave the estate its earlier name Priamischloß, is first documented as owner in 1696. In 1841 the architect Leo von Klenze bought the farm on behalf of King Ludwig I of Bavaria to build a royal pleasure seat, but the plan was never carried out. The von Plawenn couple acquired it in 1850 and had the castle built in its present form; Anna Countess of Meran bought it in 1862 and passed it to Archduke Karl Ludwig in 1863.

The name Rottenstein was used alongside Priamischloß, after the von Priami family who owned the estate in 1696. The south tower, the oldest part, still shows paired arches and coupled rectangular windows on the ground floor and third floor. The larger northwest tower, added around 1850, has a hipped roof and rises four storeys because of the slope.

The Ansitz is privately owned by the descendants of Georg and Ulrich von Liechtenstein, who inherited it in 1951, the year it was placed under monument protection. The interior is not open to visitors; the L-shaped building with its two corner towers is seen from the street and footpaths of Obermais, on the sun-facing side toward Merano.

In 1841 the architect Leo von Klenze bought the farm for King Ludwig of Bavaria to build a "royal pleasure seat" there, but the plan was never carried out. The present castle was built only from 1850 by the von Plawenn couple, so nothing medieval survives in it.