Historic village centre Dobbiaco

From 1764 to 1774 the current baroque church was built on the foundations of a Romanesque and later Gothic church. It was designed and project managed by Dobbiaco builder Rudolph Schraffl. The 76 m tall tower, which arises in the Northwest of the main nave, was completed in 1804.

Opening hours: daily 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.

The residence was in the centre of a partly fortified complex and was linked with the Red Tower by means of an underground passage.
The cellars of Herbst castle housed the prisons of the Dobbiaco court. Christoph von Herbst, who was the judge in Dobbiaco, occasionally used the castle as a court house. Subsequently, the residence became the official seat of the court.
Between 1508 and 1511 Emperor Maximilian I stayed at Herbst Castle, from where he convened the Imperial Diet, the Reichstag in Augsburg in 1508. In 1511 his court moved there during the war against Venice.
After the family Herbst died out, the next owners of the castle were the Lords Gössl, von Graben and Prak, and in 1605 the Lords von Walther. Subsequent owners were the Laspa, the Counts or Klebelsberg and the Counts of Bossi-Fedrigotti von Ochsenfeld. Today Herbst castle is owned by Claudio Marchese Cavalcabò Misuracchi Fratta.

In 1557 the tower became the property of the House of von Kurz zu Thurn, in 1580 it was sold to the family Winkelhofen (later Barons of Winkelhofen) from Swabia. In later years, because of its reddish paintwork, the building was named “Red Tower”. The Red Tower has been privately owned since 1736.

After the Gorizian Count Albert II died in his residence of Bruck Castle near Lienz in 1304 his sons decided to send their sister Emerentiana to a convent in faraway Italy. The pious and upright Count Balthasar of Monguelfo was chosen to accompany her on her journey. During the long journey he noticed the quiet sadness of his companion, and her fear of the dark convent walls touched his heart. And so the young countess who had been destined to become a nun instead became her companion’s wife. On their journey back home the newly-weds looked for accommodation on a farm in Dobbiaco. The Gorizians were so outraged about the Knight of Monguelfo that they threatened a feud against the whole family. The provost of San Candido intervened and instead of a war the families celebrated a wedding. When Knight Balthasar heard about the fortunate turn of his critical situation he is said to have explained: “Angel, now the danger is over!”, “Angel now” sounding like “Engel ös” in the regional German. To give thanks for her rescue the young wife built the church “Maria am Rain” in Monguelfo. The Monguelfo and the Gorizian coats of arms were displayed in the main nave of the church until its restoration in 1832. The farmhouse in which Balthasar and Emerentiana had found refuge in Dobbiaco became a noble residence and was granted the special right for nobility by the Count. From that time on the owners included an angel in their coat of arms. The Counts of Winkelhofen, who inherited Englös after the Arnold dynasty died out in 1563, then used the title “von Englös.”