Hotel with traditional facade frescoes in the holiday region Castelrotto

Unique stay in the marvellously painted Hotel-Garni al Lupo - for an unforgettable holiday experience in the Dolomites

"Schaffen und Streben ist Gottes Gebot, Arbeit ist Leben, Nichtstun der Tod."
Eduard Burgauner (1873 – 1913)

Loosely translated, the proverb painted on the façade of the Hotel al Lupo means:
"For effort and duty God gave us life’s breath. Commitment is life, idleness death."

The witty frescoes on the façade of the hotel are well known to all visitors of Kastelruth. The author of the frescoes certainly lived by this motto. Eduard Burgauner, was born in a bakers’ family on 14th February 1873. He was only five years old when he lost his mother. Very little is known about the childhood and youth of the painter and his 6 brothers and sisters. Eduard’s uncle, Johann Burgauner, probably encouraged the development of the young boy’s artistic talent. Johann Burgauner - a well-known artist at the time - painted the altarpiece devoted to St. Mary’s Heart in the parish church of Kastelruth.

After living in Innsbruck, Memmingen and Vienna, Eduard Burgauner returned to Kastelruth probably at the end of 1901 or the beginning of 1902, at the age of 29. He immediately started working on his ambitious plan to turn Kastelruth into one of South Tyrol’s most frescoed villages. The first building to be decorated was the family bakery, run by his brother Anton. In 1904 he painted the façade of his own house, villa “Felseck” reaching a high point in his development as a painter and poet. Villa Mendel was the following step towards the transformation of Kastelruth into an integral work of art.

The frescoes on the façade of Hotel Zum Wolf were painted in 1907. The attic windows are framed by groups of angels. Below, the patron saint of innkeepers kneels down to worship St. Mary and Child. The saint depicted to the right is St. Michael and to the left St. Florian protects the building from the ever-present danger of fire. The bow window is flanked to the right by the innkeeper’s family and to the left by a butcher. The puttos with the sausage and the pig’s head advertise the meat that is on offer in the inn, which probably included a butcher’s shop. The pictures are complemented by a few verses that could be translated as follows:


This homage to the butchers’ guild is followed by somewhat more earthly verses:


A putto sitting like Bacchus on a barrel indicates that the inn also offers remedy for thirsty throats. A last quatrain frees the guest of any conscious or unconscious qualms:


A small theatrum mundi defines the roles of the characters painted on the façade, with Mary at the top, overseeing the patron saints, and the innkeeper at the bottom. The wolf which the hotel is named after only appears on the wooden hotel sign. The frescoes are free of any modern elements. Witty and funny characters that are easily understood by the simple man take the upper hand: the cat arching its back and the music playing monkeys fit perfectly into the overall picture. All this is completed by a last motto reminding us of the ephemeral nature of all our deeds:

Hotel al Lupo - Hotel in Castelrotto - Tel.: + 39 0471 70 63 32 - Fax: + 39 0471 70 70 30 - info@hotelwolf.it - www.hotelwolf.it
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