The strategically well-situated fortification at 1130 metres above sea level is a striking landmark of the eastern Puster Valley.

However, in the course of restoration work between 2016 and 2020, building research was able to prove that the oldest part of the castle, the keep, dates back to 1210.

[1] In 1239, Otto Welf de Hunenvelse, who belonged to the older lords of Welsperg, is mentioned for the first time as a ministerial who named himself after the castle.

In the 13th century, the Counts of Gorizia acquired Heinfels Castle by inheritance and, from 1275 onwards, developed it into an important base, which was also the seat of a court.

Due to the ongoing Venetian conflicts and the threat from the Turks, the castle was constantly being repaired and modernised.

A year later, on 7 July 1526, the castle men were able to fend off another siege by a 2,000-strong peasant army led by Michael Gaismair.

In 1612, Archduke Maximilian III, known as the Deutschmeister, redeemed the pledged lordship of Heinfels and handed it over to Engelhard Dietrich von Wolkenstein-Trostburg.

Soon afterwards, the castle was rebuilt by the court chamber and the defences were extended due to the continuing Venetian threat.

Archduke Leopold V bought the estate back in 1629, but immediately pledged it to Hall Abbey.

Following the bankruptcy of the pledge holders, the Royal Ladies' Abbey of Hall took over the castle in the same year.

In 1783, Emperor Joseph II dissolved the convent, with the result that the entire property, including Heinfels, fell to the state.

50 years later, the empty castle was sold to the municipalities of the Sillian judicial district, with the exception of Innichen.

In 2005, after Villgrattner's death, his daughter sold the castle to the South Tyrolean entrepreneurial Loacker family.

In the south-east corner of the castle courtyard is the stair tower, which connects the medieval buildings with those from the 15th and 16th centuries.

It is reinforced with roundels and round towers and equipped with a total of 38 embrasures for small arms on the south and east sides, the most vulnerable points for attacks.

In September 2014, the ‘Heinfels Castle Museum Association’ was founded to plan the basic renovation and develop a utilisation concept in cooperation with the Federal Monuments Office, the Province of Tyrol (Provincial Memorial Foundation) and the local communities.

The medieval castle complex in Heinfels in East Tyrol was revitalised at a cost of eight million euros between 2016 and 2020.