Muster Gasse
It has had many names over the centuries: Muster Gasse, Herren Gasse, Archduke Rainer Gasse, and, once again, the Muster Gasse.
Before the old town wall was demolished in 1277 the street was an insignificant outlying area, though afterwards it became a natural extension of the medieval town centre to eventually become Bolzano’s most prestigious street where wealthy merchants built their noble residences.
The Muster Gasse gained its present-day appearance during the 17th and 18th centuries. The mercantile classes and nobles bought existing houses and transformed them into prestigious residences, adding baroque (later classic) style facades.
These unassuming baroque facades concealed sumptuous interiors. Called "Palais", the names of those noble residences create history of their own: Palais Menz (now a bank), Palais Campofranco (the present-day Goethe Gallery, once the residence of Archduke Rainer of Austria), Palais Pock (now occupied by an insurance company). With the exception of Palais Menz, which can be visited at 10am each Wednesday, these splendid residences are only open once a year.
Bolzano's merchants such as the Menz family and Franz Anton Pock brought art treasures back from their journeys from both Italy and the Orient. For the wedding of the family's son Georg Paul with Klara Amort in 1776, the Palais Menz was decorated with frescoes by Karl Henrici whose works were influenced by the Venetian school, especially Tiepolo.
The end of World War One saw the decline of the Muster Gasse and the former magnificent, now vacant edifices, were sold off.