ANTON Karl Simon Graf von Wolkenstein, Freiherr von Trostburg und Neuhauss

Notable Personalities

‘The castle would have been doomed to become a fief-farm had it not been for the lucky chance of it coming under the ownership of Count Anton and Countess Maria, his wife, who having fallen in love with it from her very first stay, chose it as her summer residence and ordered so many changes and improvements that she turned it into a delightful and princely manor. In those years, the castle hosted many illustrious people, including Richard Wagner and actress Eleonora Duse.' Guido Suster.

Anton Maria Wolkenstein (1832-1913)

Heir to the Tyrolese family Wolkenstein-Trostburg who owned the castle at Ivano from 1750 to 1923, he was born on August 2nd 1832 in Bohemia. Having studied law in Prague, he was appointed to prominent posts by the Viennese government. He served as ambassador to Russia, in Paris and in Rome. In Berlin he met and married Countess Maria von Buch who was ten years his junior and the widow of Count Alexander von Schleinitz, formerly the Interior Minister of Prussia. In 1893 Count Anton inherited from his brother Leopold the castles at Toblino and Ivano and died in the latter in 1913. He was the first person buried in the new Strigno cemetery, which was built on land he himself had donated. The castle of Ivano was inherited by his grandchildren and after World War I they handed it over to Franz Staudacher because as foreigners they were not entitled to indemnification for the heavy damage to the castle during the war.