Fröhlichsburg

Fröhlichsburg stands as a ruined castle above the municipality of Mals, Italy, and was probably erected by a medieval noble line known as the Herren von Mals.

The first building phase included a large defensive tower dated to the 12th–13th centuries and the site may have served as the ancestral seat of the Herren von Mals, a branch of the von Matsch family. Later a bishop of Chur took possession and established the castle as the seat of a tribunal. From the 14th century the place functioned as a court and an administrative center for the surrounding area. The complex has been known by several names over time, including Griesenstein and Malsburg.

In 1499, during the Battle of Calven, forces from the Engadine attacked and set both the town and the castle ablaze. After that destruction the local administrator, known as the Pfleger, removed the court seat to Glurns.

In the second half of the 16th century ownership passed to the Fröhlich family, who undertook repairs and gave the site the name it now bears. In 1563 Emperor Ferdinand I formally enfeoffed Balthasar, Carl, Hans and Pankraz Fröhlich with the property, and Balthasar adopted the style “von Fröhlichsburg.” Around 1603 the male Fröhlich line ended and another Tyrolean family subsequently assumed the name and arms “Fröhlich von Fröhlichsburg.”

Eighteenth‑century images show the castle largely in ruins, and a local tradition records that stones from the site were taken in 1838 to enlarge the parish church of Mals. The ruins received legal protection in the mid‑20th century and were entered on the provincial list of monuments in 1981. The property is privately owned by the Counts Khuen‑Belasi. A local association called “Freunde der Fröhlichsburg” organized a restoration of the main tower, and work on the tower with the addition of a viewing platform was completed in 2004, accompanied by a commemorative Festschrift.