Postal
Postal, in German Burgstall, is a small municipality in the Burgraviato (Burggrafenamt), in the province of Bolzano, stretched acr...
Updated 21 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
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The story
The story of Postal
Postal in the Burgraviato, Near Merano
Postal lies at the heart of the Burgraviato (Burggrafenamt), the historic region surrounding Merano along the Adige valley, about eight kilometres south of the spa town and roughly twenty kilometres north of the provincial capital Bolzano. The municipal territory, covering less than seven square kilometres, borders Lana to the west, Gargazon to the south, Merano to the north and the mountain municipalities of Verano and Mölten to the east, where the slopes rise to over a thousand metres above the Salto plateau. The village centre sits at around 270 metres, slightly raised above the valley floor, while newer residential and production areas have developed further down, toward the plain. Postal is a bilingual community, with a population of just over two thousand, mostly German-speaking with an Italian-speaking minority: a coexistence that mirrors the history of the Burgraviato itself, a land on the linguistic and cultural border between the Germanic and Italian worlds.
Fruit-Growing and the Apple Orchards of the Plain
Postal's economy is closely tied to fruit-growing, and above all to apple cultivation, which has turned the valley floor into an orderly mosaic of orchards stretching as far as the eye can see. Until the nineteenth century the soil of the plain was moist and nutrient-rich but often marshy and difficult to farm; only with the major river-regulation and land-reclamation works on the Adige did the valley floor become the fertile ground that today sustains one of the most intensive fruit-growing areas in all of South Tyrol. On the higher, drier and sunnier slopes, grapevines are also cultivated, testifying to the agricultural variety of the territory. The village offers guided walks through the orchards, such as the traditional tour dedicated to discovering the South Tyrolean apple, a chance to learn about cultivation techniques, harvesting and processing of a fruit that has become a symbol of the whole region, as well as the main source of income for many families in the Burgraviato.
The Postal Biotope and the Valley's Nature
Not far from the village, on the Adige valley floor, lies the Postal biotope, a protected natural area that preserves a fragment of the ancient river floodplains once widespread across the whole valley, before the great land-reclamation and river-regulation works. Riparian woodland, reed beds and seasonal pools of water offer refuge to flora and fauna tied to wetland conditions, now rare within the intensively farmed apple-orchard plain that characterises today's Burgraviato. The biotope thus offers a small window onto the original landscape of the Adige valley, when the river flowed freely among side branches, wooded islands and marshy stretches, and helps visitors understand how much the territory has changed since the nineteenth-century river regulation. Paths and trails in the surroundings allow visitors to approach the area with discretion, coming into direct contact with a fragile ecosystem that the local community works to preserve alongside its agricultural vocation.
Cycle Path, the Adige Plain and the Landscape
The valley floor of Postal is crossed by the Adige valley cycle route, which links Merano to Bolzano following the course of the river through orchards, rows of vines and small villages, and forms part of long-distance itineraries popular with cyclists from across Europe. The municipality is also served by the Lana-Postal railway station, on the Bolzano-Merano line, making it easy to reach both the spa town and the provincial capital, while a new combined cycling and walking path along the provincial road toward Gargazon is currently being built, completing the local network. The landscape seen along these routes is typical of the Burgraviato: an orderly plain of apple orchards stretching at the foot of steep slopes covered with woods and vineyards, with views ranging from the first hills toward Verano and Mölten to the foothills of Monte San Vigilio, in a constant contrast between the cultivated valley floor and the mountains above.
History and Experiences to Enjoy
The history of Postal is tied to the castle built by Count Volkmar von Burgstall, of which only ruins remain today on a rise above the village: around this fortification, already mentioned in documents from the early decades of the thirteenth century, the original settlement grew, later developing around the parish church dedicated to the Holy Cross. Since 1958 a cable car has connected Postal to the municipality of Verano above it, on the Salto plateau: renovated in the 2000s and again in 2017, the cable car remains a much-used scenic link, allowing a quick ascent from the valley floor to mountain pastures and woods. Experiences to enjoy in the village also include walks along the Sunnseitn-Steig, the sun-facing trail that runs along the slopes above the settlement with wide views over the valley, while the local economy, historically agricultural, has in recent decades also grown thanks to notable production businesses, a sign of a village able to combine farming tradition with development.
Not to be missed
- The Postal biotope, a protected remnant of the ancient Adige floodplains
- The ruins of Burgstall castle above the village
- A guided walk through the orchards discovering the South Tyrolean apple
- The Sunnseitn-Steig, a sunny panoramic trail along the slopes
- The cable car to Verano and the Salto plateau
To see
What to see in Postal
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