The founding of the museum

The South Tyrol Museum of Tourism was opened on 15 March 2003. The name ' Touriseum ' expresses the symbiosis between the ideas 'tourism' and 'museum'.

The idea of presenting tourism in a museum dates back to the 1980s. At this time tourism in South Tyrol had reached a turning point, at the end of a dramatic period of development. The time was ripe for a review, in a museum, of a phenomenon which had so permanently affected Alpine areas. In 1977, in the course of the South Tyrol autonomy negotiations, Trauttmansdorff Castle had been transferred to the province Bozen, thus offering the possibility of ideal accommodation for the new museum. The Empress Elisabeth's two periods of residence in the castle had, after all, been a significant factor in the growth of tourism in Tyrol. In 1998, the South Tyrol provincial government decided that the building should be renovated and converted into a museum. In 1999 the complex process of conversion and extensive restoration began, which came to an end in 2003 with the opening of the museum.

During the development period the Touriseum was part of the South Tyrol Museum of Cultural and Provincial History, Tyrol Castle . Since 1.1.2004 the museum has formed part of the organisation South Tyrol Provincial Museums.