Lana, the fruit growing market town

Lana is one of the fastest growing and at the same time the oldest fruit growing area of South Tyrol. Therefore it is the ideal location for a museum dedicated to the history of fruit growing in this country. One tenth of the apples grown in Europe come from South Tyrol and one per cent of these come from Lana. The Fruit Growing Museum in Lana, opened in 1990, documents the historical evolution and the actual situation of fruit growing in South Tyrol.

The history of the apple in South Tyrol

It is assumed that the grafting of the wild growing apple took place during the Bronze Age or the Iron Age (from 1800 B. C.). And the Romans, who migrated shortly afterwards and built their estates from Appianum (Eppan) to Leonianum (Lana), valued the apple as an aristocratic dessert fruit. Plinius (23-75 A. D.) counted 21 apple and 41 pear varieties. Medieval documents prove the existence of fruit in the 13th and 14th century, and show over a dozen “tree gardens” and “fruit gardens”. According to the land registry office, a field with fruit trees formed a part of nearly every farm in Lana in the 17th and 18th century with the fruit being used in each household for their own purpose.

The museum

The exhibition rooms in the museum cover an area of approximately 2000 sq m in the medieval residence “Larchgut”. The museum gives the visitor a interesting insight into traditional agriculture and crafts and provides copious information on daily life on these Alpine slopes.
On the ground floor of the museum the visitor is introduced to the tradition of the local food production, winiculture and fruit growing. Among numerous interesting objects we find a huge wine press dating back to 1570. It is, in fact, the oldest wine press in the country. The exhibition in the ground floor of the medieval tower shows the rise in prosperity due to the fruit growing boom in the 19th and 20th century. The first floor is dedicated to the daily life of fruit growing farmers at the turn of the century. In the splendid baroque hall in the second floor special exhibitions alternate throughout the year.

Fruit Growing Museum
Via Brandis 4 - I-39011 Lana
Tel.: +39 0473 564 387

www.obstbaumuseum.it