History

From 1968

Launch of the first research fields

1971 – 2006

Acquisition of 7 hectares worth of neighbouring orchards

1972 – 73

Construction of the warehouse testing facility

1975

Laimburg Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry is officially founded pursuant to Provincial Act no. 53 issued on 03 November 1975

1977 – 79

Construction of the first Research Centre facilities following the conversion of the former Laimburg estate stables

1978

Construction of the Mair am Hof farmstead in Teodone/Dietenheim near Brunico/Bruneck for research on arable crops and grassland farming; acquisition of the Seeburg farm near Bressanone/Brixen

1979

Inauguration of the Agricultural Chemistry Laboratory

1980

The state-owned ONC farms Montefranco/Freiberg near Merano/Meran and the Ölleitenhof estate at Lake Caldaro/Kalterer See are placed under Laimburg stewardship for research on fruit-growing and viticulture

1983

Acquisition of the Botta farm (now called Happach) to be used by the Agricultural Secondary School in Ora/Auer; remains in use until 1990

1984

Establishment of the Laimburg technical library

1989 – 90

Construction of the Stone Cellar, a rock vault carved into the mountainside

1990

Construction of a branch in Oris/Eyrs for research on vegetable production, arable crops and grassland farming; acquisition of the Binnenland farmstead from the Province of Trento

1993

Expansion of the Laimburg winery

1994

Start of the construction of the botanical gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle in Merano/Meran

1995

Relocation of the road connecting Vadena/Pfatten with Ora/Auer away from Laimburg Research Centre to the side of the motorway

1995

Founding of the Passirio/Passer Fish Hatchery

1996 – 99

Renovation of the main building and the warehouse testing facility; construction of the new Plant Protection laboratory

1997 – 99

All remaining agricultural properties owned by the Province are placed under Laimburg stewardship

2001

Opening of the botanical gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle

2002

Inauguration of the Molecular Biology laboratory and set-up of a gene bank

2002 – 05

Acquisition and amelioration of seven hectares of land in Piccolongo/Piglon: 3000 m³ of excavated material are moved to create a vineyard and a tree nursery

2003 – 04

Further excavations into the mountainside to expand the Stone Cellar

2003 – 14

Accreditation of several laboratories according to ISO 17025

2005

Launch of a new fruit-preservation technology based on a dynamically controlled atmosphere (DCA) developed at Laimburg Research Centre

2010

Definition of a new conceptual focus based on four research pillars from 2010 to 2020

2011

Construction and inauguration of the Flavours and Metabolites laboratory

2012

Construction works to build a new laboratory facility and completion of the excavations of an important Iron Age settlement on the site of the former Stadlhof farm, revealing one of the earliest pieces of evidence of wine production in South Tyrol: grape seeds dating back 2,400 years

2013

The botanical gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle are voted International Garden of the Year 2013 at the Garden Tourism Conference in Toronto, Canada

Laimburg Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry becomes an entity dependent on the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen-South Tyrol

2014

Laimburg Research Centre is put in charge of coordinating the food sciences division at NOI Techpark

2015

The South Tyrol provincial government adopts its 2016-2022 Action Plan for Research and Training in Mountain Agriculture and Food Sciences

Start of the Laimburg Research Centre restructuring process