More than 500 years in the heart of Bolzano
We write the year 1888: the new „Burgtheater am Ring“ opens in Vienna, the "Financial Times" appears for the first time in London, the Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico sees the light of day in the Greek town of Volos and the Liebl family acquires a jewel of „healing art“ in Bolzano: the Madonna Pharmacy in Portici 17.
Today the family still owns the remarkable parent house. Dr. Max Liebl✝ has carefully developed the traditional pharmacy with a gentle hand.
In 2005, the company was handed over to his son Dr. Maximin Liebl, who is now in the fourth generation to run the business.
However, the history of the Madonna Pharmacy is older, much older. It dates back to 1443. Read how the predecessors of the Liebl family made the Madonna Pharmacy what it is today.
Five families, three locations and an ongoing tradition
In 1443 Peter Janardi founded a pharmacy, at that time still in the Mustergasse. About a hundred years later his nephew Johann Peter Janardi moved to Laubengasse 67. Frescoes from this early phase can still be admired. Also a column inscription ("15 Jo- Pe-Jan-62") is well preserved.
In 1602 Franz Janardi died, the last of the Janardi family. In the succession the pharmacy went to the brother-in-law Johann Jakob Salvati. Salvati moved to number 17, the building where the Madonna Pharmacy is still located today.
In 1726, after the death of the last Salvati, the Scherer family took possession of the Offizin, which was already known far beyond the city limits. Only in 1860 did the next change take place. However, the new owner, city pharmacist Julius Bergmeister, pursued other entrepreneurial interests and sold the pharmacy to the Liebl family in 1888.
The pharmacy’s a unique ambient
The Madonna Pharmacy is Bolzano's oldest pharmacy. Above the entrance there is the landmark: the Mother of God made of painted wood. The masterpiece from the 17th century comes from Domenico La Molin from the Badia Valley.
The furniture was created at the end of the 19th century in the workshops of the famous art school for woodcarving in Ortisei, Val Gardena. The depiction of Mary above the antique sales counter is the work of the important Tyrolean sculptor Franz Tavella. On the first floor you can also see some medieval frescoes.
In the whole salesroom many ancient mortars, instruments, books, packaging, labels bear witness to the long history. Some of the venerable vessels, filled with ointments or tinctures, are still in use. The scent of medicinal herbs still flows from the drawers, too.
