Sehenswürdigkeiten in Brixen

A sports ground with an outdoor and indoor pool, the Aquarena, was built north of the Bressanone Old Town. It is the result of a competition provided for the extension, which was to include a music school, underground parking and an indoor climbing gym; the latter has now been built. The climbing gym had to be of a certain height: a cube that is highly visible amongst the surrounding buildings thus emerged, which can also be viewed as a landmark. It not only affords good views of the city, but also allows one to see into the hall, and meets ecological considerations. The reinforced concrete structure, which has a steel-and-glass façade, also has a second façade level of corrugated gold-colored perforated plate elements that give the interior soft light without harsh shadows. The hall is accessed along a monumental staircase, which is also planned to serve as the entrance to the music school that will be built next door.

With its 65,000 square metres of space, Franzensfeste is the largest historical complex in South Tyrol. Begun in 1833 under Emperor Franz Josef, this masterpiece of Austrian fortress architecture was opened by Emperor Ferdinand in 1838 after a construction period of only five years. By this time, however, it had already lost its strategic importance and justification. The enormous effort and the horrendous costs - for nothing. From then on, the huge fortress was only of use as a depot and was frozen in the Sleeping Beauty sleep of a strictly guarded military installation for over a century and a half. Since the military left the fortress in 2003, Franzensfeste has been open to the public and was extensively renovated in the course of two major exhibitions in 2008 and 2009. As a South Tyrolean Provincial Museum, Franzensfeste Fortress is now a magnet for tourists and locals alike and a popular venue for a wide variety of exhibitions and events.

January and february: winter break

The historical garden is situated at the entrance to the monastery complex. It reopened in summer 2004 following extensive restoration work. The sequoia tree towers imposingly over the rear part of the garden, with the impressive centuries-old ginkgo trees directly opposite. The pretty baroque garden with its myriad flowers and herbs and beautiful fountain is laid out between them.

The seminary of Brixen has a very interesting history. The current seminary building was built in the years 1764-1771 under Prince-Bishop Leopold of Spaur on the site of the old pilgrims' hospice and was consecrated on 28 June 1767. Today the seminary is the seat of the Theological-Philosophical Seminary.

The space in front of the Augustinian Monastery was used as a car park for a long time. Surrounded by buildings of historical value, the potential of the space was finally filled in with a new design. The complex is made of three parts: the entrance from outside, the square and the entrance to the abbey gate. The square was lowered by 1.5 meters in order to recreate the original proportions of the facades of the surrounding buildings. A steel plate for a fountain was installed in the middle of the space. Wooden steps arranged above the water cascade, surround the square, which can be used as seats for open-air events. In bad weather a large tarpaulin with steel supports and rope guy lines can be set up. All new aspects such as paving, parapets, steps etc. were made from granite to stay in keeping with the buildings of the abbey.

The church of St. John in Tschötsch (mentioned in 1406) was built from granite blocks of Brixen.On the façade St. Christophan reminds old transitions in the low mountain range. Slight stucco on the inside of the church reveals renovations in the Baroque period, from that time dates also the fresco of the baptism of Christ in the vault (Joseph Anton Zoller, 1763).During the World War, the church withstands some bombs, which were thought for the near bridge of the village of Albeins.

It was probably originally the Palatine Chapel and was enlarged several times. Later, a collegiate chapter was established there (1214), in addition to the cathedral chapter, and after its dissolution it served as a church for the pastoral care of students. The altarpieces were painted by Theophilos Pollak (around 1638). Today it is the church of popular piety, with Mary Help of Christians, Pilgrim Madonna, Madonna of the Ear of Corn, Lourdes Mother of God, St. Joseph, Rochus and Sebastian, Rita of Cascia.

Romanesque St. Michael’s church of the 11th century, Gothic choir loft and the „Weißer Turm“ (White Tower, 72 m) dating from the 15th century, hall church of the late Gothic around 1500, after 1750 redesigned in a baroque manner with frescoes by Josef Hautzinger, Troger’s apprentice from Vienna, altars of the Baroque, Classicism and Romanticism. Famous sculpture of Simon, the „Kreuzträger“.

There has always been a fountain on the cathedral square, even more so because the square also was the location of the local cattle markets until 1820. Originally, a fountain was located in front of the Trapp house, which houses the public library today. When the police ordered for two large flowerbeds bounded by wire fences to be laid out on the cathedral square in 1952 to prevent larger groups of people from gathering, a waterspout fountain was erected in the northern flowerbed (pictured). On occasion of the redesign of the cathedral square in 1989, artist Martin Rainer (1923–2012) created the Lebensbrunnen fountain. The bronze pyramid in the marble basin represents the different stages of human life and the circle of life as a spiral which springs from the hand of God and returns to it in the end.

The University of Bolzano’s Faculty of Education was built in Bressanone/Brixen. At first glance, the rigid modern architecture may be jarring opposite the Bishop's Palace, but its urban development and architectural qualities evolve upon closer examination. The square building corresponds approximately to the dimensions of the Bishop's Palace, and Bressanone’s Lauben arcade motif recurs on the ground floor, underneath the three glazed upper floors of offices. For its structure, the inner courtyard takes up the alleyways and atriums of the Bressanone Old Town. The materials used for the exterior and interior are consistently reduced to glass and concrete. The cool impression of the interior spaces fits in with the intentionally quiet, almost monastic educational system.

The Town Hall of Brixen is situated between the “Portici Maggiori” Street and Cathedral Square.

The present building has a Renaissance façade and a late-Medieval crenellated roof.

The Roman Catholic Church of the Congregatio Jesu in Brixen is consecrated to St. Joseph. The classicist building was owned by the Order of the English Misses until it was taken over by the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol in 2011.

The classicist façade is simple and is divided by four pilasters. These are crowned by a triangular gable. Above the rectangular portal there is a round-arched window.

In addition to stucco work by Franz Singer, there is a high altarpiece inside the church depicting the death of St. Joseph. It was probably painted around 1770 by Josef Anton Zoller for the parish church in Schmirn. To the left and right of it are the figures of St. Joachim and St. Anna.  On the left side altar is the painting of St. Philomena by Gebhard Flatz (1870), on the right side altar the communion of St. Antonius by Jakob Fink (1846) is shown. In the choir there is a ceiling painting with the representation of Jesus in the temple by Josef Mühlmann (1854). The other paintings and the neo-baroque decorative painting are by Johann Matthias Peskoller (1904).

Tils with a late gothic church has been recently elevated to a parish. It is consecrated to St. Vitus, the old saint of the farmers, whose painful martyrdom is represented in the nave.

The little church of St. Nikolaus in the hamlet of Klerant (850m) dates from the early 15th century and impresses with its rich late gothic frescoes. Besides the depiction of the legends of St. Nicholas, the cycle of the Passion of Christ has been well preserved. The careful decoration of the Salvation Mirror comes from the Brixen school of painting of Master Leonhard (around 1470).

The small church in St. Jakob got its actual shape in the 15th century. The Christophours – painting on the outer wall as well as several paintings of saints on the inside were made by an unknown master of Brixen of the 15th century. The altars are new Gothic.The church is locked for safety reasons, the keys are available at the nearby farm.

The church in St. Jakob in der Mahr was consecrated in 1428 to the patron of the pilgrims. On the inside, the artistic decor is remarkable: in the vault the lamb God, surrounded by 16 arms, such as Brixen, Kärnten, Austria and many local aristocratic families. The representation of the legend of Jakob in the choir is from the painter- school of Master Leonhard von Brixen.

This fortress, which is the largest in the Alps, was completed in 1838 but was never actually used for the purpose of war. It served as a munition storage place until it was taken over by South Tyrol to be used for cultural purposes. So far the lower and middle fortress have been rebuilt to house exhibitions. Cellar corridors were extended underground and connected by a vertical shaft to the uppermost, destroyed, powder magazine. A staircase was installed here, free standing like a sculpture, so that the view of the exterior was not impaired. A new building made of concrete extends the ruins which are covered with a steel roof. The rest of the additional buildings were built in patinated black steel, whose open galleries seems to sway over the surface of the reservoir.

The cloister of the cathedral of Brixen/Bressanone is one of the most important art monuments in South Tyrol. Its origins date back to pre-Romanesque times. The complex was rebuild in the romanesque (12th century) and gothic (14th century) phases.  In this last major reconstruction phase of the 14th century the sacred building was vaulted with a gothic groined vault. The well-preserved gothic frescoes, which depict themes of  the religious and  medieval life, are particularly breathtaking. Some of the most extraordinary frescoes of the cloister  are the presentation of  an elephant (3rd arcade) and the adoration of the Kings (13th arcade).

Beneath St. Andrä, in a charming position on a hill, the small church of St. John the Baptist is situated in Karnol. Mentioned already in 1133, the renovation and the decor of the 15th century characterize the little house of God.A tender net- vault covers the inside, that impressions with cycles of frescoes of different periods. Beside the life and the death of the church patron John, the works of mercy and some saints, the martyrdom of the saint Ursula is of extraordinary quality.The representation in the apsis dates back to the Renaissance (around 1520), it shows the return of the saint Ursula with 11,000 virgins from Rome to Köln, where arrow riflemen of the Huns’ king Guam kill her. The wide scenery of the frescoes is flanked by John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.

To the south of the cloister is the chapel of St. John with its unobtrusive exterior, originally probably the house chapel of the bishop, later the baptistery. It has two floors and is decorated with precious frescoes from the romanesque (1250), early (around 1320) and high gothic (1st century of the 15th century). According to tradition, the Synod of Bishops met here in 1048, which Emperor Henry IV had convened in the course of the investiture conflict in order to have Pope Gregory VII deposed and elevate Clement III to the position of antipope

Situated in the park of the Baroque seminary, Cusanus Academy emerged as a widely acclaimed South Tyrolean pioneer project in postwar architecture. The three-story building closes the courtyard, urbanistically speaking, behind the historical seminary building with the church. It interpreted a theme of Bressanone’s Old Town in a contemporary way: arcades and bays run down the whole length of the eastern facade. The materials, exposed concrete and hard-burnt brick, consistently shape both the outer shell and the interiors with a quality that, even half a century later, shows no structural damage. In the center of the building is a large hall from which all the spaces on the upper floors are accessed via galleries. Because it has good acoustics the hall is often used as a large lecture room. It is vaulted and has a structurally interesting exposed concrete ceiling, the arches of which give the space good illumination.

The Brixen Poor Clares Monastery was already founded during the lifetime of St. Clare.
There is no documents about the foundation itself and where the first sisters came from. The oldest written document is a letter of liberty from the Prince-Bishop of Bressanone, Henry IV, dated May 10, 1235, in which the monastery and the newly built church in honour of the Virgin Mary and St. Francis were freed from all secular and spiritual judicial constraints.

The church of St. Elisabeth was originally a romanesque church, which was rebuilt in the 15th century into a gothic church and then in the 17th century into a baroque church. At the entrance portal there is a crucifixion scene and the coronation scene of Mary with the Franciscan saints (St. John of Capristan, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. James of the Mark, St. Elizabeth, St. Clare and St. Agnes). The interior is indented with a groined vault above which the Sisters' Choir is located. The choir of nuns, which is located above the vault, is under strict enclosure. Behind the choir stalls there is a small "chair" for each sister, which is individually decorated with devotional objects and pictures.

The walls of the presbytery show scenes from the life and work of St. Elisabeth of Thuringia (left: Rose miracle and the banishment from the Wartburg; right: death and burial of the saint). The high altar is a niche construction with four columns and a volute gable (by Peter Passler from Neustift). The picture shows the alms donation of St. Elisabeth. It is flanked by St. Francis and St. Clare. While the left side altar shows a scene of shepherd adoration, the right side altar picture shows Joachim, Anna and little Mary.

The pilgrimage church Maria am Sand, with its picture of the Virgin Mary possessing miraculous powers who gives the Christ baby a pear, is the old parish church of Milland and goes back to the 14th century. Around the middle of the 15th century, the church was extended with a vault in the nave, a tower as well as a pointed arch-portal and it was changed into Baroque style in the 18th century.

Stufels is a hidden jewel of Brixen: Inhabited in the neolithic and roman periods, it is considered one of the most charming quarters of the episcopal city. Located between the rivers Eisack and Rienz, Stufels has a picturesque building stock. With its  guardian angel church, attractive shops and artistic highlights, Stufels invites you to stroll around as well as take a relaxing stroll along the riverbank. Whoever visits Stufels approaches Brixen's actual core: quality of life in its most beautiful form.

The cathedral of Brixen/Bressanone is one of the most important sacred buildings along the Alpine area. Its origins go back to the year 980 AD. Due to a major fire in the 12th century, it was redesigned in romanesque style with a three-aisled nave and two façade towers. In the 18th century the baroque reconstruction took place, to which the cathedral owes its present appearance. Inside, the baroque idea of triumph was brought to perfection with wonderful ceiling paintings (f.ex. in Paul Troger's Adoration of the Lamb). The cathedral has a valuable interior with 33 different types of marble. The high altar, which was completed by Tehodor Benedetti, is one of the most important baroque altars in Tyrol. In addition, this church was equipped with a magnificent organ.

The building is situated in a key position on the edge of town. It forms a gateway  between the historical series of façades and the newer neighboring buildings. It is a clear and contemporary structure that asserts itself within its environment, plays with the proportions of the surrounding buildings, and generates excitement through its cubic nesting. The reinforced concrete construction, coated with special weather-resistant plaster, allows for large projections and recesses in the three-story building structure. As a result, open spaces are created in front of the hotel rooms, some of which are illuminated above like little yards, and thus feel very protected and intimate. Another roof opening also allows daylight into the interior of the building. The planted roof terrace offers a beautiful view over the rooftops of the city and onto the mountains around Bressanone's valley basin.

The Church of Saints Gotthard and Erardo was built in the 13th century by the Voitsperg next to the ancient preposition and restored in the 14th century. Rebuilt in baroque form by auxiliary bishop Wilhelm von Vintler and consecrated in 1695. Since 1971 it has been used as an evangelical worship.

The parish church of the same name, which was first mentioned in 1177, is located in the rapidly growing capital St. Andrä. Its late gothic reconstruction in the period around 1485 with a presbytery and tower which is still characteristic today.  In the 18th century a striking baroque style was introduced. Georg Tangl, director of the Brixen seminary and  priest of St. Andrä, provided for a rich decoration with stucco (Franz Singer) around 1770. Around 1736 the ceiling frescoes by Jakob Jennewein depicting the martyrdom of St. Andrew were painted. In 1930 the altarpiece was painted by Johann Baptist Oberkofler.

The Maria Hilf Chapel in the cemetery is a compact octagonal building dating from 1696, and the octagon, a work by the Bolzano master builder Delai, is considered an important model of Baroque central building. The altars of Mary, Anthony and Notburga are also works of art from the late 17th century.

The pharmacy museum housed in the Apotheke Peer is housed in one of the oldest private residences in Bressanone/Brixen. The display windows and the entrances with their dark metal outlines and steel plates were very carefully inserted into the plastered front of the ground floor. A passageway leads to the museum, where elegant display cabinets with dark metal frames are to be found under the gothic arches. The historical structure with its staircases leading to the upper floors was worked upon, and simple modern details were added, which are instantly recognizable. This has also occurred in the partly historically paneled exhibition rooms, in which 400 years of pharmaceutical history is presented in modern, carefully detailed glass display cases.