Churches and monasteries

Due to population growth, the little church of San Giacomo/St. Jakob had become far too small. So it became necessary to think about a new church in the centre of the village. The foundation stone was laid in 1951 and the church was completed in 1954. In 1964, ten years after its completion and opening, the church was consecrated by Bishop Josef Gargitter.

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.

The Church of St. Anna and St. Joachim is similar to many Capuchin churches built in Tyrol in the 17th century. The nave is square and has a barrel vault. On the northern side a square-shaped side chapel has been added. The long chancel is divided into two rooms by a high altar that mostly reaches to the ceiling. The room behind the altar was originally reserved for the monks.

A small window opening in the altar table makes it possible to see through and thus participate in the Mass. Side altars are set against the triumphal arch walls. The main altar and the two side altars are Baroque and date from the 17th century.

Holy Mass:
Tuesday to Saturday at 9.00 in german language
Sunday at 10.00 in german language

The Church of St. Ulrich was mentioned in the archives as far back as 1164 and only its large Romanesque bell tower survived a devastating fire in 1400. The church was rebuilt in Gothic style
and consecrated in 1403. The two Baroque-era paintings by the famous Vinschgau Valley painter, Simon Ybertracher (1694 – 1772), are well worth seeing. The new Church of St. Monika was built next to the old St. Ulrich Parish Church, and is open to visitors during the day.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Church was built by Tanas between 1895 and 1897 in neo-romantic style and the sculptures are the work of Anton Santifaller. On the main altar, there are the Madonna and St. Joseph, in adoration of the Heart of Jesus. Worship Sunday 8.30 am in German

Dear Woman Church The building was established by Giacomo Delai between 1652 and 1658. On the inside on can admire the cover paintings of the baroque painter Stefan Kessler, magnificent stucco works of Francesco Carlone and Simon Delai.
This church is open to visiti from july to septembre every tuesday, friday and saturday from 2 to 5 pm. In octobre to mid of novembre is open only on friday and saturday from 2 to 5 pm.

At the eastern side of Brixen, beyond the confluence of the Rienz river and the Eisack river, in the village of Milland a new parish church was built between 1984-1985, and it is consecrated to the Saint Father Josef Freinademetz. The church is a curiosity, a work of modern architecture, a sacred place full of light.In the basement, there is an exhibition about the life and the work of the church patron, the Saint Father Josef Freinademetz, the Tyrolian China- missionary.
Guided tours possible after request.

Today's church was built toward the middle of the 15th century after a village fire. The walls of the nave and the shaft of the tower should be considerably older. A gigantic Christophorus fresco which might have arisen at 1500, is on the right next to the portal of the church. On the left and on the right on the lower side of the fresco are Saint Nicholas with the three golden balls and Saint George with a dragon. Saint George is the second patron saint of the church. The church inside surprises with a pointed arch portal, the lancet windows and an impressive net vault. The baroque high altar (1720) shows Saint Silvester, Saint George, Saint Margareth, Saint Valentin and Saint Nicholas, who looks to the Mother of God with the child. The masterpiece of the church is the gothic winged altar (called the "Georgsaltar", 1520) from Artist Andre Haller from Brixen. In the middle of the winged altar is Saint George on the horse, who fights against the Dragon. On the right side Margareth knees in front of a lamp and prays for a good ending of the fight. In the background are represented Saint George's parents and his execution. The wings of the altar show Saint Joachim with a book and Saint Anna together with the Mother of God and the child.

The chapel was built in 1973 by the neighbors. It retains a statue of the Madonna of Lourdes from the parish church of Oberrasen / Rasun di Sopra.

The Gothic church of St. Walburg is located at the top of a former castle hill a little above Kematen - it was consecrated in 1433.
St. Walburg was once a much-visited place of pilgrimage. The pilgrims came and fetched the Walburgis oil, which could cure diseases. Like many other churches and chapels, the chapel was closed during the time of the reform-minded Emperor Josef II.

LEGEND PATH to the St. Walburg church
Route: The path leads from Bad Winkel to Kematen up to the small St. Walburg church. The trail is mostly a forest path. The path can be walked from spring to late autumn. The start is in Bad Winkel: From the parking lot at the chapel next to Gasthof Bad Winkel (getting there either by passing through Kematen or as the case may be, passing by the Sand in Tauferer’s Sports area) we briefly stay on the road to Kematen and soon branch left onto the narrow footpath into the forest (do not take the road to Wiesemann farm!). The path then has some slight ascents and descents. Note: at the road fork you go right heading downhill not left heading uphill! The path ends at a clearing near a bench and at a carved wooden Hubertus Stöckl. Now, you go left onto the wider path heading upwards until you reach the road. Continue up this path for about 300 m. and then after a bridge you reach a wooden gate, where you take the left branching trail nr. 8 leading you to the St. Walburg church (1030 m), where a magnificent view of Taufers and the Zillertal mountains rewards you. You can return on the same path as you came on or you can take the City Bus to Sand in Taufers from Kematen.

This Gothic church with high-quality furnishings from the Baroque period was first mentioned in the records in 1306. After a successful restoration (1991-1993), a Romanesque apse (dating from 1100) with paintings was uncovered during the excavations. Privately owned.

First documented mention of a church in Aldein was in 1309, according to excavations it was a Romanesque church with two apses. The masonry dates back to the 12th Century back. In the second half of the 15. cwntury a new church was built which was expanded to the west in 1841/42. A special feature is the pulpit, which is on the roof of Moses with the tablets of the law and above it the St. Spirit shows and the life-size statue of the Heart of Jesus.

The Church of St. John Nepomuk was built in the 17th century. It carries trains both the Renaissance and the Baroque and contains precious altars, statues and votive paintings, which recall the once flourishing pilgrimage here.

Mentioned for the first time in 1326 in a charter of the "Allerengelberg Carthusian Monastery" in the Val Senales/Schnalstal, which granted the monks "the right to fish from St. Helena's Church at the Tel/Töll up to Eyrs (Val Venosta Valley)." The walled-up Romanesque windows on the south side, as well as the patronage "St. Helena with the Cross," suggest an older age! The current form, an almost square structure with a straight-ending chancel with polygonal vaulting, definitely originated in the 14th century. The barrel-vaulted, straight-ending chancel and the small tower with a square helmet date from a later time. Remarkable is the panel painting on the north wall (15th century), the crucifix (16th century) and the statues of the "Sorrowful," "St. John," and "St. Helena" (17th century), the neo-Gothic altars from the 18th century, dedicated to "St. John of Nepomuk" and "St. John," and placed instead of the former Gothic high altar. From the fresco on the southern exterior wall, only a little of St. Christopher is still visible, and the niche of St. Helena is now empty.

Adjacent is the "Töllmesnerhof," which was also used as a schoolhouse until 1991.
In 1993, on the hundredth anniversary of Peter Mitterhofer's death, the first Typewriter Museum was opened in the former school rooms, thanks to the private collection provided by Kurt Ryba.


Visiting the church is only possible by telephone reservation (see contact).

In 1510, the mining lords and miners of the Gossensass-Sterzing mining court had a chapel built on the rock protecting the north-east side of St. George's Church as a symbol of the guild in honour of the miners' patron saint St. Barbara. The chapel is the work of the Sterzing master builder Adam Schaiter and has a two-storey structure with a square ground plan and polygonal chancel end. A Gothic pointed spire set at the corner completes the building at the top. A coloured Austrian shield is visible on the south-west side of the ridge turret. A double flight of steps leads to the first and second floors, to the lower and upper chapel. The basement houses a crypt, which is used as a mortuary chapel.

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 church and the Capuchin monastery in Silandro/Schlanders date back to 1644. The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and, on the main altar, there is a 17th century image portraying Christ's baptism.
Capuchin fathers lived in the monastery until May 2018, since June 2018 missionaries of St. Francis de Sales manage the monastery.

The church is open all year. Worship Sun 8 am, on workdays 9 am

The first chuch building, which was mentioned in 1180, didn't survive, but its Gothic elements were integrated in the current construction. Startin from 1431 the church was several times restored and consercrated again. The original choir, the ogive topped main entrance on the west side (with the original mason's mark) and the bell tower were preserved from the old building.

The parish church "Our Lady in the Moss," located in the south of Sterzing, is considered one of the largest in the Alpine region. It is a late Gothic structure (choir 1417-1451, nave 1497-1524). White marble was used for the massive pillars inside. Significant is the winged altar by the Ulm master Hans Multscher (details in the nearby Multscher Museum) and many other artworks. Particularly richly decorated is the south portal of the church designed by Mattheis Stöberl, with a  commemorative inscription marking the laying of the foundation stone for the nave by Maximilian I in 1497. The Baroque frescoes date back to Adam Mölk and were completed in 1753.

Postumia Viktorina stone: Roman tombstone found in 1497 during excavations for the foundations of the parish church. It is now located inside the church on the north side.

The church of Pineta is the youngest in the surroundings of Laives/Leifers. The building process began on 15th september 1963. Since building a church was extremely expensive, lots of people helped voluntarily. The first mess was celebrated in 1969, even though the church wasn't finished yet and there were no benches.  

The church of St. James, located on a hill, was built in 1500 in late-Gothic style. The furnishings are predominately neo-Gothic.

The chapel in the hamlet Obergoste is located at an altitude of 1328 m.

The parish church Maria Himmelfahrt in Meltina/Mölten celebrates its patronage on August 15th. Of its original Romanesque structure, only the lower part of the bell tower is left. The church was Gothicised in the 15th century and extended in the Renaissance style in 1651. Particularly impressive are the coronation of Mary on the high altar (late Gothic) and the Gothic predella on the side altar representing the death of Mary (from Michael Pacher's school).

The church, situated on a hill in Viums, was consecrated in 1281 and is considered as the most beautiful shrine in the surroundings. The present church construction dates from 1500 and was build on the fundament of a church, the expansion of the tower happened in the 17th century.

The Lodner Chapel is situated at 2,259 metres above sea level near the Lodner refuge hut in the Zieltal valley. On 16 August 1933 the chapel was dedicated by Chaplain Gasser from Partschins/Parcines. Partschins/Parcines Band played at the dedication. Father Schulien, a German missionary from Rome, conducted the mass.

The landlord of the Lodner refuge hut, Toni Raffeiner from Karthaus/Certosa in the Senales valley, built the chapel following plans by the Meran/Merano Architect, Torggler. It is five metres long, three metres wide, five metres high and built completely from stone. On the wooden roof is a small tower containing the bell from the former Oberhauser chapel, which was destroyed by a landslide in 1917. When the doors are closed there is room for 30 people in the Lodner Chapel.

The wood was cut on the Nasereit Alp and carried beam by beam up to the Lodner hut. The boards came from the old Stettiner Hut and had to be carried over the Johannesschartl wind gap. The woodwork was undertaken by master carpenter Josef Hueber from Partschins/Parcines. The statue of St. Joseph on the altar was donated by the priest from Karthaus/Certosa in the Senales valley. 

To mark the occasion of the chapel’s dedication, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli sent a telegram and donated a picture. On 2 March 1939 Cardinal Pacelli became Pope Pius XII.

Every year in August, Partschins/Parcines alpine club, in cooperation with the Ziel Alp Association (Alminteressentschaft Ziel), organises the traditional mass for mountaineers and herdsmen in the Lodner Chapel. In accordance with tradition, Partschins/Parcines Band also plays there.

At the foot of the sunny mountain side are located the courts Mairhöfe with the chapel Siebenter. The chapel was built in 1736 and renovated in 1913.

Where today the neo-gothic church of S. Pancrazio stands, used to be the oldest church of the Ultental Valley. The remains of the old long house walls are still preserved. The church was rebuilt in 1338, and in the second half of the 15th century the choir and the vaulting of the nave were built. Around 1890, the Baroque interior was replaced by a Gothic Revival interior.

The tower clock with richly painted dials and the holy figures on the church doors are particularly worth seeing. The pointed arch portal adorns the neo-gothic carvings of Blasius Mayrhofer, a native of Ultental Valley. Look out for the impressive high altar dedicated to the patron saint of S. Pancrazio and the Gothic 15th century Madonna on the right side altar.

The Church of St. Margaret in Sterzing / Vipiteno was built between 1678 and 1680 in early baroque style, according to the design of Peter Delai. The bell tower, however, dates from a previous construction, which was cited as early as 1227. The altarpiece of the main altar, dedicated to the Patron Saint of the Church, St. Margaret, was realised by Josef Renzler in 1822.

The church in Ahornach/Acereto is a wonderful example of the late gothic style in the Pustertal Valley. The stonecutter Valentin Winkler from Falzes had built the church in 1512.

Martinsweg trail is an easily accessible, newly laid circular route named after the small Church of St. Martin, which is located close to the Eggerhöfe farmsteads.