Culture & Sights in Sterzing/Vipiteno and environs

The appearance of the parish church to the hl. Pankratius is characterized by different architectural styles. A special highlight are the two gold reliefs.

This church was probably built on a Romanic construction. Venantius Fortunatus, a poet and the bishop of Poitiers, wrote in the year 565 in a travel report about a “templum Valentini”. If he meant the church of Brenner/Brennero with this is not definitely sure.

A Romanic tower flanks the nave that was rebuilt in the XV century in gothical style. The stone framed main portal and the polygonal choir are of this time.

The chapel beside the graveyard wall with the deep round arch niche has been built in 1692.

In the years 1731, 1769 and 1792 there have been essential modifications and renovations in the nave and on the arch. Franz Unterberger painted the ceiling paintings in the year 1787.

1983 and 1985 the parish church has been restored. This shows the corresponding offertory box. In October 1962  the parish church Maria am Wege was consecrated and replaced the church St. Valentin as principal church in Brenner/Brennero.

The altarpieces of the parish church to the hl. Nicholas holds a special treasure in itself: the statue of the Virgin Mary from 1450 by the famous Ulm master Hans Multscher. The organ with the seven registers was set up in 1904.

The first written testimony of Moos Castle in Wiesen is dated 1325. In 1950 the South Tyrol Winegrowers Association purchased the castle and restored it. Since then it has been used as a retirement home for the elderly. The first written testimony of Moos Castle in Wiesen is dated 1325. It was then owned by the Trautson family, although it changed hands many times in later years. We owe the current state of the castle to the restoration commissioned by Christoph Geizkofler in around 1600. Moos Castle is not one of the classical castles of the Tyrolean highlands; it was rather effectively defended by the "Sterzinger Moos" [Swamp of Sterzing], which extended to the east until it reached Wiesen. In the XIX century the condition of the building was cause for concern. In 1950 the South Tyrol Winegrowers Association purchased the castle and restored it, without changing its original character. Since then it has been used as a retirement home for the elderly. Wiesenheim Palace, which is now the City Hall, stands beside the castle, with its distinctive corner tower and bow window. In the surrounding area there are many such palaces, which once belonged to ancient guilds and owners of customs rights.

This pool complex with its sweeping views connects nicely to the surrounding mountain landscape, creating an added attraction for visitors. At first glance the entrance façade looks closed as the result of the masonry curtain on the upper level, but the prominent glazed entrance area and long horizontal bands of windows on the ground floor also allow for a welcoming peek into the pool from outside. Apart from that, floor-to-ceiling glass facades girdle the structure, opening generously onto the outdoor swimming pool and the views. Through a recess in the roof, a shielded roof terrace for the sauna was created on the first floor, which also affords views into the distance. Light-flooded during the daytime, the wooden ceilings inside also lend the spaces a warm light and nice atmosphere when artificially lit at nighttime.

The church was first mentioned in 1418. The actual building was erected beetween 1880-1888 in the Romanesque style.

Consecrated to St. Oswald, this church is of particular artistic significance and was constructed in 1329. A variety of artists is responsible for the frescoes which were all painted during the 18th and 19th century. The key to the church is available by the vicarage.

The octagonal building was built by Daniel von Elzenbaum, who was the administrator of the curacy of Sterzing. It was consecrated in 1631. A space arranged as a choir accommodates a simulacrum of the Holy Sepulchre, which is still opened and decorated every year for Easter.

The famous landmark of Sterzing, the city tower, is widely known as “Zwölferturm”. Its name is attributed to the fact that its bell rings the citizens for lunchbreak. Consisting of gray granite blocks from the area, it was erected over the city gate from 1468 to 1472 according to the design of Hans Feur. Two marble tablets above the archway remind us of the laying of the foundation stone by the Duke Sigismund of Austria back in 1469. It became a symbol of the economic and cultural boom in the city in the north of South Tyrol and has established itself to this day as the symbol for the city of Sterzing. 

At certain events, the tower can also be visited also from the inside, e.g. during the Cristmas Market, in summer during the lantern parties or at the famous dumpling festival ("Knödelfest"). 

The fi rst written testimony of the Holy Cross Parish in Wiesen is dated 1337. The Church is said to have been reconsecrated in 1434. The frescoes on the vaulted ceiling by Josef Renzler, dated 1841, are worthy of note. The first written testimony of the Holy Cross Parish in Wiesen is dated 1337. The Church is said to have been reconsecrated in 1434. Today's construction in granite blocks was built with the supervision of builder Adam Schaiter of Sterzing, who combined late gothic and Renaissance elements. In the XIX century, the Church was nevertheless deprived of the gothic elements. The frescoes on the vaulted ceiling by Josef Renzler, dated 1841, are worthy of note. They depict the adoration of the cross by the Emperor Eraclius and St. Cecilia. The altars date from the XVI century, but were rebuilt in 1824. The alterpieces were also realised by Josef Renzler in 1827. The gothic crucifixion dating from the first half of the XIII century is also very important.

The basin of Sterzing was once covered with an enormous swamp that extended towards the south to Trens and to the east to Wiesen. It was the bottom of a lake that had formed in prehistoric times, fed by local springs, which became a swamp and gradually emptied.

The legend that surrounds the Swamp of Sterzing is still told: In ancient times it frequently happened that young women's beauty went to their heads. Regardless of whoever asked their hand in marriage, nobody seemed to be good enough for them. But as the years passed, their beauty waned and they became horrible old maids. In order to punish them for being so pride, they were exiled to live in the Sterzing Swamp, where they cried bitterly for not having wed; and their laments can still be heard today: "hätt' i's gwaggt, hätt' is gwaggt..." (if only I had accepted, if only I had accepted), which only foreigners confuse with the croaking of the frogs, but they are actually the lamenting cries of the old maids.

Die den beiden Apostelführern geweihte Kirche liegt gegenüber der Kapuzinerkirche und ist
ein Anbau des Ansitz Jöchlsthurn. Sie wurde von der Familie Jöchl erbaut, welche auch nach
damaliger Zeit selbst den Kaplan auswählten. Mit Aussterben der männlichen Linie wurde die
Kirche vom Hofgericht der Stadt übertragen. Die Erben der Familie Jöchl erhielten die Empore
zugesprochen, so dass sie der Messe beiwohnen konnten ohne sich unters Volk zu mischen.
Hierfür hatten sie sogar einen eigenen Zugang über das Wohnhaus. 1787 wurde die Kirche mit
dem schönen spätgotischen Flügelaltar des Tiroler Meister Friedrich Pacher von der Familie
Enzensberg, welche inzwischen Eigentümer des Jöchlsthurn war, zurückgekauft. Sie ist bis heute
im Privatbesitz und wie der Ansitz Jöchlsthurn selbst derzeit nicht zu besichtigen.

The construction of the parish church of St. Joseph began in 1764. The baroque country church is decorated in rococo style in the interior and impresses with many details. The church was consecrated in 1768.

The parish church is located in the centre of Ridnaun.

A small late Gothic church dating from approximately 1.500. The church is constructed on a sunny, east-facing mountain slope between the villages of Mauls and Trens, 1.110 m above sea level.

The first stone was laid for this simple, typical construction of the Capuchin in 1636 and the Church was consecrated just one year later. The altarpieces, presumably realised by Josef Renzler in around 1800, are worthy of note: The Patron Saint Magdalene, together with St. Francis and St. Anthony, can be seen on the main altar, while St. Felix and St. Anthony of Padua are depicted on the lateral altars.

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.

Henrik Ibsen was a great lover of the once climatic spa. Today you can find a nice collection of fotos, documents and more of Ibsens vacation stay.
Open Monday to Friday morning and Wednesday afternoon.

Das Kreuzkirchl wurde 1692 von Peter Dellai erbaut. Im frühbarocken Zentralbau wurde die
Statue des leidenden Erlösers aufbewahrt. Die Kapelle konnte jedoch nur für kurze Zeit genutzt
werden. Sie fiel in der Zeit von 1780 bis 1790 wie viele weitere Sakralbauten den Reformen
Kaiser Josef II. von Habsburg zum Opfer. Nach 1925 nutzte die Sterzinger Bürgerschaft das Kreuzkirchl als Totenkapelle und während des Zweiten Weltkrieges wurde sie kurzfristig in ein
Lebensmitteldepot umfunktioniert.

Castle Sprechenstein is a castle located in the municipality of Campo di Trens in Sout Tyrol. The castle is located in a higher position than Reifenstein Castle to the southeast of Sterzing; it belonged to the Trautson family and is made up of a lower fortress and an upper keep and palace. It has been restored a number of times. A document dating 1241 speaks of the re-built castle. In 1775 the castle was inherited by the Auersperg family. During the Second World War it was seriously damaged by bombing, but thanks to the owners and the superintendence for the historical and artistic heritage of Trento, it was later restored meticulously.

The castle can be visited only from outside.

This parish church has been rebuilt between 1960 and 1962 according to the plans of the architect Luis Plattner and replaced the Church St. Valentin as main church in Brenner.

The waterfall trail in Pflerschtal/Val di Fleres is called "Hölle" (in english hell) and lies right at the feet of the Tribulaun summit. The tranquillity in the valley end, the ionized air from the waterfall  purifie the respiratory tract and the sounds of the water calm the nervous system.

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 first testimony of this gothic construction is dated 1577. In 1789 a barrel vault ceiling decorated with rough frescoes was built. The modern-day choir was added when the Church was enlarged, after damages caused by an avalanche in 1817.

This Church was cited as early as 1298; today's building, however was built at the beginning of the XVI century. The rich and original reticular vault ceiling is particularly worthy of note. The Church was restored in 1938 following a fire.

The school is located in the immediate vicinity of the parish church and the Deutschordenshaus (House of the Teutonic Order), which were built outside of the old part of town in what used to be marshland. The groundwater table lies a mere 1 meter underneath the site’s surface. In order to prevent a dangerous rise in groundwater levels that could compromise the historic buildings while the school was being built, the new structure was constructed on top of a “raft” positioned 80 centimeters above the terrain. In due consideration of the historic neighboring buildings, the school was designed as an elongated, single-story structure that – while it is not meant to compete with its surroundings – has its own special character. In front of the façades, between the large cantilevered roof and the floor slabs encircling the building, the architects incorporated a “forest” of tree trunks that lets in enough natural light, but becomes more dense when viewed from an angle. As a result, the building can appear either more or less conspicuous, depending on the observer’s point of view and the amount of daylight available.

The parish church to the hl. Ursula was first mentioned in the 14th century. From this first church today only more fragments, such as the tower and the side walls are preserved.

This wine bar is located on the ground floor of the Wipptaler Hof bed-and-breakfast, directly at the entrance to Sterzing’s New Town, just behind the Zwölferturm Tower. Here a spatial trisection can be found: The wine bar occupies the largest space, just behind the front door. It is characterized by an enormous table made of solid copper oak and seemingly endless shelves of the same material, which are filled with countless bottles of wine from a wide array of different places. Opposite there is a black steel fireplace, surrounded by cozy booths. All of the furniture is made of copper oak. A smaller room follows, with an old Stube parlor paneled in pine; then there is the kitchen, into which the guest can see. Snacks are prepared here to accompany the wine, which can be enjoyed at the outdoor tables in summer. A somewhat different, modern version of a traditional Weinstube.

The parish church "Maria Unbefleckte Empfängnis" in Gossensass/Colle Isarco was constructed based on the drafts of Franz de Paula Penz and consacrated in 1754.