Cultuur & bezienswaardigheden in de Dolomieten

The Capuchin monastery (since 1626) and the Capuchin Church are kept very simply, in line with the principles of the order. Continuing along the Dantestrasse, at the road junction to Dietenheim you will find one of the oldest and most beautiful shrines in Tyrol.

Holy Mass Sunday and ecclesiastical holidays at 08.00 am in German language and at 09.00 am in Italian language.
Mon - Fri: at 09.00 am in German language

Once known as "Lucke" (or hole), the gate carries a painting by the South Tyrolean painter Rudolf Stolz (1874-1960) which shows Saint Florian, the Bruneck coat of arms and the town's founding bishop, Bruno. In Florianigasse, St. Florian, a work by the Bruneck artist Josef Bachlechner (1871-1923) can be seen.

During the First World War there were several battlefield hospitals in Bruneck, in which many wounded and sick soldiers and prisoners of war unfortunately died. As it was not possible to bury them in the municipal cemetery, the authorities ceded the "Kühbergl", a wooded hill to the south of the town, to the military commanders, in which a suitable place of rest was established. A pioneer officer serving in Bruneck, architect A. Bechtold from Bregenz in Austria, designed the cemetery so that it blended harmoniously into the forest. 669 soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army, plus 103 Russian, 13 Serb and 7 Romanian soldiers are laid to rest here in individual and mass graves. The 77 Italian soldiers who were once buried here were reburied in 1932 in the newly built mausoleum in Pocòl; the same is true of 45 German soldiers, who were reburied in the cenotaph on the Pordoi Pass. 19 German soldiers from the Second World War who lost their lives in bombing raids also lie here, together with an Italian officer and five citizens of Bruneck, who fell nearby in the final days of the war and were brought here. The war cemetery is taken care of by a ladies' committee, who give equal attention to every grave.

In Brunico’s school quarter, the UFO Youth Center was built in order to meet the needs of the young people who use it, including its unconventional architectural language. The roof structure, which is encased in titanium plates and glass, can also be reached via a seemingly weightless exterior steel staircase and effectively gives the impression that an unidentified flying object has landed on the four-story building. The underlying plastered solid structure, with its “skewed” two-story, steel-and-glass entrance building, evokes the curiosity to enter. The full-height window walls and bright spaces are meant to make teenagers feel at home inside the building. The covered terrace and the tiered seating directly in front are further invitations to settle in and stay awhile. Definitely a refreshingly relaxed architecture.

The former Realgymnasium high school which lies in the center of the old town was converted and extended for use as a satellite Brunico campus of the Free University of Bolzano focusing on tourism management, sport and events management. The large, angular old building was also carefully renovated. The smaller wing of the building received a new stairwell built from concrete, the inscription of which has become well known in the city. This welcoming inscription tablet, alongside two new sections of building, form a peaceful square that provides a welcome open space in the narrow old town. A new, large underground auditorium, which can also be used as a room for public events, is situated underneath. The structure of the old building is recognizable in the interior design to which modern details have been tastefully added. The teaching rooms are situated on the top floor.

Walking through the Gate Raintor you will reach the Oberstadt district where there is located also the Parish Church. Many years ago this gate did not have much importance for the traffic, indeed it was used only to connect the town center with the main cemetery.

In 1250, Bishop Bruno of Brixen founded Bruneck Castle, which served as his summer residence. The town that evolved below the castle walls took on its name. After an eventful history, having been used as a prison and as a school, today the castle houses the fifth Messner Mountain Museum, which focuses on mountain peoples. The historical structure was carefully excavated and restored. The rooms, however, were not sufficient to house the museum and so a section is housed underground, in spaces that were once part of the fortification walls. Modern architectural forms were used for all the additions and new buildings, with concrete, steel, wood and glass having been used as materials. Only the parts that had to be provided as temporary extensions, for example the cashier areas and rooms for temporary exhibitions, were consciously done in wood and may be dismantled at any time.

In this museum, Reinhold Messner deals with the final aspect of the conflict between man and the mountains; the heritage of the mountains and the people who have lived in them since time immemorial.

The fifth Messner Mountain Museum was opened in summer 2011 in Bruneck Castle by the well-known mountaineer Reinhold Messner. There are countless exhibits from everyday life. With the interactive "MMM Mountain Peoples" project, Reinhold Messner aims not to "exhibit" people, but rather to invite them to take part in an exchange of experience with the local rural population.

Every year guests from another mountain region will spend the summer in the Messner Mountain Peoples Museum and talk about their way of life, accompanied by everyday cultural exhibits belonging to different mountain regions and their inhabitants, including the Sherpas, Incas, Tibetans and Mongolians.

Ticket prices:

Adults € 14,00, kids (6 - 14 years) € 6,00, students under 28 years and seniors over 65 years € 12,00, family ticket (1 adult + kids under 14 years) € 32,00, mini family ticket (1 adult + kids under 14 years) € 18,00, groups of 15 persons and more € 12,00, school classes (6 - 19 years) € 6,00

Brunico Town Hall Square, located between Graben and Europastrasse, is now located where the busstation and the prison used to be. The large square, which was built in 2003, is now used for many events and concerts. In the middle of the square, obliquesteles by Paul Feichter be inscriptions from texts by Norbert C. Kaser.

With its curved floor plan, the town hall of Brunico/Bruneck follows the course of the Europastrasse street, which in turn follows the riverbend of the Ahr around Schloss Bruneck castle. The building is intended to refresh the overall image of the city and to set a new urbanistic accent in an otherwise rather shapeless development. The building consists of four parts, which were loosely arranged around the town hall square, but nevertheless form a structural unit. With its 3,000 square metres, the square creates an open space that underlines the importance of the town hall. The square is one of three squares, all paved and without plants. Meusburger Platz is located between the school and the old gym and is equipped with stone columns. The school square also offers sports facilities.

Two churches overlook the Piazza Cappuccini.
One is the Church Cappuccini and the other the Church of Santo Spirito.

The lovely big bishop's castle is situated on an easily accessible hill overlooking the town and watches over the buildings of the old town as if it still needed to protect the lives and safety of its residents. The main entrance to the castle is the southern gate, which was once reached via a drawbridge.

The famous  mountaineer, Reinhold Messner, opened the new Messner Mountain Museum "MMM Ripa" in the castle.

Above the forest cemetery in Brunico, an easy family-friendly path leads to the three lakes. A beautiful recreation area on Kühlbergl next to the city center in the middle of nature.

 

The City and University Library in Brunico stands on an awkward construction site between single-family homes and the backs of buildings, and is also separated from the new town hall square – a subordinate position within the urban fabric for a culturally significant building. Between the heavy buildings, however, the architects have managed to insert some architectural freshness: open, transparent, timeless, modern without trendy flourishes, and with variable internal surfaces for variable use. The result is a visually light concrete structure that seems to float on its slender columns above the covered vestibule. The building features floor-to-ceiling glass facades and a shed roof above the uppermost terrace, in front of the meeting rooms. Inside there is only one solid core, while the rest of the floor plan are free surfaces that can be separated with shelves, glass walls and movable dividers. The color scheme is fresh, providing for a lively atmosphere.

Built 1345 and transformed into the Baroque style in 1675, has an attractive onion shaped dome and interesting coats of arms.

In a building in the old town on the biggest shopping street in Brunico/Bruneck, a glass right angle opens up allowing a view into the wide yet long, tube-like room which stirs you to enter the room. Apart from the floor, laid with square black slabs, the rest of the interior is completely white. Bright light and the back-lit walls made of white frosted glass make the small windowless room seem far larger and lighter than it actually is. The white furnishings including the counter and shelves seem inferior to the colorful things on offer here: in the front section of the shop Andreas Acherer's patisseries are on sale. These products have won awards many times in the Gambero Rosso guide. In the back section, separated for hygienic reasons, are artistic flower arrangements by Barbara Strondl.

Parish Church with a valuable crucifix by Michael Pacher and an organ, built in 1983 by Mathis, the biggest in South Tyrol.

Holy Mass: Mondays and Fridays at 8:00 a.m.,

Evening Holy Mass: 6:00 p.m.

Sundays and holidays at 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. (in Italian) and at 6:00 p.m.

All Holy Masses are held in German, except where indicated differently.

Gais has recently been enriched with a historical jewel-
 culturally.  After years of preparatory work, the
 mortuary skin, the so-called “ossarium”, has been transformed into
 in a small museum and made available to the public.
 The centrepiece of the museum is a cycle of frescoes from the period
 late-Gothic with a Universal Judgment unique in its
 gender and, next to it, the works on the redemption of
 poor souls, a kind of catechism for believers
 who at the time could not read.  In addition,
 admire the priestly vestments of Castelbadia  (Miscellaneous
 precious casulas) in a glass case and St. Constantine II
 (a complete skeleton) in a reliquary.

Built at the start of the 15th century in the Gothic style, the frescoes in the church are by Johannes of Bruneck and date from around 1420. The crypt of the Ursuline Church is the oldest part of the entire cloister building and dates from the period around 1410; the crypt space is almost empty, but hugely atmospheric - sanctified by centuries of the silence of the dead.

Holy Mass: Mondays to Fridays at 5.30 p.m., Sundays and holidays at 10.30 a.m. (in German language)

The bronze sculpture by the artist Josef Rainer on the Rathausplatz was ceremoniously unveiled on 19. 04. 2017, on the occasion of N. C. Kaser’s 70th birthday. Nobert Conrad Kaser was a South Tyrolean poet and writer, born in Brixen in 1947 and died in Brunico in 1978. Texts by N. C. Kaser were also engraved on the steles at the Town Hall Square.

The Ursulinen school building was build at the start of the twentieth century by the Ursulin Tower on the main street. Next to the large, three-story building with its vertical plastered structure stands a significantly smaller new building with steel and glass facades emphasizing a horizontal effect, which not only seems much smaller than the old building − yet with more usable space! − it also reflects the listed facades opposite it. The glass cube in the new entrance to the school gives you a preview of the structure of the new building even before you have walked along the glass corridors to reach it. This successfully combines the different styles of architecture. The artist Manfred Alois Mayr put together a cheerful color palette for the interior of the new building, which sits in vibrant harmony next to white plaster and the grey exposed concrete.

The Ursuline Gate is located near the Ursuline Church at the western entrance of the "Stadtgasse". It was enlarged in 1758 to allow a large fountain to be transported into the town. The fresco was designed by Johannes of Bruneck in about 1420.

Beautiful, renovated Baroque church with onion roofed steeple. The original hospital church was consecrated in 1370. Inside on the altar pieces of the high altar representation of the baptism of Jesus and of the side altar St. Elisabeth by Franz Unterberger (1707-1776).

Holy mass in italian language: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri at 09.00 am, Sat at 06.00 pm
Sunday and ecclesiastical holidays at 06.00 pm in July, August and Christmas

The town museum for graphic arts was opened in 1995 in the restored, converted postal stables, in which in earlier centuries the horses were fed and watered and the postal coaches stood ready for travellers. On the ground floor, in addition to the entrance hall, is the permanent exhibition of late Gothic works by Michael Pacher, his assistant Friedrich Pacher and his pupils Simon and Veit von Taisten.Stadtmuseum Bruneck The first floor houses the temporary exhibitions, whilst the archive and offices are to be found on the second floor. The graphic arts gallery is located in the basement, which is made available to young artists for exhibitions. In addition, there is also an artists' workshop in the museum with all the necessary equipment for gravure printing, surface printing and relief printing (etching, lithography & woodcarving) and screen printing. The museum possesses, among other exhibits, 7500 book plates. The main focus is on the graphics of the 20th century from both the local region and abroad, and on collecting, presenting and working on them from a scientific perspective. A second area of emphasis is on restoring and exhibiting the original town museum's exhibits. In addition, numerous cultural initiatives are run by the museum. 

This beverage company, which has been existence since 1919, is a return to the old town of Brunico/Bruneck. The historical building, which has Gothic elements, is listed. The facades have therefore been carefully renovated yet it has gained a new, distinct character through the addition of glass to the ground floor arches and the illumination at dusk. From the outside one can already sense the atmosphere inside, and the sales counter conveys a slight corner-shop feel to the place; the interior is however divided stylistically. In the front section there are bright shelves, while the section towards the back has a hint of luxury about it, with its antique furniture. The Harpf private drinking cavern, situated in the cellar and independent of the shop, has been superbly designed by the architects Ged Bergmeister and Michaela Wolf.

From an architectural standpoint, the climbing and bouldering arena in Brunico/Bruneck was designed to fit in with various existing, largely heterogeneous buildings. With a powerful and independent architectural language, the arena stands in contrast to the natural and already existing environment as constructed. The large variation in height and room depth as well as the arrangement of the inner courtyard and the outdoor climbing area result in high-quality outdoor spaces, which nevertheless appear as a coherent, interconnected building formation. The back of the building has no openings, while the facades facing the inner courtyard are glazed to the height of the building, as if opening themselves up to the visitor. The indoor climbing hall is highly recognisable and, despite its rocky structure, blends in well with nature and the landscape. The overall design is minimalist: sparse details and clear lines of concrete and local limestone.

Alongtheriveryou willfind boththecyclepathandarelaxingwalkinthesun.

The available land near the old town is constricted, and offers only limited space for gardens. Terraces were thus put in on each floor of the three-story, compact building, creating individual, protected recreational areas. By the use of traditional materials, a simple and functional plastered solid construction was built, in which an old architectural element was reinterpreted with glass bay windows on the front of the rooms. A contemporary modification of traditional motifs and materials is repeated several times in this building, so that the elderly may find a certain feeling of familiarity in their new surroundings. Most importantly an attempt was made to meet the needs of dementia patients by grouping their rooms around easily manageable common areas.

Bruneck blends the charm of a historic town with the unique flair of a winter resort. You can feel the special atmosphere of Alpine vibes and Italian Dolce Vita while strolling through the streets of the old town at the foot of the snow-covered Kronplatz mountain. That's one of the reasons why you shouldn't miss a visit of the traditional Christmas Market. Christmas is in the air and it is taking over the entire town. At the market you'll find lovely decorated stands with arts and craft, sweet treats and handmade gifts as well as several culinary delights. Make sure to try the local mulled wine, the best way to end a cosy winter evening.

The traditional Christmas market takes place from 23 November 2018 to the 6 January 2019 in the town centre of Brunico. The guests will find lovely decorated stands with arts and craft, sweet treats and handmade gifts as well as several culinary delights at the Christmas market. Concerts, music, ice rink and the Advent Calender.

 

Stadtgasse, the main shopping street in Bruneck, is fringed on both sides by picturesque houses, some of which still display ancient frescoes; the various gable structures are noteworthy. Stadtgasse Bruneck The buildings in Stadtgasse are exclusively residential houses, in which shops and inns are accommodated in some stories and on the ground floor.