Brenner, South Tyrol
Brenner (German pronunciation: [ˈbrɛnɐ]; Italian: Brennero [ˈbrɛnnero]; Ladin: Prëner) is a comune and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 60 km (37 mi) north of Bolzano on the border with Tyrol, Austria.
Brenner
South Tyrol (BZ)
Brennerbad (Terme di Brennero), Gossensaß (Colle Isarco), Pflersch (Fleres) and Pontigl (Ponticolo)
Martin Alber
114.1 km2 (44.1 sq mi)
1,372 m (4,501 ft)
2,085
18/km2 (47/sq mi)
0472
Saint Valentine
February 27
Geography[edit]
Territory[edit]
Brenner lies about 60 km (37 mi) north of the city of Bolzano. The municipality is named after the Brenner Pass, whose summit marks the border between Italy and Austria.
Brenner borders the following municipalities: Pfitsch (Italy), Ratschings (Italy), Sterzing (Italy), Gries am Brenner (Austria), Gschnitz (Austria), Neustift im Stubaital (Austria) and Obernberg am Brenner (Austria).
Frazioni[edit]
The municipality of Brenner contains the frazioni (parishes) of Brennerbad (Terme di Brennero), Gossensaß (Italian: Colle Isarco), Pflersch (Fleres) and Pontigl (Ponticolo).
Gossensaß is the main village and administrative centre. It dates back 4000 years, reflecting its position as a place to prepare for the Brenner Pass. In the 15th and 16th century, Gossensaß prospered due to silver mining. Today, Gossensaß benefits from tourism, especially during the winter when the ski resort in Ladurns is open.
History[edit]
Origin[edit]
The Breuni were a people who lived in the Eisacktal and in the Brenner region on both sides of the pass until the 9th century. The place, after the Roman Conquest in 15 BC, was called "Vibidena", and the only road was a track. The Romans built a military road in the 2nd century, milestone of Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus and Caracalla period were found in the region and in the 3rd century the Romans completed the Retica road.[3] In 565 Venantius Fortunatus mentioned in his writings the "Saint Valentine" temple that later became a church; in the Middle Ages it was restored in Romanesque style, in 1500 in Gothic, then in Baroque. In the period of the barbaric migrations, approximately in 590 the region was invaded by Baiuvarii, the place declined, however 66 German Sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire, from 960 to 1530 and among them, in 1154, Frederick I, also known as Barbarossa (meaning Red Beard), passed through Brenner as he headed towards the Pope in Rome.
In about 1000 A.D., a permanent village was settled with the name of "Oberes Mittewald" while "Prenner" is mentioned in 1288.[4] During the 14th and 15th centuries the village was busy with the traffic and the trade connected with the pass and a new carriage was built in 1314[5] while in 1414 the Count of Tyrol established a Customs in order to check the goods in transit. The two historic inhabited places of the village were the "Saint Valentine" church, the "Post Hotel" and few other houses on the south side, the "Kerschbaumer Hotel", "Griesberg" and "Venn" on the north, nowadays in Austria. The old carriage was enlarged and the tracing modified in 1740 in order to have a comfortable road; Goethe, on 8 September 1786, on his journey to Italy stopped in Brenner at "Post Hotel".[4]
The construction of the Brenner railway, between Innsbruck and Bolzano through the Brenner Pass, began on 23 February 1864 at Bergisel (Innsbruck) and the building involved the village with hundreds of workers who lived there for three years. The railway transformed the planimetry of the village; some houses were destroyed to make room for a new area, 600 meters long, regarding the station and the other infrastructures connected with the railway itself. On 25 July 1867 at 8.05 the first train departed from Brenner station directed to Bozen though the official opening would be August 24; the railway opened a new era for the village with the arrival of travellers and tourism. At Brenner Bad (Thermal baths), few miles south of the village, a "Grand Hotel", with a train stop, was built and attracted a new class of tourists until the beginning of the first World War.
On 26 April 1915 the Treaty of London assigned to Italy the South Tyrol, from Trent to Brenner, and on 10 November 1918, at the end of the war, Italian troops arrived at Brenner. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed on 10 September 1919 and just at Brenner the new boundary line was traced.[6]
Coat-of-arms[edit]
The shield is party per pale: the first is a miner holding a hammer in his right hand and a lamp in his left, on a vert hill with a gules background; the second part is tierced per fess in argent, azure and or. The emblem was adopted in 1906.[7]
Media related to Brenner at Wikimedia Commons