Brenner (; it, Brennero ;

Ladin Ladin may refer to: *Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language *Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy See also *Laden (disambiguation) *Ladino (disambiguati ...

: ''Prëner'') is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, located about north of

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third ...

on the border with

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Geography

Territory

Brenner lies about north of the city of

. The municipality is named after the

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has ...

, whose summit marks the border between Italy and

. Brenner borders the following municipalities: Pfitsch (

Ratschings Ratschings (; it, Racines ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about north of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria. Geography As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 4,363 and an area of ...

(

), Sterzing (

Gries am Brenner Gries am Brenner, often referred to as simply Gries (), is a municipality in the Wipptal in the southern district of Innsbruck-Land. The village consists of several hamlets. Geography Gries am Brenner is located at the entrance of the Obernbergtal ...

(

Gschnitz Gschnitz () is a municipality with 415 inhabitants (1 January 2011) in the south of North Tyrol. Setting Gschnitz is at the end of the valley of the same name that branches off from the Wipptal at Steinach am Brenner. The municipality borders are ...

(Austria),

Neustift im Stubaital Neustift im Stubaital is a municipality in the district Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the third largest municipality of Tyrol in area. It is a major tourist centre, with more than 1 million overnight stays per year. Geogra ...

(Austria) and

Obernberg am Brenner Obernberg am Brenner is a municipality in the southern district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tirol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and wes ...

(Austria).

Frazioni

The municipality of Brenner contains the ''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' (parishes) of Brennerbad (Terme di Brennero), Gossensaß (Colle Isarco), Pflersch (Fleres) and Pontigl (Ponticolo). ''Gossensaß'' ( it, Colle Isarco) is the main village of the ''municipality''. 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 Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

mining. Today Gossensaß benefits from the local tourism, especially during the winter when the ski resort in Ladurns is open.

History

Origin

The

Breuni The Raeti (spelling variants: ''Rhaeti'', ''Rheti'' or ''Rhaetii'') were a confederation of Alpine tribes, whose language and culture was related to those of the Etruscans. Before the Roman conquest, they inhabited present-day Tyrol in Austria, ...

were a people who lived in the

Eisacktal Eisack Valley ( it, Valle Isarco ; german: Eisacktal) is a district ( it, comprensorio; german: Bezirksgemeinschaft) in South Tyrol, Italy. It comprises the middle part of the valley of the Eisack, from Franzensfeste in the north to Waidbruck in t ...

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 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...

and

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor ...

period were found in the region and in the 3rd century the Romans completed the Retica road. In 565

Venantius Fortunatus Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus ( 530 600/609 AD; french: Venance Fortunat), known as Saint Venantius Fortunatus (, ), was a Latin poet and hymnographer in the Merovingian Court, and a bishop of the Early Church who has been venerate ...

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 Baiuvarii or Bavarians (german: Bajuwaren) were a Germanic people. The Baiuvarii had settled modern-day Bavaria (which is named after them), Austria, and South Tyrol by the 6th century AD, and are considered the ancestors of modern-day Bavar ...

, the place declined, however 66 German Sovereigns of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, from 960 to 1530 and among them, in 1154,

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

, also known as Barbarossa (meaning Red Beard), passed through Brenner as he headed towards the Pope in Rome. In about 1,000 A.D., a permanent village was settled with the name of "Oberes Mittewald" while "Prenner" is mentioned in 1288.Con-fine Brennero, Editrice Athesia, 2006, 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 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 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, on 8 September 1786, on his journey to Italy stopped in Brenner at "Post Hotel". The construction of the Brenner railway, between Innsbruck and Bolzano through the

, 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 it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

, 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.

Coat-of-arms

The shield is

party per pale In heraldry, the field (background) of a shield can be divided into more than one area, or subdivision, of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name (e.g. a shield divided in the shape of a ...

: the first is a miner holding a hammer in his right hand and a lamp in his left, on a

vert Vert or Verts may refer to: * Vert (heraldry), the colour green in heraldry * Vert (music producer) (born 1972), pseudonym of Adam Butler, an English music producer * Vert (river), in southern France * Vert (sport), a competition in extreme versi ...

hill with a

gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...

background; the second part is tierced per fess in

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to ...

, azure and or. The emblem was adopted in 1906.

Climate

Main sights

Religious architecture

Brenner Parish church “Hl. Valentin und Maria am Wege”

The new modern church was built between 1958 and 1962 on project of Luis Plattner. The altar piece is a creation by Max Spielmann and represent “Saint Mary of the road” to whom the church is dedicated. The font and the way of the Cross are by Maria Delago while the stained glass windows were created by Hans Prünster.

Gossensaß Parish church “Maria Unbefleckte Empfängnis”

The church is dedicated to the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

and was built in 1750 on the same place of the old gothic church erected in 1471 and dedicated to

Saint George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

of which remains the bell tower. The church was built on design of :de:Franz de Paula Penz in baroque, it is possible a former project by Johann G. D. Grasmair. The church was consecrated on July 4 and 5, 1754 by bishop Leopold von Spaur. The front shows the portal of the old church and the three niches in which are placed the statues of the Immaculate Conception,

Joachim Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryph ...

and

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

. The nave has a cross shape with two arms forming four lateral chapels. The high altar is rich in golden shades and at the centre of the throne is placed the statue of the Immaculate with the child was installed on April 23, 1752 by Josepf Stapf. The four statues are: St. George, St. Stephen, St. Lawrence and St. Florien. To the left side, between the two lateral chapels, is the baroque pulpit of 1777 positioned in a central site. To the right side between the two lateral chapels is a

Crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (La ...

by Bartlmä Kleinhans. The first right lateral altar is dedicated to

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows ( la, Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows ( la, Mater Dolorosa, link=no), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names ...

encircled by the statues of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

, Saint Elisabeth and Saint James works of 1750. The second right lateral altar is dedicated to

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

and two Bishops: Saint Ingenuinus and Saint Albuin coming from the old Saint George church. The first left lateral altar is the

Flagellation of Christ The Flagellation of Christ, sometimes known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar, is a scene from the Passion of Christ very frequently shown in Christian art, in cycles of the Passion or the larger subject of the '' Life of C ...

at the column and the Saints Peter and John on each side. To the second left lateral altar is Saint Leonard, by side are the statues of Saint Sylvester, Saint Gregory and Saint Barbara coming from the old church. The eastern dome fresco is works by Matthäus Günther and represents the Christ crowning Mary and Saint George throwing the pierced dragon downwards.

Pflersch Parish church “Hl. Antonius Abt”

The first church was mentioned the first time in 1418 and was dedicated to St. Anthony Abbot. The church was enlarged in 1482, restored in 1740 and underwent major changes in 1810 when it was removed the

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. The church was re-built once again between 1880 and 1888 in

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

. The church has a single nave and two lateral altars beside the high altar. The first priest was assigned in 1737, a curate in 1755 and became an autonomous parish in 1891.

Society

Linguistic distribution

According to the 2011 census, 80.86% of the population speak

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, 18.64%

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and 0.50%

as first language.

Demographic evolution

Population over time : Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:3000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:0 bar:1871 from: 0 till:0 bar:1881 from: 0 till:0 bar:1901 from: 0 till:0 bar:1911 from: 0 till:0 bar:1921 from: 0 till:1955 bar:1931 from: 0 till:2246 bar:1936 from: 0 till:2276 bar:1951 from: 0 till:2414 bar:1961 from: 0 till:2645 bar:1971 from: 0 till:2600 bar:1981 from: 0 till:2443 bar:1991 from: 0 till:2242 bar:2001 from: 0 till:2066 PlotData= bar:1861 at:0 fontsize:XS text: ? shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:0 fontsize:XS text: ? shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:0 fontsize:XS text: ? shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:0 fontsize:XS text: ? shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:0 fontsize:XS text: ? shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:1955 fontsize:XS text: 1955 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:2246 fontsize:XS text: 2246 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:2276 fontsize:XS text: 2276 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:2414 fontsize:XS text: 2414 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:2645 fontsize:XS text: 2645 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:2600 fontsize:XS text: 2600 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:2443 fontsize:XS text: 2443 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:2242 fontsize:XS text: 2242 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:2066 fontsize:XS text: 2066 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Notes and references

External links

Homepage of the municipality
{{Authority control Municipalities of South Tyrol