The Birnlücke () is the border pass at the western end of the

Hohe Tauern The High Tauern ( pl.; , ) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of Salzburg, Carinthia and East Tyr ...

mountains in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, between the

Venediger Group The Venediger Group () is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. Together with the Granatspitze Group, the Glockner Group, the Goldberg Group, and the Ankogel Group, it forms the main ridge of the High Tauern. The highest peak is the Groß ...

and the adjoining

Zillertal Alps The Zillertal Alps (; ) are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps on the border of Austria and Italy. Name The range is named after the Zillertal (Ziller river valley) on its north. Geography The range is bounded by the ''Tuxerjoch'' m ...

. The border between Austria and Italy has run over the pass since 1919. The pass forms the border between the Austrian state of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

and the Italian province of

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

, the valleys of the Krimmler Achental and

Ahrntal Ahrntal (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about northeast of the city of Bolzano (''Bozen''), near the border to Austria. Geography Ahrntal borders the following municipalities: Mühlwald, Prettau, ...

, and the

Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park The Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park () is a nature reserve in South Tyrol, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a penin ...

and

Hohe Tauern National Park The High Tauern ( pl.; , ) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of Salzburg, Carinthia and East Tyrol, ...

. Until the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

there used to be a regular border checkpoint at Krimmler Tauern (). Not far south of the border crossing at is the Birnlücken Hut (''Rifugio Tridentina''). It was built in 1900 and named after the pass.

Name

The name ''Birnlücke'' is a corruption of the old spelling. As late as 1888 the pass was called ''Pyrlücke'', after the old names for the stream, the ''Pirra'' or ''Birlbac''h, in the Ahrn valley.Bergnamen in Österreich von Heinz Dieter Pohl
/ref> The Italian name is ''Forcella del Picco''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birnlucke Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Salzburg (federal state) Mountain passes of Italy Venediger Group Zillertal Alps Zell am See District Mountain passes of South Tyrol Austria–Italy border crossings Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park

Name

See also

References