The Tuxer Joch is a mountain pass in the

Zillertal Alps The Zillertal Alps ( it, Alpi Aurine; german: Zillertaler Alpen) 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 Th ...

at a height of that links the lower

Zillertal The Ziller Valley (german: Zillertal) is a valley in Tyrol, Austria that is drained by the Ziller River. It is the widest valley south of the Inn Valley (german: Inntal) and lends its name to the Zillertal Alps, the strongly glaciated section of ...

valley with the Brenner route just north of 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 ha ...

. To the northeast just below the summit lies the Tuxer Joch-Haus.

History

In early times there was a busy

bridle path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider r ...

over the Tuxer Joch from the Brenner route into the Zillertal valley. As early as prehistoric times the saddle was known to humans. Finds of tools made of hornstein and south Alpine flints indicate that the Tuxer Joch was crossed by Stone Age peoples. A decorative pin from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

was found at the pass. Farmers drove their cattle over the saddle, and farmers and traders also crossed the pass bearing local products. Occasionally funeral processions also passed this way, because the village of Tux once belonged to the parish of

Schmirn Schmirn is a municipality in the District Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Schmirn is located southeast of Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyro ...

on the other side of the saddle, so the dead had to be carried there. Later this parochial structure was changed, but the secular administrative arrangement was not altered until 1926. But the Tuxer Tal had long been oriented towards the

and when it was subsequently linked by a road in the 19th century, the Tuxer Joch lost its importance for local traffic and has since acted merely as a transit path for walkers. In 1940/41 a plan emerged to build a tourist road over the Tuxer Joch, and a full-blown project was developed. This project was not just set up for tourist purposes, because a side road to the Brenner Pass was of considerable military-strategic importance to the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previou ...

References

{{reflist Zillertal Alps Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Tyrol (state)

History

See also

References