Brenner (; ; Ladin: ''Prëner'') is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' and a village in

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 ...

in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, located about north of

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

on the border with

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

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 ...

Geography

Territory

Brenner lies about north of the city of

. The municipality is named after the

Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass ( , shortly ; ) is a mountain pass over the Alps which forms the Austria-Italy border, border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Alps, major passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has the lowes ...

, whose summit marks the border between Italy and

. Brenner borders the following municipalities:

Pfitsch Pfitsch (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about north of the city of Bolzano at the border with Austria. It is named after the valley of Pfitschtal or Pfitscher Tal. Geography As of 30 November 2010, i ...

(

Ratschings Ratschings (; ) 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 .All demograp ...

(

Sterzing Sterzing (; ) is a comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is the main town of the southern Wipptal, and the Eisack River flows through the medieval town. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Hi ...

(

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 (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 (Austria).

Frazioni

The municipality of Brenner contains the ''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') 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 consolidat ...

'' (parishes) of Brennerbad (Terme di Brennero), Gossensaß (), Pflersch (Fleres) and Pontigl (Ponticolo). ''Gossensaß'' is the main village and

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

. 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; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

mining. Today, Gossensaß benefits from 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 were related to those of the Etruscans. Before the Roman conquest, they inhabited present-day Tyrol in Austr ...

were a people who lived in the

Eisacktal Eisack Valley ( ; ) is a district (; ) in South Tyrol, Italy. It comprises the middle part of the valley of the Eisack, from Franzensfeste in the north to Waidbruck in the south. Overview The valley of the Eisack river stretches from Brenner Pass ...

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 ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

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 cursus honorum, the ...

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 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

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; ), 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 venerated since the Middle Ages. ...

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 Bavarii, sometimes simply called Bavarians (; ) were a Germanic people who lived in and near present-day southern Bavaria, which is named after them. They began to appear in records by the 6th century AD, and their culture, lang ...

, the place declined, however 66 German Sovereigns of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

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

Frederick I Frederick I or Friedrich 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 ...

, 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.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 polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

, on 8 September 1786, on his journey to Italy stopped in Brenner at "Post Hotel". The construction of the

Brenner railway The Brenner Railway (; ) is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck to Verona, climbing up the Wipptal ( German for "Wipp Valley"), passing over the Brenner Pass, descending down the Eisacktal ( German for " ...

, 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

, 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 c ...

: 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 versio ...

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). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

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 b ...

, 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 doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

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

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

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 was, according to Sacred tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary (mother of Jesus), and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Gospel of James, part of ...

and

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

. 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 the Latin 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 (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

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

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows (), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are Titles of Mary, names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referr ...

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 crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

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

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, Jesuits, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Kingdom of Navarre, Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus ...

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, in art sometimes known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar, is an episode from the Passion of Jesus as presented in the Gospels. As such, it is frequently shown in Christian art, in cycles of the Pas ...

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 for 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 architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

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

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

. 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 2024 census, 77.77% of the population speak

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 22.07%

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

and 0.16% Ladin 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