Roman troops on a conquest campaign, the German Emperor on his way to see the Pope, aristocrats on grand tours, travelling salesmen, scholars, explorers and naturalists – all experienced South Tyrol on their journeys between Europe’s north and south. This small Alpine region owes much of its rich culture and identity to such visitors.
South Tyrol’s geographical location made it not only a special place of transit, but also a geopolitical pawn between empires and nations. Hence, today it is a land of contrasts – between north and south, mountain and valley, lifestyles, languages and cultures – and thus holds a powerful allure for European travelers. When the fruit trees blossom in the Vinschgau in spring, while icy mountain peaks touch blue skies and grapevine tendrils curl over elegant art nouveau façades, and there is Alpine-Italian fusion cuisine to be enjoyed, it’s hard to imagine a sweeter spot on Earth.
A small digression: nowhere is the density of Pretty Hôtels higher – many of our member properties are in South Tyrol.
Yet for all the beauty we associate with this vacation destination, the route through South Tyrol was arduous and dangerous for travelers in earlier centuries. Those who wanted to get to the next valley had to take on the rugged, perilous world of the mountains. Even in the early days of human settlement, when the slopes of the Alps were still densely forested, the many passes and saddles where passage between the peaks was easiest were regarded as essential supply routes for hunters, gatherers and traders.
Even after the Romans built the Via Claudia Augusta over the Reschen Pass and occupied the Brenner Pass to the north, merchants still used the narrow, steep mule track over the Stelvio (Stilfser Joch). Via the Umbrail Pass, which branches off just below the summit, they reached what is now the Val Müstair, a beautiful valley in Switzerland.
In 1812 – the Kingdom of Italy was ruled by Napoleon at this time – the head of the Adda Department, Filippo Ferranti, began surveying a possible route from Bormio up to the Stelvio Pass. Ferranti envisioned a road three and a half meters wide with gradients of up to 15 percent, passable only by small two-wheeled carts and pack animals.
But soon afterward Napoleon fell, Europe was reorganized, Lombardy-Venetia went to Austria – and the plans were shelved.
Suddenly the Stelvio was a priority for the Habsburg monarchy. In 1818, Emperor Francis I of Austria commissioned the engineer Carlo Donegani from Brescia to build a pass road linking Tyrol directly with Bormio and Lombardy. For the descent from the pass to Trafoi, Donegani opted for a long series of hairpin bends to gain the most altitude over the shortest distance. By late fall 1818 he had completed the surveys for the entire road, and by spring 1820 construction had begun on the southern side.
By August 1, 1825, mail coaches were running between Innsbruck and Milan over the pass, and in October 1825 the road officially opened as an important trade link between Tyrol and Lombardy.
Around 1865 Alpine tourism began in the new border region of Tyrol. Improved roads, Europe-wide train connections as well as a dense network of guesthouses and hospices created a real tourism boom in the mountains from the mid 19th century.
In the travel writing of the time, the mountains were no longer feared and crossed as quickly as possible; they were admired and enjoyed. Inspired by Romanticism, travelers came to experience the pleasant thrill of the dramatic landscape among the Alpine peaks. Tyrol became the destination of choice in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Now, affluent tourists from Germany, France and England travelled in complete comfort to the spa town of Merano, taking the Tyrolean train over the Brenner, which would soon gain international acclaim as the gateway to the Alps.
Renowned scientists and mountaineers also made their way through the Vinschgau to the Stelvio Pass and into the neighboring Sulden valley (Val di Solda), which quickly became the base for mountain tourism in the Ortler massif. Many of the now legendary mountain huts were also built during this era. And the Stelvio road was maintained once again, financed by a newly introduced toll.
The New Alpine Hotels
While the pass roads served as gateways to the climbing routes for ambitious mountaineers, most travellers were happy to simply gaze in wonder at the impressive mountain panorama from the comfort of a carriage seat. For this new clientele, who were keen to experience nature at its purest but didn’t want to forgo their creature comforts, the first Grand Hotels were built in the mountains around the end of the 19th century. The Greek-born tourism pioneer Theodor Christomannos, whose luxury hotel at the foot of the Stelvio in Trafoi would outshine even the noblest residences in Paris and London, played an important role in the development of tourism in Tyrol. The first visitors marvelled at the hotel’s electric lights, steam heating system, bathrooms on every floor, large dining rooms, bakery, post office, telephone and telegram facilities, dark room for photographers, in-house doctor including a pharmacy – and even a hotel orchestra. Among the guests, aristocrats mingled with industrialists and well-to-do citizens. The Viennese physician and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud stayed in Trafoi in the late 1890s; it was here that he immersed himself in work on The Psychopathology of Everyday Life.
In 1890, there were only two guest houses in Trafoi – the Alte Post and the Hotel zur schönen Aussicht. By the summer of 1907, travellers en route to the top of the pass could choose from 10 hotels with a total of around 800 beds. The first large inns also appeared at the Stelvio Pass. In 1897, the postmasters of Prad built the Hotel Ferdinandshöhe at the summit (it was eventually renamed the Stilfserjoch-Hotel). At the Dreisprachenspitze on the border with Switzerland, the innkeepers of the postal hotels in Glurns and Prad opened the Dreisprachenspitze Hotel, in 1904. From then on, the postal station at the Franzenshöhe was managed by the postmasters of Spondinig, and eventually the Wallnöfer family. The current host, Karin Wallnöfer, is now the fifth-generation owner and manager of the Franzenshöhe.
The 20th Century
Although there were easier routes to the south in the 20th century, the pass gained further importance with the invention of the car. As early as the 1930s, Ferry Porsche was spotted on test drives over the Stelvio in the Volkswagen W30 prototype. In the late 1950s, the brakes of the latest Porsche 356 were pushed to the limits of what they could withstand through the hairpins and in the snow of the Passo dello Stelvio. And the brochure images of that time also showcased the latest sports cars on the Stelvio’s tight and twisty serpentines. Inspired by motor racing and advertising, more and more motorists flocked to the Stelvio Pass to flaunt their cars and show off their driving skills. It was getting crowded in the curves.
The Skiers
The 1960s brought a summer-skiing boom. There were 13 ski schools around the Stelvio Pass, keeping 150 to 200 instructors busy all summer long. While Germans were discovering Italy’s beaches, for Italians there was nothing finer in midsummer than strapping skis to their Fiat Cinquecento and heading off for a settimana bianca, a “white week.” This was undoubtedly also due to the successes of the “Valanga Azzurra”, Italy’s national skiing team. Summer skiing remained popular until the 1980s, when tennis and windsurfing became the new trends and the glaciers at the Stelvio slowly emptied of skiers. Today, it is mostly professional skiers who train above the pass in summer.
The Cyclists
Cyclists, too, discovered Italy’s highest paved pass, and in 1953 the Giro d’Italia crossed the then-gravel Stelvio road for the first time. Fausto Coppi’s inspired attack between towering walls of snow, which left his Swiss rival Hugo Koblet 4 minutes and 27 seconds behind, thrilled the press and the public. The 1953 race is still hailed today as one of the most suspenseful in cycling history. “I thought I would die,” Coppi later said dryly – and a myth was born.
The Stelvio soon became the holy grail for racing cyclists and the scene of many dramatic duels. Anyone who conquered the 21-kilometer, 1,500-meter climb through countless switchbacks to the summit at 2,757 meters had achieved the ultimate in the saddle. The Giro d’Italia of 1965 would be remembered by the racing fraternity for a very long time. After heavy snow, the finish of this leg was relocated to the southern side of the pass. However, shortly before the finish, a small avalanche fell directly in front of the racing cyclists. The images of Aldo Moser, Egidio Cornale and their colleagues, who shouldered their bikes and ran over the snow wearing summery cycling shorts, are unforgettable.
The Future of the Stelvio
An initial concept was developed under the direction of the Norwegian architect Kjetil Trædal Thorsen of the internationally renowned firm Snøhetta, who at the time headed the department of experimental architecture at the University of Innsbruck. The basic idea was to declare the entire area around the Stelvio Pass Road an alpine “world of experience”, and encourage visitors to stop at the many attractions along the road and off the beaten track. In addition to existing facilities such as the national parks, more museums showcasing the road’s history, and the Ortler front, were planned, to inform tourists about the special history of the region – thus increasing not only the visitors’ length of stay, but also their appreciation for the national park and the road itself. To complicate matters, the South Tyrolean side of the road falls under the province, while the Valtellina side is a national highway controlled by Rome – and Switzerland was also involved in the planning, since the adjoining Umbrail Pass borders the Swiss National Park. In spite of this, all parties seem to have agreed on an approach. The old fort in Gomagoi will be restored and opened up on the street side, serving as an entry point to the Stelvio Pass in Vinschgau. Additional visitor centres will be above Bormio and Santa Maria.
©Curves Magazin – www.curves-magazin.com
Words: Jan Baedeker
Photography: Stefan Bogner
