WTI Magazine #79    2016 May 13
Author : I borghi più belli d'Italia      Translation by:

The town sprung up along the Brennero road, the most important communication link between Italy and Germany. In spite of the construction of new residential areas, the layout of the town has remained more or less unaltered since the end of the 13th century, when Sterzing was elevated to town status, though only short tracts of the city walls remain.

The town is divided by the municipal tower (also called the "Torre delle Dodici") into two parts: Città Vecchia and Città Nuova (Old Town and New Town), where shops and hotels are aligned along the main street (Reichstrasse) in place of the old artisan workshops and taverns. With its houses crowned by merlons and the elegant bow-windows (Erker) overlooking it, Reichstrasse resembles a long stateroom.

The Torre delle Dodici was erected in 1469 and completed in 1473 with its clock and sundial, when the city walls served as the town gate. It was rebuilt in its current form after the fire of 1868. Near the tower one can admire the Jöchlsthurn, a beautiful late Gothic-style edifice which now houses the Mines Museum.

The town hall, which dates from the same period as the tower, was completed later (1524), with its corner polygonal Erker topped by merlons. Inside one can admire the striking iron grilles, wainscoting and the Gothic-style stube containing a unique lantern holder (1520) in the shape of a woman. The stele of Mithras, the Persian divinity worshipped by the Roman legionaries, was discovered in the surrounding area is now located in the courtyard of the town hall.

The Gothic church of Santo Spirito (end of the 14th century) was originally part of the hospital (currently the seat of the Tourist Society). The main nave presents splendid and terrifying 15th-century frescoes by Giovanni da Brunico. The parish church of Santa Maria della Palude (1417) is considered the largest in the entire Tyrol region: in 1496 a vast church with a nave and two aisles was added to the Gothic choir and sacristy (1455), completed in 1524. The church's interior preserves, among other things, the five statues of the precious panel altar of Hans Multscher, Germany's most famous wood sculptor at that time. The altar, which was created by the master in his workshop in Ulm and transported to this church in 1458 (while the paintings are in the Multscher Museum in the Commenda of the Teutonic Order), represents one of the masterpieces of German late-Gothic realism, and clearly influenced subsequent Tyrolese art (one need only consider Michael Pacher).

In the surrounding forests, on the top of a ridge, stands the imposing Castel Tasso (Reifenstein), already cited in the 12th century, offering visitors its majestic Gothic stube and chapel.

The name
The place name Sterzing continues to be a mystery for historians. The presence of a pilgrim hospice here in the very remote past could be connected to the legendary Sterzl or Starz, a lame and wandering beggar (Landstörzer) who was immortalised in the town escutcheon. According to other historians, in the Roman Vipitenum there may have been a mint where sestertii (Roman coins) were struck, hence the name Sterzing.

The product
Milk, butter and yoghurt produced by the famous Vipiteno dairy cooperative.