The town of Bruneck
Geographic location: The Tauferer Valley opens out to the north together with its extension, the Ahrn Valley, which stretches as far as the glaciers of the Zillertal Alps and the Venediger Group of mountains. To the south, at St. Lorenzen, 3 km west of Bruneck, lies the entrance to the Gader Valley. History:In around 1250 the Brixen Bishop Count Bruno von Wullenstätten und Kirchberg built a fortress on the Schlossberg (castle mount) and thus laid the foundations for the town, which was first documented in 1256. As the only town in the Puster Valley, it soon became its economic heart thanks to the lively trade that was carried on there, and subsequently also developed into a cultural centre. Bruneck became prosperous. Trade and industry, and later, above all, artistic handicrafts blossomed and brought a certain level of prosperity, which among other things was expressed in the design of the houses and other buildings in the town. And yet Bruneck remained a small town. In the last few decades Bruneck has increased in importance as a tourist resort, both in winter and summer. Bruneck has 14,500 inhabitants and covers an area of 5,000 hectares. The town of Bruneck and its districts of Reischach, St. Georgen, Stegen, Aufhofen, Dietenheim, Luns, Amaten and Percha have around 4,000 guest beds available for holidaymakers. In addition, Bruneck is the retail centre for the entire Puster Valley and today Stadtgasse is among the best shopping streets in South Tyrol.
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Bruneck, which is 835 m above sea level, is located in the middle of a wide valley basin half way between the railway junction at Franzensfeste and the national border at Winnebach. High mountains surround the area: in the south is the Kronplatz (2,275 m), in the west the Ast-Joch (2,169 m), in the north the Sambock (2,396 m) and to the north-east the powerful Rieserferner Group.
Stegen, a bridge settlement with Roman origins, was first documented in the year 1000 in the endowment to Bishop Albuin, and is home to the attractive, Gothic St. Nicholas Church.
Dietenheim, the home of the picturesque noble residences, was first documented in the year 1000. This village is home to the Folk Museum with its beautiful old farmsteads and agricultural landscape.
Aufhofen,
until 1370 the seat of the Brixen bailiffs, has an interesting parish church and beautiful stately residences and intact village centre with attractive agricultural landscape.
