Brenner Pass
Lowest of the Alpine passes, 1,370 m/4,495 ft; it leads from Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, to the Austrian Tirol, and is 19 km/12 mi long. Connecting Innsbruck, Austria, with Bolzano, Italy, it is one of the chief passes through the Central Alps.
History
It was an important route in Roman times, when it was called
Via Claudia Augusta, and was later used by Germanic tribes in their invasions of Italy in the 5th century. In 1772, a long carriage road was built across the pass, and a railroad – the first to cross the Alps – was opened in 1867. During World War II, Hitler and Mussolini held three meetings there. Today the Brenner Highway, constructed in the early 1970s, is one of the major roads between Austria and Italy.
