A walk in nature has a calming effect, you feel liberated and deeply moved by it. The perception and enjoyment of the environment helps our cognitive function, imagination and problem-solving skills.
Creativity is also known to improve, and positive emotions influence our relationships with each other, animals (Heini tells us), and everything that surrounds us. Nature reorganises everything and puts it into the right perspective. It’s good for body and soul to go into the mountains, for many reasons!
For flatland Tyroleans, myself included, hiking in the mountains is one of the greatest activities. An ancient practice, two people walking side by side, where a common ground is instantly created in the pursuit of the same goal.
The Messner Mountain Museums (MMM), a unique collection of six museums, are a must for hikers, mountaineers, nature lovers and history buffs alike. Spread over six different locations in South Tyrol and the neighbouring province of Belluno, the MMM offer a truly eventful synthesis of the arts. Each museum reflects the nature and history of its location. The MMM combine art, history and nature to create an everlasting experience. Whether you are a keen mountaineer or simply want to admire the beauty of the Alps, the Messner Mountain Museums are a real adventure.
In its museum structure, extreme mountaineer, adventurer and founder Reinhold Messner (do I have to introduce him? No!) tells stories that have emerged from encounters between people and mountains. This arouses curiosity and he passes on his knowledge and experience to us. Every visit to the museum is therefore not only an enrichment for the mind, but also a physical experience, comparable to a mini mountain tour with the associated insights and views.
Autumn is the ideal time to visit the MMM in South Tyrol. Physical exercise meets mental relaxation. Learning in the museums and in nature gives us pleasant clarity of vision!
A one-week itinerary could look something like this: MMM Firmian, MMM Juval, MMM Ortles, MMM Ripa, MMM Dolomites, MMM Corones. Each museum reflects the power, history and culture of the mountains – art, nature and man.
MMM Firmian
The centrepiece of the Messner Mountain Museum, MMM Firmian at Sigmundskron Castle near Bolzano, focuses on the relationship between man and mountain. Between the Schlern and Texel Group outside – art, installations, relics inside – the large-scale complex sets out a course. The paths, stairs and towers lead visitors from the depths of the mountains, where the origins and exploitation of the mountains become comprehensible, via the religious significance of the peaks as a guide and bridge to the afterlife, to the history of mountaineering and Alpine tourism today.
MMM Juval
The museum at Juval Castle in Val Venosta/Vinschgau, dedicated to the myth of the mountain, houses several art collections: the Tibetika collection, the gallery with pictures of the world’s sacred mountains, the collection of masks from five continents, the unique exhibition on Gesar Ling, the Tantra room and the expedition cellar. Everyone leaves Juval Castle with strong impressions.
MMM Ortles
The museum in Sulden am Ortler, located 1,900 metres underground, is dedicated to the theme of ice. In Ortles, Reinhold Messner tells of the horrors of ice and darkness, of snow people and snow lions, of the White Out and the third pole.
The world’s largest collection of Ortler pictures is on display, as well as ice tools from two centuries. Skiing, ice climbing and polar journeys are thematised here. Visitors are literally immersed in the mountain and can visualise ice mountains, the Arctic and Antarctic, the power of avalanches and the artists’ efforts to depict ice.
MMM Ripa
In Bruneck Castle, once the summer residence of prince-bishops, Reinhold Messner presents mountain peoples from Asia, Africa, South America and Europe, highlighting their culture, religion and tourism. Mountain culture is reflected in the everyday life of the mountain dwellers who give life and history to the mountains of the earth. This ‘heritage of the mountains’, which has also ensured survival high above the abyss for thousands of years, can be experienced at MMM Ripa with the help of dwellings, films and encounters.
MMM Dolomites
In the heart of the Dolomites, between Pieve di Cadore and Cortina d’Ampezzo, rises Monte Rite (2,181 m). From its summit plateau there is a 360° panoramic view of the most spectacular Dolomite peaks: Monte Schiara, Monte Agnèr, Monte Civetta, Marmolata, Monte Pelmo, Tofana di Rozes, Sorapis, Antelao, Marmarole. It is therefore not surprising that the MMM Dolomites is dedicated to the theme of rock. The museum in the old fort is dedicated to the history of the development of the Dolomites, which is told through the explorers and climbers who made Alpine history with their discoveries and first ascents.
MMM Corones
The museum is located in the Puster Valley on the summit plateau of Kronplatz (2,275 m) and was designed by the architect Zaha Hadid. The MMM Corones is dedicated to the supreme discipline of mountaineering: traditional alpinism, which Reinhold Messner has decisively characterised to this day. Alpine history is told here and the unique view of the great walls of the Dolomites and Alps is included in the exhibition.
Reinhold Messner has brought the cultural dimension of mountains to South Tyrol. He is interested in the global mountain world, the history, development and future of the mountains, their protection and utilisation, the people in the mountains and mountaineering, which attracted the first tourists to the region. He firmly believes: “Only if we preserve the natural landscape of the mountains as an archaic space and continue to maintain the cultural landscapes will the mountain worlds have a future.”
The individual museums are not only located in unique places of special significance to Reinhold Messner, but are also housed in special “buildings” – castles, fortresses and ultra-modern extensions and conversions ensure that each of the six museums is an architectural attraction in itself.
GETTING THERE
Travelling by plane:
Nearby airports are Innsbruck, Verona, Bergamo, Venice, Bologna, Milan, Treviso, Munich and Salzburg. There are shuttle connections from the airports to railway stations, from where you can continue your journey to South Tyrol on trains operated by Italian state railways, DB or ÖBB.
By car from the Nice or Turin area:
An impressive route from the greater Nice area leads over the Colle di Tenda to South Tyrol, allowing you the opportunity to savour and enjoy the. pure luxury of the countryside. Alternatively, the coastal route from south to north, from Nice-Ventimiglia-Genoa-Milan-Bolzano, is equally enchanting.
All photos courtesy, and used with the express permission, of Messner Mountain Museums; lead image © Nicole Windegger; all other photos as credited
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