Brenner Pass

Brenner Pass, mountain pass, one of the lowest (4,511 feet [1,375 meters]) and most important through the main chain of the Alps on the Austrian-Italian border. It separates the Ötztal and Zillertal Alps.

Brenner Pass, open all year long, has been one of the main entrances to Italy from the north and, since Roman times, the principal road between the Eastern Alps in Germany and the Po River valley of Italy. Since the 14th century it has been one of Europe’s great trade routes. A carriage road (built 1772) and a railway (completed 1867) climb steeply from Innsbruck through the Wipp Valley up to the Brenner Pass and then descend through the Isarco and Adige river valleys to Verona. The modern Brenner Highway (completed early 1970s) links Kufstein, Austria, with Modena, Italy; the Wipp Valley is spanned by the Europabrücke (“Bridge of Europe”).