Mendel Pass

Mendola Pass (Passo della Mendola)
The Mendel Pass from the east, including Kaltern
Compass direction	west	east
Pass height	1363  m slm
province	Trentino (TN)	South Tyrol (BZ)
Watershed	Noce → Etsch	Etsch
Valley locations	Cavareno ( Val di Non )	Kaltern ( Überetsch )
expansion	SS 42
Built	1880-1885
Lock	Caravans
Mountains	Mendelkamm of the Nonsberg group
profile
Ø pitch	4.5% (? M / 11 km)	5.7% (? M / 15 km)
Max. Incline	12%	12%
map
Coordinates	46 ° 25 '1 "  N , 11 ° 12' 26"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 25 '1 "  N , 11 ° 12' 26"  E

The Mendel Pass ( Italian Passo della Mendola ), simply the Mendel called, is a mountain pass in the Nonsberggruppe southwest of Bolzano between South Tyrol and Trentino in Italy . It is the deepest incision of the Mendelkamm, which runs parallel to the Adige Valley , between the 1737 m high Penegal in the north and the Roen with 2116  m slm in the south. The pass connects the Überetsch with the Non Valley at 1363  m slm .

The Mendel Pass has long been the language border between German-speaking and Italian-speaking Tyrol . Today the autonomous provinces of Trentino and South Tyrol and the communities Ruffrè-Mendola , Cavareno and Kaltern border each other here. Opened to traffic the pass is through the Caldaro up leading Mendelbahn and the year-round navigable pass road, which is part of State Road 42 del Tonale e della Mendola is (SS 42).

history

The Mendel with the pass village seen from the northwest

The Mendel Pass is one of the passes that has been used since ancient times. On the west ramp, about 14 km from Bolzano, a small road branches off to a rock avalanche landscape called Tuiflslammer (Teufelskar) or Attila's grave . Excavations in this desert rocky landscape have shown settlement from the Stone Age to the late Iron Age . Stone Age hatchets and Iron Age axes were often found not far from each other. Everywhere you found the foundations of houses, the floors of which were paved. Numerous smelting and slag remnants suggest that the site was an early metallurgy center .

In Roman times , too , a mule track led across the Mendel, which, in addition to local interests, primarily served the military. Since then, the Mendel Pass has retained its strategic importance until well into the 20th century. It is known from the early Middle Ages that Franconian multitudes from the Nonsberg advanced to Eppan , most likely taking the old route over the Mendel.

After the Tonalestrasse had already been completed for the military in 1856 , the military also wanted a road over the Mendel Pass, since without this the Tonalestrasse was of little value. It was to be more than two decades before the construction of a modern Sigmundskron- Mendel-Fondo road began in 1879 . By 1887 a continuous, good 98-kilometer piece was Reichsstraße Bozen- Gries -Mendel-Tonale completed already made the area soon became a popular holiday destination for the "upper crust". The Reichsstraße had to be expanded barely a decade after its completion, in 1900. Winter tourism had increased so much that the barely ten-year-old Mendelstrasse was no longer able to cope with it. Only now did the road have a standard that also allowed driving on a bus. After a test drive between St. Michael and the Mendel on May 8, 1901 , a bus service was established. In 1903 the Mendel Railway - which ran up from St. Anton - also went into operation.

Mendelbahn

The Mendelbahn near the mountain station

→ Main article : Mendelbahn

The Mendelbahn is a funicular , built in 1903 , which connects St. Anton , located to the west under the pass, in the municipality of Kaltern, with the top of the pass. The Mendelbahn overcomes a height difference of 854 meters on its 2,370 meter long route and is part of the local public transport system. The most recent renovation measures go back to 2009.

Pass road

Section on the east ramp of the pass road

The current route, which is part of Strada Statale 42 del Tonale e della Mendola (SS 42), dates back to the 1880s and has been expanded many times since then. The extremely steep mountain flank of the Mendelkamm in the east led to many complications in the construction and maintenance of the route. Some sections have to be carefully secured and closed at regular intervals due to falling rocks. There is no winter closure on the pass road , but there is a ban on caravans.

On the east side, after the junction from the SP 14 , the South Tyrolean Wine Road near Eppan , the pass road leads with an average gradient of 5.7% (maximum 12%) over a distance of 15 km to the top of the pass. From above Kaltern (Kalterer Höhe) 15 numbered hairpin bends have to be negotiated. The pass road leads along long stretches under the steep slopes of the Penegal . At some vantage points you have a good view over the Überetsch down to the valley floor of the Adige Valley. Because of the steepness of the eastern slope, about 26 km of road have to be covered for 9.5 km as the crow flies between Eppan and Fondo .

In the west, the SS 42 does not have the character of a pass road, because it leads without bends from Fondo with an average of 4.5% (maximum 12%) gradient over Ronzone and past Ruffrè to the top of the pass. A distance of 11 km is covered. Just below the top of the pass, a cul-de-sac branches off to the 1737  m slm high Penegal. The road overcomes another 358 m difference in altitude on 3.9 km.

literature

• Martin Sölva, Gotthard Andergassen: The Mendel - a pass with a glamorous history . Athesia, Bozen 2003, ISBN 88-8266-215-2

Web links

Commons : Mendelpass  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Josef Innerhofer: The "Tuiflslammer" near Kaltern. In: Der Schlern Vol. 3 (1922), p. 404.
2. ↑ Steffan Bruns: Alpine passes - history of the alpine pass crossings. The passes on both sides of the Brenner route . tape 1 . L. Staackmann Verlag, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-88675-256-0 , p. 87 .
3. ↑ suedtirolerland.it: Mendel Pass . In: suedtirolerland.it. Peer GmbH, accessed April 8, 2020 .