Umbrail Pass

Umbrail Pass
	Pass from the direction of Bormio - Stilfser Joch
Pass height	2501 m above sea level M.
expansion	Street
Built	1901
Mountains	Ortler group
	profile
	map
Coordinates , ( CH )	46 ° 32 '30 " N , 10 ° 26' 0" O ( 829 647 / 158866 ) coordinates: 46 ° 32 '30 " N , 10 ° 26' 0" O ; CH1903: 829 647 / 158866

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The Umbrailpass ( Italian Giogo di Santa Maria , Rhaeto-Romanic Pass da l'Umbrail , formerly also called Wormser Joch after the German name of Bormio ) is a mountain pass in the Ortler group on the border between Italy and Switzerland . The pass is at an altitude of 2501 m above sea level. M. and is thus the highest road pass in Switzerland. It was named after the Piz Umbrail , a peak near the pass. The pass ramp that slopes down to the Italian side is located in the Stilfserjoch National Park .

Pass road

The Umbrailpass connects the Münstertal (Val Müstair) near Santa Maria , Canton of Graubünden , with the Addatal near Bormio. The 13.4 kilometer long road from Santa Maria to the Umbrail Pass was completed in 1901, it passes the border with Italy immediately after the pass and then joins the southwest ramp of the road over the Stilfser Joch . The route over the Umbrailpass is the original connection between the Upper Venosta Valley and the Valtellina (Bormio).

The road is generally easy to drive from April to October. The pass is now paved throughout and is also passable at night. As a result of Switzerland joining the Schengen Agreement in 2008, the border station is no longer manned, and controls are only carried out on a random basis. As a result, the earlier night closure between 10:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. was canceled.

The postbus line from Müstair and Santa Maria Val Müstair towards Stilfser Joch , Bormio and Tirano travels the Umbrail pass once a day in the summer months.

history

The route over the Umbrail Pass once served as an important mule track in Bormio's goods traffic with the north. It was of particular interest to Venice , as it was the direct continuation of the Venetian routes over the Gavia and Mortirolo towards the north. The Wormser Joch was used very actively in the 15th century, and at the end of the 15th century a postal route led over the pass that connected Milan with Innsbruck . In 1499 the Duke of Milan sent troops to the Roman-German King Maximilian I who were led over the Umbrail Pass. When the French took Milan in October of the same year, Duke Ludovico Sforza had to flee from Milan over the Wormser Joch to safe Tyrol .

The flowering of the Wormser Joch in the late Middle Ages ends with the beginning of modern times; The reason for this is on the one hand the relocation of traffic to crossings further east ( Brenner ) and west ( San Marco ), on the other hand, for political reasons , Graubünden abandoned the route over the Wormser Joch from the 16th century. The old mule track was still frequently used in local traffic. At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century Austria was planning a road over the Wormser Joch to Lombardy, but since its northern ramp belonged to the Swiss Confederation, it was decided to build a modern road over the Stilfser Joch . With their construction, the crossing, now known as the Umbrail Pass, finally lost its importance.

Today's very winding and winding Umbrailstrasse was only opened in 1901, and later it was expanded by the Swiss Army . There are several Swiss Army fortifications along Hauptstrasse 559.

Today the pass is almost exclusively used by car and motorcycle tourists as a feeder to the Stilfser-Joch-Strasse. It is also very popular with cyclists.

Illustrations

Road sweeping into Val Müstair
Sign with outdated altitude, still on the old horizon of the Pierres du Niton related
The top of the pass with a view of the Stilfser Joch
The restaurant at the top of the pass