Overview
The castle that dominates the centre of Bruneck from Kühbergl hill, to the south of the town, is like something out of a fairy tale, with those stone walls and medieval battlements that go all the way to the top of the keep, a solid and powerful tower, while further down runs a circle of Renaissance walls, added in 1518. This is where, since the mid 13th century, the prince-bishops of Brixen resided when they visited the city, evidently intending, rather than to nurture the souls of the faithful, to reassert their earthly power and discourage any rebellion. Reinhold Messner was also not immune to the charm of this building. The world-renowned mountaineering legend, who was born in Brixen, had it renovated and made it one of the six venues of his museum system, the Messner Mountain Museum (MMM), christening it MMM Ripa: in the Tibetan language, "ri" means mountain and "pa" means man. The purpose of the museum is, in fact, to tell the story of the lifestyle of the mountain peoples and explore the theme of the relationship between man and the mountains, while at the same time promoting reflection on the difficult balance between the traditional mountain economy and tourism, as well as between Alpine rural and urban culture. From the castle, you can enjoy a splendid view that also embraces Plan de Corones, which can be reached by cable car from the hamlet of Riscone, where another seat of the Messner Mountain Museum is located: this is the MMM Corones, which emerges from the mountain at an altitude of 2275 metres with four views of the landscape.
