Museum of the Ortles Region

The museum in the elementary school of Solda in the Val Venosta valley looks at the interesting history and culture of the Ortles region from different angles. The single exhibits have painstakingly been collected by Konrad Knoll, who also sorted and partially restored them. Great parts of the furnishings, however, were financed and installed by the museum association on a voluntary basis. The exhibits tell the story of history of tourism in this area, which is more than 100 years long. Solda is situated at about 1,900 m a.s.l. in the beautiful landscape of the Stelvio National Park. It used to attract alpinists and winter sports enthusiasts already a long time ago, as the village is surrounded by the almost 4,000 m high mountains Gran Zebru and Ortles.

Also the mountain huts, promoters and pioneers are mentioned in the Museum of the Ortles region - "Museum für das Ortlergebiet" in German, "Museo per la regione dell'Ortles" in Italian. Mt. Ortles was scaled for the first time on September 27, 1804, by Josef Pichler from the Val Venosta valley, as well as Johann Leitner and Johann Klausner from the Zillertal valley. A masterly performance for those days, commissioned by Archduke John of Austria. There is also a special exhibition on WWI, which was a revolutionary period for South Tyrol. The front line between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from 1915 to 1917 ran from the Stelvio Pass via Mt. Ortles and the Adamello Group to the northern Lake Garda, mostly across rock and ice.

A comprehensive collection of minerals, all from the Ortles Alps, makes your museum visit complete. By the way, there are two other museums in Solda dedicated to Mt. Ortles: the small Museum Alpine Curiosa housed by the so-called "Flea House", a former accommodation for mountaineers, and the MMM Ortles, one of the six Messner Mountain Musums. And how to reach the Museum of the Ortles region? In front of the elementary school in Solda there's a parking space. The bus (line 271 Sluderno - Solda) stops e.g. near the tourist information.