Rudolf Stolz Museum

Rudolf Stolz (1874-1960), known for his impressive fresco cycle "Danse Macabre" at the Sesto cemetery (1924), dedicated himself to history and genre painting. Like his brothers Ignaz and Albert, he was influenced by the style of the Austro-Bavarian painter Franz Defregger. Together with Ignaz, he also managed the estate of the Austrian painter Albin Egger-Lienz. Born in Bolzano in 1874, Stolz moved to Sesto in the Upper Val Pusteria in 1943 and died in 1960 in Moso near Sesto. A primary school in his birth town of Bolzano now bears his name.

Even during his lifetime, the self-taught artist received numerous awards, including the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Prize (1940) and honorary membership in the South Tyrolean Artists' Association (1958). A little later, in 1969, a museum opened in Sesto, built according to plans by his son-in-law, the architect Erich Pattis. For several years now, the permanent exhibition "Rudolf and Albert Stolz as War Painters 1915/16" has complemented the collection.

More than 160 paintings, watercolours, studies, and fresco sketches can now be admired in two rooms. The "Danse Macabre" at the cemetery entrance in Sesto is a particular draw for many visitors. Death appears seven times, dancing with various people, all subject to its power.

Stolz also created the frescoes inside the Hotel Drei Zinnen (1929-1931), which are, however, only accessible to hotel guests. How to get to the Rudolf Stolz Museum? It is located in the Via Dolomiti road in San Vito Sesto. Parking is available in the Via Bersaglio road. San Vito is also accessible by bus, for example, with line 446 from San Candido.