The Way of St James in the South Tyrol

Stage 1: Winnebach - Welsberg

Duration:
Winnebach > Innichen: 1 ¾ hours
Innichen > Toblach: 1 ¾ hours
Innichen > Toblach: 2 ½ hours

Stage length: 25.1 km

Inclination:
Ascent: 371 m
Descent: 397 m

Right after the first stage, through the blooming meadows of Winnebach and Vierschach, we reach one of if not the high point of the South Tyrolean section of the Way of St James.

Not just in geographical terms – as apart from the Brenner, the flat between Innichen and Toblach is the highest point of our journey - but also from a cultural point of view. The Benedictine church of Innichen – the Italian name of the area, San Candido, refers to one of its two patrons, St Candidus, - is one of the most important roman church buildings in the Tyrol (12^th century, renovated in the 13^th century). It dates back to the year 769 and a gift of the ancient Bavarian duke Tassilo III to the Abbot Otto von Scharnitz, relating to the task of establishing a monastery here along the water divide as a fortress to protect Christian civilisation against the heathen Slavs who were advancing from the east. This glorious roman church is adorned with late roman dome frescoes telling the creation story, there is also a late roman crucifixion scene in the choir, the goal of pilgrims over the centuries, the roman crypts with their sculpture of St Candidus, and finally at the southern portal the gothic fresco of Michael Pacher, with the benefactor Otto II between both patrons of the monastery, Candidus and Corbinian.

There is one further highlight on the plateau: The source of the River Drau, followed by pilgrims who set off from Slovenia for almost 300 km. You can drink from the river here!

The walking trail at the end of the forest brings us to Toblach, a rich and significant area in the Middle Ages, as two important trade and traffic routes meet here. The Via Alemagna from Venice (leading to Augsburg, the city of the Fuggers) meets here with the old Roman road from Aquileia, which road we will follow. The wealth of the area can be seen not only from the adornments to the late baroque (1769) parish church of St John, but also from the numerous stately and well cared-for residences, which to this day the area is still known for. The construction of the first internal Austrian train connection from Vienna to Innsbruck, the “South Railway”, which ran through the Hochpuster Valley, brought tourism and further prosperity to Toblach at the end of the 19^th century.

A piece of Austrian history awaits us on the way to Niederdorf, as we will be going directly past “Bad Maistatt”. This is where Maximilian I, emperor from 1493 – 1519 took his spa baths, and where the composer Gustav Mahler spent his summers at the beginning of the 20^th century. (It is said that he composed his 9^th symphony here.) A hospital was established in Niederdorf in 1456 for travellers, pilgrims and the sick. The hospital church of the Holy Trinity still exists to this day.

To Welsberg our way is almost entirely of asphalt, but at least it is on small, less-travelled streets through the wide and sunny Hochpuster Valley. Welsberg is the birthplace of Paul Troger, the creator of the famous frescoes in the Brixen Cathedral. The three altar pictures in the parish church of his home town come from him. The gothic frescoes of “Bildstöckl” behind the church on the other hand are from a second great Hochpuster Valley artist, Michael Pacher.

Detailed information on Stages 2 to 6 can be found on the website www.jakobsweg.it