Holidays in St. Lorenzen near Bruneck: your base in the Puster Valley
The Übersteinerhof lies in Maria Saalen above St. Lorenzen, where Val Badia meets the Puster Valley. Bruneck is a few minutes away, Kronplatz about 10 km, and the Dolomites begin just beyond St. Vigil.
Your holiday region: getting here, day trips and tips
St. Lorenzen: a market town with 2,000 years of history
The Romans already stopped in St. Lorenzen: the way station Mansio Sebatum was a hub on the road through the Puster Valley, and its finds are on show in the museum of the same name in the village centre. The parish church of St. Lawrence with its two unequal towers holds a Madonna with Grapes carved by Michael Pacher around 1460. Michelsburg castle, built around the year 1000, watches over the village, and opposite it Sonnenburg sits enthroned on its hill, once a convent and now a hotel.
Small hamlets such as Maria Saalen, Montal and Stefansdorf are scattered around the village. Up here, next to the little pilgrimage church of Maria Saalen, is the Übersteinerhof: quiet above the valley, with mountain views, yet close to everything the Puster Valley has to offer.
Bruneck: the town of Bishop Bruno
Bruneck is the heart of the Puster Valley and only about ten minutes from the farm. The town owes its name to Bishop Bruno von Kirchberg of Brixen, who had a castle built on the hill above the Rienz in the mid-13th century. The town grew up below it, and its Stadtgasse with crenellated gables, oriel windows and pointed-arch doorways is still its heart today.
Bruneck Castle is the first thing you see from any direction. The bishops’ castle with its courtyard, round tower and princely rooms now houses the Messner Mountain Museum Ripa, where Reinhold Messner shows how mountain peoples such as the Sherpa, Inca, Tibetans and Mongolians live. From the castle hill you look across the old town roofs to Kronplatz.
Things to see in Bruneck
A walk through Bruneck leads from the castle hill through the town gates into the old town and up to the military cemetery on the Kühbergl.
- Castle hill
Bruneck Castle and MMM Ripa
The 13th-century bishops’ castle watches over the old town. In the Messner Mountain Museum Ripa, everyday objects from the Himalaya, the Andes and Mongolia tell of the lives of mountain peoples.
- Kühbergl, south of the old town
Military cemetery on the Kühbergl
During the First World War Bruneck had several military hospitals. On the wooded Kühbergl hill lie 669 soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army and more than 120 Russian, Serbian and Romanian prisoners of war. Architect A. Bechtold from Bregenz set the cemetery harmoniously into the forest: a quiet, moving place.
- Old town
Stadtgasse and town gates
The Stadtgasse with its 15th-century town houses is the Puster Valley’s favourite street. You enter the old town through the Ursuline Gate, the Rain Gate and the Florian Gate with paintings by Rudolf Stolz.
- Oberragen
Rainkirche
Built around 1340, the church is dedicated to St. Catherine, whose life is told in frescoes inside and out. In the tower below the 1724 onion dome, Bruneck’s night watchman kept his post until 1972.
- Western end of the Stadtgasse
Ursuline church
A Gothic church from the early 15th century with frescoes by Johannes von Bruneck from around 1420. The crypt is the oldest part of the convent.
- Oberragen
Bruneck parish church
Home to the 1983 Mathis organ, the largest in South Tyrol, vault frescoes by Georg Mader and a crucifix modelled on Michael Pacher. Along the cemetery wall, an ancestral gallery commemorates Bruneck’s families.
- Old town
ECK Museum of Art
The art museum in the heart of town combines a historical collection with changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art.
- Town centre
Town hall square and Rienz promenade
Concerts and festivals take place on the town hall square, where a ground sundial turns you into the pointer. Along the Rienz run a promenade and cycle path, easy with a pushchair too.
- Dietenheim
Dietenheim folklore museum
South Tyrol’s oldest provincial museum: the baroque Mair am Hof residence and around 3 hectares of grounds with original farmhouses, workshops and cottage gardens. Open mid-April to end of October.
Shopping and fine food in Bruneck
Shops, cafés and pastry shops line the Stadtgasse and the Graben, and in summer concerts and markets bring the town hall square to life. Food lovers know Bruneck as home to Norbert Niederkofler’s Atelier Moessmer, awarded three Michelin stars and a Michelin Green Star.
With the Citybus and the South Tyrol Guestpass you reach town without hunting for parking. More things to do around Bruneck, such as the Platten earth pyramids or Taufers Castle, are just a short drive away.
Distances from the Übersteinerhof
- St. Lorenzen
- approx. 5 km
- Bruneck
- approx. 8 km
- Kronplatz, Reischach valley station
- approx. 10 km
- St. Vigil in Enneberg
- approx. 15 km
- Lake Braies
- approx. 45 min
- Brixen
- approx. 40 min
Included
South Tyrol Guestpass included in the price
With the Guestpass you travel on public transport across South Tyrol during your stay at no extra cost. We hand it to you on arrival.
- Puster Valley railway and regional trains
- City, regional and ski buses
It also gives you a reduced-price weekly programme. Full details are available from the Bruneck tourist office.
