The Stelvio pass offers an alternative to the Brenner pass road as a connection between Milano-Brescia and Landeck-Innsbruck/Munich. The actual road was constructed by the Austro-Hungarian (A-H) Empire, the owner of the Lombardy after the treaty of Vienna in 1815. (Built by Ing. Carlo Donegani of Brescia in only 6 years, from 1820 to 1825.)

Italian attacks, also on the Stelvio, in 1848, 1859 and 1866 resulted in the construction of the fortress Gomagoi (1860/61) at the northern end of the pass – and in a new border between Italy and Austria on the top of the Stelvio pass after the peace agreement of Vienna in 1866.

The Austrian headquarter planned to counter an Italian attack over the Stelvio at the intersection of the Valley of Trafoi and the Valley of Sulden. A defence line between Kleinboden – Fort Gomagoi – Zumpanell ridge, with trenches, artillery positions and storehouses was built there around 1912. To prevent a possible Italian outflanking movement over Swiss territory to Glurns, another defense line was built near Taufers.

Around the top of the Stelvio pass and at Goldsee, the Austro-Hungarian army built only observation posts.

The Italian Headquarters also planned a defensive strategy for this area - but built in 1910-1913 the fortress Dossaccio (also Venini) at Oga, west above Bórmio. It was equipped with 4 guns of 120mm under armoured cupolas and with 2 machine guns.

2 additional Italian artillery positions were built at the "Motte di Oga" and at Mount "Monte delle Scale", facing the southern end of the Stelvio pass road.

Further south, in the Valtellina valley, the fortress Canali above Tirano was built in 1913-1914 and equipped with 4 guns of 149mm under armoured cupolas. In addition, a position under rocks for 4 field guns 149mm was built at "Croce di Motti" and 2 positions for 4 field guns 7,5cm each at Corradini and at Ronco (near Forte Canali, all built in 1913-14).

When WW1 broke out in August of 1914, this border between Austria, Italy and Switzerland in the High Alps remained quiet and only the border posts were reinforced.

Italy had declared its neutrality as neither the Austrian-Hungarian nor the German Empire had been attacked.

Switzerland, as a neutral country, had mobilized its army on August 3rd, 1914 with a main front NORTH between the Lake of Neuchâtel and the Lake of Constance. The borders in the south were covered by 2 brigades around Bellinzona and by the Alpine Infantry brigade Nr. 18 in the Grisons. After mid August 1914, that brigade had placed one battalion in the valley of Müstair of which one company was occupying positions at the Stelvio - Umbrail passes. (The Umbrail pass got a road as late as 1908.)

After Mai 23rd 1915, with the entrance of Italy into war at the side of the Allied Forces, the above frontline between Stelvio and the Adriatic Sea near Trieste became reality.

On the Austrian side, the Army of Tyrol under General von Dankl was responsible for the rayons I-V, ranging from the Stelvio pass to Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites.

The 90^th A-H army division under Field Marshal Scholz was in charge of the rayons I and II: the front between Stelvio & Tonale. He placed the 53rd half brigade between Stelvio and Mt. Cevedale and the 52^nd half brigade between Mt. Cevedale and Passo Maroccaro (S of Tonale pass). Until the fall of 1915 the "Standschuetzen" held this frontline nearly alone up to the arrival of the regular troupes.

On the Italian side, the 5^th Infantry division (HQ at Edolo) placed the 5° Alpini Regiment between the Swiss border and the Mt. Listino (S of Adamello mountains group) with a defensive mission. The Alpini battalion TIRANO had to hold the northern sector "Valtellina" - from the Swiss border to the Gavia pass.

On June 4th, 1915, Gendarmerie-Rittmeister (captain) Andreas Steiner, in charge of the Stelvio position (29 men on June 1st), organized an attack on the Mt. Scorluzzo (3094m) with 2 small groups and artillery support from Goldsee. It was successful as the Italian patrol of 10 men of the 48th company of the battalion TIRANO had orders to retreat in case of an attack – because this position was ahead of the Italian frontline.

The Austro-Hungarians immediately built a strong point which resisted to all following attacks and was able to control – 300 meters higher than the pass road – all movements in Val Braulio.

In June 1915, the Italians established strong points at Cantoniera IV (Italian customs building at Umbrail pass intersection), Rese di Scorluzzo and Filone del Mot with outposts across the Valle del Braulio and between Laghetto Alto and Filone del Mot.

In addition, heavy artillery was brought into position (at altitude 2800m) between the Mt. Braulio and the Swiss border at Punta di Rims.

The Austrians established a strongpoint on Mt. Naglerspitze and occupied outposts between Mt. Scorluzzo and Mt. Naglerspitze. A battery of artillery was installed south of the hotels on the summit of Stelvio pass and a single gun on Mt. Livrio (at altitude ca. 3100m).

In the fall of 1915, both sides realized that they would have to stay on their positions also during the alpine winter season – lasting here from October/November to May/June - and started to build barracks and small huts. Before the construction of aerial cable railways, everything like construction wood and material, food, wood for cooking and warming, ammunition etc. had to be carried up to the strong points and outposts by mules or men.

The Austrians succeeded to finish their vital aerial cable railway by Nov. 1915: it went from "Drei Brunnen" (at altitude 1550m) near Trafoi to "Franzenshoehe" (2189m). From there one line went to the artillery position of "Goldsee" (2700m), the other to "Ferdinandshoehe" / Stelvio pass (2757m).

The winter of 1915/1916 was tough (6 to 8 m snow heights on positions) and very cold (up to –44°C at Stelvio pass). Ski patrols and local fights took place under difficult conditions (many first ascensions or routes).

Already at the end of April, as well as in May (still winter up there!), various Italian attacks took place in Val Vitelli and Val Braulio.

In May, the Austrians occupied the Geisterspitze (3465m) and Payerspitze (3433m).

The Austro-Hungarians later attacked Hinterer Madatsch (3313m), Tuckett-Spitze (3563m) and Schneeglocke (3466m) and occupied permanently the Kristallspitzen (3446m), Ortler Vorgipfel (3872m) and Kleines Eiskoegele (3470m).

In July 1916, two mountain guns were carried up on sledges from Trafoi to the Ortler Vorgipfel and directed against Trafoier Eiswand and Thurwieser. Additional artillery was installed on Mt. Scorluzzo, Mt. Livrio and Pleisshorn after disarming the rear defence line around Fort Gomagoi. Two additional guns were placed on Mt. Ortler – who also got a cable railway from Sulden to Payer-Huette and from there to the top.

The Italian Alpini on the other hand occupied Trafoier Eiswand (3411m), Thurwieser (3652m), Grosses Eiskoegele (3530m), Hochjoch (3527m) and Hohe Schneid/Mt. Cristallo (3431m) – and established important bases at the Ortlerpass (3353m) and at Capanna Milano, today Rif. Bertarelli (2877m). Italian artillery was also brought in higher positions, including several guns of 12cm and 15cm.

During the summer of 1916, the Italians tried in nearly 30 attacks without success to reconquer the Mt. Scorluzzo – overlooking the Stelvio pass. – Local attacks with man-to-man fights on outposts and mountain peak positions took place over all the years, especially in bad weather and at night. Also artillery and machine-gun fire caused many casualties.

To protect the access to their positions against artillery fire and avalanches, both sides built tunnels and ice galleries – with a total lengths of over 11’377 meters in this region.

The winter 1916/17 was the worst since over 60 years in the Alps and both sides suffered with many victims from snow, avalanches and cold. Trenches, entrances to shelters, access roads etc required constant snow digging and supply was extremely difficult.

On March 17, 1917 the A-H realized a successful attack on the Hohe Schneid out of an ice tunnel, constructed between Oct. 1916 and March 1917, but the Alpini reconquered that position after 3 days. In the eastern part of the Ortler frontline, the A-H occupied Koenigsspitze / Gran Zebru, Kreilspitze and Schroetterhorn.

The remaining short summer of 1917 brought few changes – and another winter had to be endured in arctic conditions. In 1918 the supply conditions for the A-H troupes became critical, the offensive at the Piave and the operation "Lawine" ("Avalanche") at the Tonale pass failed.

However, on the Stelvio – Ortler front, the Austro-Hungarian frontlines did hold until November 3rd, 1918 – in spite of a massive attack against the Stelvio on October 18th, 1918.

After reception of the orders for the armistice in the early hours of November 3rd by the Austro-Hungarian HQ, GM von Lempruch succeeded to withdraw nearly all Austro-Hungarian troops from the mountain positions – thanks to delaying negotiations by captain Guido Thour on the Stelvio pass – and to reach the new Austrian border at Reschenpass / Passo Resia before Nov. 4th at 1500 hrs. Parts of the Italian 75th Infantry Division followed closely and occupied the Vintschgau / Val Venosta.

This 164th Infantry Brigade was the only complete Austro-Hungarian front-line brigade between the High Alps of Stelvio-Ortler and Lake of Garda who succeeded to avoid captivity – a consequence for many other troupes due to the misleading Austro-Hungarian orders regarding the begin of the armistice.

The armistice, concluded on November. 3rd, 1500 hrs at Villa Giusti (near Padova/Italy) ended the Alpine War in these mountains on November 4th, 1918 at 1500 hrs.

South-Tyrol became part of Italy.

Museo Carlo Donegani: a compact museum is located on top of the Stelvio pass road in the building of the BPS-bank and freely accessible during the opening hours of the tourist information.

Ortsmuseum Sulden: a well-done museum with equipment, tools and weapons of the soldiers of the High Alps. Shows also excellent photos and good topographic maps.

Information board (outside, facing the Swiss customs house): maps & pictures of Swiss troupes, positions and trenches along the border - facing Italian or Austrian frontlines.

Italian monument: The monument for 64 deads is located on the pass road to Bórmio, at Malga di Bormio (2341 m), which was an important supply position during the war.

Austro-Hungarian monument: The white monument for the IV. Reserve battalion of the 29^th Hungarian regiment (engaged here1915 – spring 1918) is located ca. 200 m north of to-day’s Rifugio Garibaldi / Dreisprachenspitze. Demolished in WW2, it was rebuilt on Swiss territory, just next to ruins of the A-H von Lempruch barracks. (Excellent point of view!)

Hiking along the Stelvio front lines: the association "Stelvio-Umbrail 14-18" has now created 3 round trips, starting from the Stelvio pass summit, giving excellent access to the most important points of this alpine frontline. Homepage: www.stelvio-umbrail.com

"Umbrail" and "Scorluzzo" are full-day tours; "Trais Linguas" takes half-a-day.

Best time for visits: mid July – mid September (trails and trenches free from snow!)

Francesco Davini’s article on this area: "The north-western Austro-Italian Alpine Front" on this site (follow link)

(1, 5, 6) unknown; (2) Mautone, "Fronte di Ghiaccio", p. 44; (3) Forte Oga folder, (4) Fuhrer, "Schweizer Armee im 1. Weltkrieg", p. 374; (7) Nemo Canetta, BPS-folder "Stelvio"; (8) von Lempruch, p. 48; (9) Accola, p. 19.

Accola, David, "Stilfserjoch – Umbrail 1914-1918", BBL/EDMZ, 3003 Bern, 68 pages, verkauf.militaer@bbl.admin.ch ref. 92.040.10 d.

Canetta, Nemo, „Sui sentieri della Grande Guerra in Valtellina" – 40 itineraries, 175 pp, Centro di documentazione Alpina, Torino, 1996, ISBN 88-85504-29-9.

Lempruch, von, „Koenig deutscher Alpen.... – Ortlerkaempfe 1915-18", 153 pp, Belser Stuttgart, 1925.

Lichem, Heinz von, „Gebirgskrieg 1915-1918", Vol. 1, 343 pp, Athesia Bozen, 1980/2001, ISBN 88-7014-175-6.

Lichem, Heinz von, „Der einsame Krieg", 256 pp. Athesia Bozen, 1981/1999, ISBN 88-7014-174-8.

Nußstein, Wilhelm, Militaergeschichtlicher Reisefuehrer Gardasee, 180 pp, Mittler Hamburg, 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0497-9.

Viazzi, Luciano, „Guerra d’Aquile" (Stelvio – Ortles – Cevedale), 297 pp, Manfrini Rovereto, 1967.

Viazzi, Luciano, "Guerra sulle Vette" (Ortles – Cevedale), 269 pp, Mursia Milano, 1976.

An Unfortunate Region 2003