MMM Messner Mountain Museum Firmian
The famous mountaineer, Reinhold Messner, displays a vast collection of paintings, sculptures and memorabilia from his many expeditions at the Sigmundskron/Firmiano Castle.
The Messner Mountain Museum Firmian, which celebrated it’s opening on 11th June, focuses on the wonder, admiration and respect which mountains evoke among humans. Spreading out over more than 1,100 square metres, the museum displays the history of mountaineering, creating a “meeting point for man and mountain.” The permanent exhibition includes the famous shoe of Reinhold Messner’s brother Günther, who died in a climbing accident at the Nanga Parbat in 1970. The museum also boasts a theatre with steps built into the rocks and can be used for lectures, shows and concerts. A changing exhibition at the museum currently hosts paintings of dramatic mountain views by artists from the 18th and 19th centuries. Sigmundskron Castle, overlooking Bolzano, now renamed Messner Mountain Museum Firmian, is the centrepiece of a project that includes four other museums in the region, each with a different theme. The MMM Juval in the Vinschgau valley houses Messner’s unique Tibetan collection, the MMM Dolomites in Cadore is dedicated to the history of the Dolomites and the MMM Ortles in Sulden concentrates on ice, snow and glaciers. A fifth museum dedicated to mountain people is due to open in 2008.
More details:
- The Times Online Report
- An interesting article about “The mountain men of north Italy”
