Culture Hiking Trail / Reith
Historical Monuments and Culture in Reith
Station 1: Reith Information Office:
The Karwendelbahn was built after the plans of the Innsbruck architect Josef Riehl and is still considered to be a masterpiece of engineering skill today , taking its place among the great bridges and tunnels of the era. Our village is in the immediate vicinity on the so-called “Sunnroan” - the sunny slope. Enjoy the splendid view over the Inntal...
Station 2: Music Pavilion:
Between the years 1914-1918, all men fit for military service were sent to the front line. Thirteen men from Reith never returned home from World War I. During the Second World War (1939-1945) at least 15 men from our community were killed in action. Towards the end of the war, the village was utterly destroyed. Six heavy bombing raids were carried out over the area and destroyed the iron bridge over the Gurgelbach. The ’bombing year‘ 1945 was a genuine catastrophe for Reith.
Station 3: Sunnroan Trail:
Twenty-two houses were completely destroyed. A further 12 houses, the church and the school were badly damaged. Only after reconstruction did the form and shape of the village change significantly, when some people were re-located outside the over-populated village.
Station 4: The Parish Church:
Our patron saint, St. Nikolaus, has long been treasured by the local inhabitants. A statue dedicated to him was erected by the side of the road.
Station 5: The Milestone:
In 1703, Bavarian soldiers plundered the village, toppling the statue of St. Nikolaus from its pedestal and smashing it. Ever since then, the milestone here stands as a memorial and a warning. The milestone is beside the village road in the direction of Leithen where the road forks to the right, to Meilerhof.
Station 6: Votive Shrine to Our Lady:
Right at the upper border between Zirl and Leithen, a votive shrine with a beautiful carved statue of Our Lady stood for centuries. After 1900, the wood of the shrine began to deteriorate, so the young farmers from Leithen erected the plaster columns which can be seen today. It is said that someone tried to examine the carved statue with a knife...and blood began to flow from the wood, so he immediately stopped. To our regret, this Madonna and Child statue was stolen in 1972.
Station 7: St. Magnus Chapel:
The St. Magnus Chapel in Leithen used to be in the middle of the village next to a milestone and, according to legend, is even older than the church in Reith. The chapel was dismantled in 1980 and re-built in its original form just 50 meters to the north, on a small hill. St. Magnus’s Day, 6 September, has always been Leithen’s Church Day.
Station 8: Hirschen Inn:
In Reith, there are several traditional inns. One of them is Gasthof Hirschen in Leithen. It is a genuine old Tyrolean inn, which offers products from its own farm on the menu.
Station 9: House of the “Giant”:
Legend has it that the giant Thyrsus was gravely ill at the time of the plague. In order not to pass the infection on to his neighbours, he allegedly hid in the vaulted cellar of his house. (When the road was widened after World War II, such a cellar was dismantled in the House of the Giant on the village main road.)His food was brought to him by passing it through the cellar window. He recovered, and according to legend, Leithen was protected from the plague for that reason.
Station 10: The Plague Column:
A column dating from 1637 stands at the village border of Leithen in the direction of Reith. It is possible to recognise pictures showing the painful crucifixion and Saints protecting people from the plague. It is a memorial of the Thirty Years War (1618-48), when troops passing through brought the plague into the country, and which was the scourge of the population for three years. A prosperous Innsbruck businessman escaped from the city and came to Leithen with his family. He, too, became gravely ill and feared he had been infected with the plague. He swore to erect a column if he recovered.
Further Information:
Olympiaregion Seefeld | Tel.: +43 (0) 5 0880-0 | Fax: +43 (0) 5 0880-51 | E-Mail: region@seefeld.com
Download: Map of Culture Hiking Trail
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