Sterzing

Sterzing stands south of the Brenner Pass on a road linking the German lands with northern Italy. A Roman road station called Vipitenum lay nearby, and the medieval settlement developed along the Alpine route. The wealth of the mountains added to the town's importance: silver mines in the surrounding valleys attracted merchants and investors, among them the Fugger family of Augsburg, who established a branch at Sterzing.

Duke Frederick of Tyrol himself bought shares in the mines in 1423. A fire in 1443 destroyed many houses; the rebuilt quarter became known as the New Town. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries mining wealth paid for fine houses and public buildings, including a town hall and the tower that marks the division between the old and new quarters. Merchants and carriers continued to pass through Sterzing on their way across the Brenner.