Attraction Porta Claudia, ruin

 Ruins of the former barricade fortifications on the border between Bavaria and Tyrol

Description

During the Thirty Years' War (1618 – 1648), the Innsbruck government obtained permission to build a fortification on the grounds of the Prince-Bishopric of Freising in the narrow pass of Scharnitz. It was built between 1632 and 1634.
On the occasion of the ceremonial inauguration of the massive dam, it was given the name of the personally present land princess Claudia de’ Medici.

At the same time, the so-called “Schanz” was established as a border fortification at the end of the valley in Leutasch. The Porta Claudia was not attacked during the Thirty Years' War; however, it was further expanded around 1670 according to the plans of Christoph Gumpp.

During the “Boarish Rummels” in 1703, Elector Max Emanuel II managed to surprise and occupy the Porta Claudia. When the Bavarian garrison blew up the powder magazine, it caused significant destruction, which was, however, soon repaired.

When Goethe went by here on his trip to Italy in 1786, he noted: “At Scharnitz one enters Tyrol. The border is closed with a rampart that blocks the valley and connects to the mountains. It looks good. On one side, the rock is fortified, while on the other it rises vertically.”

To the circular hike Porta Claudia

During the Napoleonic Wars in 1805, French Marshal Ney advanced with a troop of 13,000 men from Mittenwald against the “Schanzen” in Leutasch and the Porta Claudia.  The fortification was equipped with 12 cannons and defended by only 700 men of regular troops. Initially, all attacks were repelled. Every demand for surrender was rejected by the fortress commander. It was only when the French, led by knowledgeable Bavarian foresters, succeeded in outflanking the fortress that the fate of Porta Claudia was sealed.  The Austrian garrison was taken prisoner; the French had 1800 dead and wounded to mourn. In 1809, the fortress was alternately in the hands of Tyrolean, French, and Bavarian troops.

When Tyrol came under Bavaria, it was largely demolished with massive amounts of explosives that cost more than 12,000 guilders. Nevertheless, remnants of the former expansive fortification on both sides of the Isar north of Scharnitz have survived, with stone walls still standing up to 6 m high. Until 1957, the customs office was housed in the former barracks of Porta Claudia. Considerable remains of the “Leutascher Schanz” can still be seen today.

The fortifications consisted of a main fortress and outworks. In the main fortress, alongside the barracks (soldiers' quarters), there was also a chapel.  The outworks included the cavalier on which a cannon stood, the powder magazine, the Devil's Kitchen, and the water chamber, from which the water of the Isar could be directed into the ditch. The 6 m high walls with their embrasures, the partly crumbled and overgrown outworks, the large vaults (shelters for soldiers and horses), the moat, the ramparts, and the like still highlight the might of this fortress today. A wood carving in Oberammergau, a painting depicting the events from 1805 in the Mittenwald town hall, and a copper engraving in the Ferdinandeum State Museum in Innsbruck provide contemporary representations of Porta Claudia.

To the Via Romea hike - Stage 1 & 2