Places to visit

The Ritten earth pinnacles are the highest and best shaped ones in Europe. The material of which they consist is in a dry state rock-hard, but as soon as it comes in contact with water it turns to a clay-like paste and slides as such downwards into the valley. Should, however, a stone be enclosed in this earthy substance, it keeps the earth lying under it dry and hard and thus the earth columns grow to a height of up to 30 metres out of the ground. The Ritten earth pinnacles are made of late ice age morainic clay which was piled up and left behind not only from the big main glacier of the Eisack valley, but also from local adjacent glaciers. When it is dry, the Ritten morainic clay is rock-hard, but when moist, it turns into a clay-like paste which slides down the hillside and starts to flow. This constant downslide of morainic clay stops temporarily when the earth is bone dry and, therefore, rock-hard which prevents a rapid downslide. This is how steep walls with a height of 10 to even 15 metres are formed, which are the prerequisite for the formation of the earth pinnacles. The earth pinnacles are virtually "washed out" of these steep slopes; to be more exact, they are shaped by the weather, depending on bigger stones lying in the morainic clay, which keeps the material under them dry for as long as possible and therefore hard. The higher the steep slope is, and the higher in it the right stone is lying, then the higher and mightier the pinnacle will be. It is difficult to say how long it takes till an earth pinnacle has taken shape, as too many components have to be taken into consideration. It is just as difficult to determine how old an earth pinnacle can be.
 What can be said with certainty is that, should the topmost stone fall off the pinnacle, then erosion is rapid for the remaining clay is exposed to the elements and the column becomes smaller with every drop of rain. However, although due to this process one earth pinnacle disappears, the next one begins to take shape further up the slope. Earth pinnacles can be found in three different places on the Ritten - in the Finsterbachtal between Lengmoos and Mittelberg, in the Katzenbachtal below Oberbozen and near Unterinn in the Gastererbach valley.   

St Antonius Church in Klobenstein: This church was built, like the Maria Himmelfahrt Church, at the instigation of the summer visitors. Building permission should really not have been granted for it, as the church in Lengmoos is just a few minutes' walk away from Klobenstein. The people from Bozen, however, applied to the authorities in Ritten and substantiated their request: -"One does not want the church in Klobenstein just out of Christian zeal and as a stimulus to the furthering of the praise of God, but also for one's own consolation and benefit and for one's own comfort that, during the summer, it was easier to go to Holy Mass more often." In actual fact, however, the reason for the church being built was the competition that took place between the summer visitors to Klobenstein and Maria Himmelfahrt. In Klobenstein, one did not want to take second place to others who were building their church at the same time.

Parish church in Lengmoos: The church was probably built between 1220 and 1225. It is consecrated to the memory of the Assumption of Mary. The church was, through the years, altered a great deal - in 1510 it was enlarged and renovated in Gothic style. The tower, which is not very high, was probably first built in 1300. It already shows signs of the approaching Gothic period, for example, the slightly pointed arched windows. This tower was not enlarged during re-construction in 1510 and thus today, compared to the big church, makes a rather unassuming impression.

The St. Nikolaus Church in Mittelberg was first mentioned in 1289. This church was enlarged in 1400 and rebuilt in Gothic style. Since then, the form has remained the same, The tower is somewhat younger than the church and probably was not erected until the 14th century. It is a very pretty church built of regularly laid natural stone. Presumably it was made Gothic in its upper part, at which time the lancet windows, which it has today, were inserted. In 1774 an onion tower was put on the top which does not really suit the style but which, in spite of that, is quite pleasing to the eye.

St. Verena Church in Rotwand: This church was mentioned in documents for the first time in 1256. It lies on a very pretty hill whose rock was polished smooth by a glacier. Today, it is assumed that in prehistoric times, probably in the Celtic era, there was a sacrificial area on this site.

In Wolfsgruben on the Ritten, you can find the Plattner apiary, one of the oldest farms on the Ritten. In the interior one can see how farmers used to live in the past. And apart from that one can find out everything that one should know about bees, for, in the barn, there is one of the biggest collections connected with beekeeping in South Tyrol. Added to that, there is a nature trail on the picturesque slope which explains to the visitor the world from a bee's point of view.