Pragser Wildsee
Location
The lake is located to 1494 m s.l.m. Height and has a water surface area of 31 hectares. He is an average of 17 feet deep and has a maximum depth of 36 meters. The geological origin of the lake is due to the emergence of a natural dam as a result of a landslide leaving.
The lake is dominated by the imposing massif of Seekofel ( 2810 m). Its water level has fallen for years because of water shortage. The lake is the starting point of the Dolomite amount route No. 1 and it belongs to the nature park Fanes -Senes- Prague.
Saga
In the South Tyrolean mythology, the lake also plays a role. From it could be reached by boat, the underground parts of the kingdom of Fanes. The now spilled gateway to the underworld to have located at the south end of the lake Seekofel direction, which is why this is called in Ladin Sass dla Porta ( Torberg ).
History
Around the hotel, opened in 1899 at Braies the end of April, early May 1945 played an important event from the Second World War. Since the end of 1944, the " Reichsführer- SS " Heinrich Himmler in consultation with the head of the Reich Security Main Office ( RSHA ), Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the most prominent political prisoners of the Nazi state of the German concentration camps initially finally to Dachau concentration camp in April 1945 after low- village bring the South Tyrol Val Pusteria. The SS guards had orders not to leave alive fall into enemy hands the prisoners. Through the courageous actions of the Wehrmacht officer Wichard von Alvensleben eventually in the hotel Braies housed prisoners were freed on 4 May 1945 by the U.S. Army there.
The background: After the armistice of 8 September 1943, the German Reich South Tyrol and parts of northern Italy and the present-day Slovenia was as "Operation zones " (ie the former Austria - Hungarian state ) annexed de facto. In addition to South Tyrol and Trentino, the province of Belluno was part of the " operation zone foothills of the Alps " and was like Friuli, Venezia Giulia, Istria and Dalmatia ("Operation Zone Adriatic Littoral " ) the sovereignty of the fascist puppet state Repubblica Sociale Italiana withdrawn. The Nazi leadership was hoping to defend the so-called Alpine Fortress of Bavaria to the Trentino against the advancing Allies. Himmler, who has his own secret diplomacy operation in recent weeks and months of the Nazi regime, especially towards the Americans, and Kaltenbrunner believed themselves to be able to give a favorable negotiating position with the Allies through extortion. The total of 139 so-called special prisoners from seventeen European nations as well as a group of clan prisoners should this be used as hostages.
Among the prominent prisoners was, among others, former Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg with his wife and daughter, the former French Prime Minister Léon Blum and his wife, Hitler's former Minister of Economics Hjalmar Schacht, the British secret agent Sigismund Payne Best, the former Hungarian prime minister Miklós Kállay, the commander in chief of the Greek army, General Alexandros Papagos with his entire general staff, the French bishop of Clermont- Ferrand, Gabriel Piguet, the Protestant pastor Martin Niemöller, and family members of the Hitler assassin Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg.
The hostage plans failed. A German officer, Captain Wichard von Alvensleben, learned from the prisoner transport and left on April 30, 1945, the prisoners in Lower Village in Val Pusteria rid of a Wehrmacht Troop from the power of the SS. On the same day, the prisoners were taken to the nearby Hotel Braies, where they were cared for about three weeks from the hotel manager, Emma Hot Hellenstainer. On 4 May 1945, the U.S. Army arrived at the hotel and captured the German soldiers. The Americans led the prisoner convoy finally continue on Verona to Naples and the island of Capri. Only after further interrogation, the Liberated finally got permission to return home.
Today, located in the hotel, where every year around July 20 around meet members of Stauffenberg and other resistance fighters, the Historic Archives Braies that should wachhhalten 1945 the memory of the events in April and May.
Tourism
The Braies is part of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Dolomites and now one of the most visited lakes in South Tyrol. Among other things, he's filming location of the Italian hit series Un passo dal cielo with Terence Hill. The film attracted many Italian tourists to the lake. In Alta Pusteria is the Braies one of the most popular attractions. Above all, the walk around the lake at Braies Lake is a popular afternoon outing for locals and tourists. In addition, the lake is the starting point for many hikes and mountain tours Pragser Dolomites.
Impressions Braies
View in southeast
Braies in autumn
View to the south
Wintry view of the Seekofel
View from the north