Bruneck was more of a destination for summer visitors than mountain climbers. Nevertheless the mountains held a strong fascination for holidaymakers. The Bruneck valley basin is surrounded by several panoramic mountains, for example Sambock in the north, and Schönbichl to the northeast. The town’s “home” mountain is Kronplatz to the south. It offers an incomparable panoramic view of the Dolomites as far as the Zillertal Alps.

When it was “conquered” towards the end of the 19th century, nobody had yet thought about winter sports, which today dominate the Kronplatz. The mountain was there for hiking on!

1870 saw the establishment of the Bruneck section of the Alpine Club – which was the same year as the town improvement society. The objective was to open up the mountains for the valley’s residents, and to this end, the Bruneck section built refuge huts and trails. In 1882 the members put in place a path on the Kronplatz and the Pusterthaler Bote newspaper reported that Bruneck’s home mountain could “now be scaled in 3 to 3 1/2 hours without much fuss”.

Initially only the hut on the Ochsenalpe offered refreshments but demand was low among hikers due to its high prices. In 1894/95 the Bruneck section of the Alpine Club built a refuge at 2,260 metres above sea level, which today is known as the Kronplatz Hut and is run by the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI).