Image collection »Sillschlucht Gorge«

Flowing from the Wipptal valley, the River Sill forms a gorge of the same name: the Sillschlucht, located south of the provincial capital, Innsbruck, or to be more precise in the district of Wilten. This gorge, eroded into the quartzphyllite, runs from Gärberbach to under the Bergisel mountain. Despite the fact that the Sillschlucht gorge is located in urban surroundings, close to industrial buildings and a whole maze of transport systems (Inn Valley motorway, Brenner motorway, railway), it offers walkers and hikers peace and idyllic scenery. The Sillschlucht is also of historic importance. In 1786 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during a stop-over on his way to Italy already wrote, "One walks down clearly defined paths to the gorge whose waters run into the River Inn. A gorge which offers one's eyes a whole spectrum of impressions". Some years later the Tyrolean folk hero, Andreas Hofer, and his followers fought the Bavarian occupation forces here between the Sillschlucht and Mentlberg.