Brenner Pass, Mountain pass on Austrian-Italian border

Brenner Pass is a 1,370 m border crossing on the main Alpine ridge, where the Wipptal separates the Stubai Alps to the west from the Zillertal Alps to the east. The pass floor is a trench about 200 m wide; the village of Brenner sits on it, mostly on the Italian side. A four-lane motorway, the old pass road and the Brenner railway with its station run side by side, and two arched tunnel portals are cut into the slope.

The Via Claudia Augusta, completed in 46–47 AD, ran through the Reschen Pass west of the Brenner, not over the Brenner itself. A Roman road physically crossing the Brenner was only built in the 2nd century AD, using the Eisack valley route. In 268 AD the Alamanni crossed the pass southward but were stopped at the Battle of Lake Benacus.

The pass village of Brenner takes its name from a farm recorded in 1288 as belonging to a Prennerius; the word likely referred to someone who cleared land by slash-and-burn. The name for the pass itself appears in 1328 as ob dem Prenner. Today the village on the pass height has 400 to 600 residents and an outlet shopping mall with supermarkets, fruit stores, restaurants, cafés, hotels and a gas station.

The crossing remains open throughout the year, with the motorway regularly cleared and maintained even during winter snowfall. Rest areas and parking are available on both sides, where travelers can take a break before crossing the border.

The Brenner Base Tunnel now under construction between Innsbruck and Franzensfeste will run about 55 km, with completion planned for 2032. Until then, the Rail Cargo Group's Rollende Landstrasse carries lorries by rail over the pass, letting hauliers bypass truck bans.