The MMM Mountain Museum is a structured group of six museums created to tell the full story of alpinism, which began in 1786 with the ascent of Mont Blanc. The museums communicate the experiences, emotions and stories that together make up the history of mountaineering – and the heritage of the mountains.
Six locations – six exhibitions – six experiences
The Messner Mountain Museum project developed by Reinhold Messner comprises a structured group of six museums, with each museum devoted to a specific aspect of the overall theme, circling it like a satellite. At the heart of the project is the museum in Sigmundskron Castle near Bozen (MMM Firmian), which is devoted to the origins and shaping of the mountains and to mountain climbing. In Juval Castle (MMM Juval), his private castle in the Vinschgau region of South Tyrol, Reinhold Messner tells of the Holy Mountains. At Monte Rite (MMM Dolomites), south of Cortina, the focus is on rock climbing, while ice is the subject in Sulden at the foot of the Ortler (MMM Ortles). Bruneck Castle (MMM Ripa) in the Puster Valley is dedicated to the mountain peoples, and the sixth museum on Kronplatz (MMM Corones) presents traditional alpinism in the great walls of the world.
The Messner Mountain Museums are neither conventional art galleries nor natural history museums; they are a hybrid with an interdisciplinary orientation. Each of the museums occupies a unique location where the subject and the collection are linked to the architecture; the location, relics and works of art combine to form an interrelated whole.
The mountain heritage
With a central museum in Sigmundskron and five supporting museums devoted to individual themes, Reinhold Messner has created a mountain museum that is truly unique. He describes the project as his “15th 8000-metre summit” – and makes use of it to communicate to visitors his knowledge and experience and the stories that derive from man’s encounter with the mountains. Like a mosaic, MMM provides the visitor with a unique experience at the interface between nature and culture, a place where we can learn what the mountains really mean to us. Each of the museums can be enjoyed in its own right, with the location and the architecture incorporated into the specific subject. But it is as a whole that MMM becomes an incomparable place of encounter for everyone who sees the mountains as more than a climbing frame or a competitive sports arena.
“After a life spent in the vertical rock faces of the Dolomites and on the world’s highest peaks, and while still a wanderer in deserts of ice and sand, I have set myself the task of passing on my legacy. It is my wish to tell what I have experienced at the furthest points of the globe and to speak of the people who have shared fear with me, occasionally despair and ultimately the euphoria of rebirth. From a hostile world, we emerged with nothing but our experiences. And at the end of every journey to the limits, when we were back again among human beings, all we had left was our lives – lives that had been saved and now called out to be filled again, with challenges, goals and tasks. One of those tasks for me is my mountain museum, MMM for short, where I tell what happens to us deep inside when we abandon ourselves to the mountains – to their sublimity and sheer size, to their dangers and mysteries. My mountain museum will ultimately occupy six locations. It will be like a big mosaic, opening our eyes to the values that have been inherent in the mountains of the Earth since the very beginning: timelessness in the face of erosion, dangers feared by all, and the slower pace we all so urgently need.”
