The Messner Mountain Museum

All of Messner's museums are in his home province of South Tyrol. Almost all of them sit atop high cliffs. His latest is on the plateau at the summit of Mount Kronplatz, 2,275 meters (7,463 feet) above sea level. It was designed by the world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid.

Each museum has its own thematic focus. The sixth museum is dedicated to the great walls of the world. With abundant exhibits, Messner tells of both triumphs and tragedies on the world's most famous mountains: the Matterhorn, Cerro Torre, K2.

Reinhold Messner's first museum opened in 1995 at Juval Castle, where he also lives. The museum can be visited in spring and autumn on one-hour guided tours, some of which lead through private rooms, among them the library.

At Juval Castle, the Expedition Cellar can also be viewed. It contains Messner's mountaineering equipment: The sleds with which he crossed the ice, his crampons and ice axe. And everywhere there are all sorts of exhibits from around the world.

On Monte Rite, Reinhold Messner had a former military fort restored. He opened it in 2002 as his second museum, 2,181 meters (7,155 feet) above sea level. From its heights, there’s a 360-degree panoramic view of the most spectacular peaks in the Dolomites.

The second museum illustrates the conquest of the Dolomites, and introduces the first people who climbed its peaks. In addition to paintings from the Romantic era to the present day, the museum houses 250-million-year-old fossils from mountainous regions.

The third museum followed in 2004. It's a new building and stands on the highest mountain in South Tyrol, the Ortler. The museum is underground and seems almost to have been inserted into the mountain.

The exhibition is devoted to the icy world of mountain glaciers and polar ice caps. Messner illustrates the power of ice and the terrors of avalanches. Exhibits include ice climbing gear and navigation aids from two centuries.

The walls of Sigmundskron Castle near Bozen (Bolzano) are up to five meters (16.4 feet) thick. They have housed Messner's fourth museum since 2006. The spacious complex is organized as an journey whose paths take visitors from the depths of the mountain to the summit.

Messner calls his fourth museum "The Enchanted Mountain." It's dedicated, among other things, to the history of mountaineering, which began in 1786 with the first ascent of Mont Blanc and culminates in present-day alpine tourism.

Bruneck Castle stands on a hill above the town of the same name. Here Reinhold Messner opened his fifth museum in 2011. The name Ripa comes from the Tibetan: "ri" means "mountain;" "pa" means "man."

At Bruneck Castle, Reinhold Messner presents the mountain peoples he met on his travels. He shows their cultures, traditions and closeness to nature. Although modern mountaineering is a mere 250 years old, people have lived in the mountains for more than 10,000 years as hunters, nomadic herdsmen and farmers.

The sixth museum is supposed to be the last one. Reinhold Messner, who has climbed all the 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 meters above sea level, calls the museum his 15th eight-thousander. It embodies the sum of all his experiences. The six museums are a tribute to the world of mountains and mountaineering.