Glurns Glorenza is a small town in the Southern Tyrol. A written account of the town was first made in the 12th century, however, it only received its status as a Meinhardinic town in 1294. Today, the picturesque town has seven hundred inhabitants and even now enjoys certain privileges once granted to it by a royal prince. Shortly after the founding of the town around the end of the 13th century began the flowering period of the Tyrolean trading routes and commercial centres of the Middle Ages.

In 1499 the outbreak of the Engadiner War shook Glurns. During the Battle of Calven on May 22nd., events took a turn for the worse. Constant hostilities between the Habsburg and Swiss Confederation finally led to a great battle and the defeat of the royal troupes. The hostile farmers´ army took the Habsburg army by surprise, thus a massacre took place within the defenceless town. Approximately six thousand people were killed and a week later King Maximillian saw for himself the full extent of the catastrophic massacre.

Throughout the centuries an impressive part of the Tyrol’s moving history has been well preserved beyond the unique walls, towers and gates of Glurns Glorenza.