The Torre di Toblin/Toblinger Knoten was one of the crucial observation and defense posts of the Austrian front on the Three Peaks Plateau. Its positions, at over 2,500 meters above sea level, faced the Italian trenches of Sasso di Sesto/Sextenstein just 300 meters away: ideal for observing the operations and work of the enemy and disturbing the enemy with artillery fire. Also, built on the Torre di Toblin were extensive combat structures, tunnels and caves for cannons, which were continuously expanded and upgraded.
The Torre di Toblin served as a starting point for patrols intended to observe the enemy’s operations at the front, as stated in the war diary of the 59th Infantry Regiment “Erzherzog Rainer” of October 31, 1915: “[…] 9 pm: A large patrol of the 2nd Company advanced from the position of the Torre di Toblin towards the Sextenstein [Sasso di Sesto], arrived at the top and noticed that on the southern side the Italians were already stationed. The patrol left after midnight and was attacked by the Italians on the southern side”.1Kriegsarchiv Wien, Kriegstagebuch des Infanterieregiments 59, Eintrag vom 31. Oktober 1915, p. 89.
In order to make these observations without being seen by the Italian troops, it was often necessary to make dangerous climbs on rocks and slopes. From the autumn of 1915, under the leadership of the military chaplain Hosp, of the Innsbrucker Standschutzen Baon I, various climbing possibilities were explored with the aim of creating a permanent artillery observation post on top of the Torre di Toblin. On the east peak, a suitable place was found to climb safely. At the end of December, the first telephone lines were laid on the summit, and at the beginning of 1916, the construction of a trail and an observation post began. The construction of the barracks was always carried out in the middle of the night, so that the Italian sentinels, who illuminated the area with their searchlights, did not notice anything. But work at this altitude was very dangerous for soldiers and workers. On January 13, 1916, at Torre di Toblin, during the construction of a cable car, rocks became detached and killed a soldier of the Pioneer Division.
Maintaining this high-altitude position proved rather difficult, especially in bad weather. Snowstorms swept away the trenches and walkways that had to be painstakingly maintained. If the cables of the cable car broke, the soldiers remained for some time without supplies.
From March 1916, the 3rd Company of the Standschützen Baon Innsbruck I was assigned to the positions of the Torre di Toblin. Innsbruck historian Richard Heuberger was also present, describing it as “probably one of the most beautiful locations on the Tyrolean front in terms of landscape”. In a letter dated May 6, 1916, he recounts his duties: “The most interesting thing is, when it is your turn, to go to the observation post, which is occupied by three men on a three-day shift. The observatory sits atop a sharp rocky peak, eighty meters above our location. Ladders and ropes lead to the small shelter that they always try in vain to hit with the shrapnel, and to the observation post, from which you have a view of all the Italian positions and from which you can shoot directly from above at a distance of about 350 meters on the enemy lines in front of us, which we do. Often, so much so that Italians have already become very cautious. The other day I also had the opportunity to do a very interesting reconnaissance climb with two companions, at night and in the fog […]”.2Feldpostbrief, May 6, 1916, in: Klub-Nachrichten des Akademischen Alpen-Klub Innsbruck, Nr. 73 (Kriegsnachrichten Nr. 21), p. 4f.
Personal accounts like these can only give us an idea of what it was like to fight and live at such heights during the war and constitute an important part of research on this specific field of war.
Kübler, Peter and Hugo Reider (1997). Kampf um die Drei Zinnen. Das Herzstück der Sextener Dolomiten 1915-1917 und heute. Bozen: Athesia.
Kriegsarchiv Wien, Kriegstagebuch des Infanterieregiments 59, Eintrag vom 31.10.1915, 89.
Heuberger, Richard (1928). Akademische Legionen Der Innsbrucker Universität. In Die Universität Innsbruck. Aus Geschichte Und Gegenwart. Innsbruck: Verlagsanstalt Tyrolia, 51–99.
Feldpostbrief, 6.5.1916, in: Klub-Nachrichten des Akademischen Alpen-Klub Innsbruck, Nr. 73 (Kriegsnachrichten Nr. 21), 4 f.
Torre di Toblin as seen by the Italians
A report of the Italian I Corps describes the Austrian stronghold as follows:
“The tower of the Toblinger [Torre di Toblin], from which the Boden and the Rienz [Rienza] originate on opposite sides, forms, between the heads of the two valleys, like a bridge easily accessible from our lines to the enemy. Therefore, it was strongly organized for defense, with the execution of important rock constructions and equipping it with a good number of cannons and artillery of small and medium caliber. On the keep there is an artillery observatory”.3Archivio dell’Ufficio storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma, Monografie del I Corpo d’Armata – Genio – Sistemazione difensiva, AUSSME_B1_110D_23A. In particular, a note of February 1917 preserved in the archive of the Engineers quantifies the defenses of the Torre di Toblin: 3 machine guns, 2 cannons, 2 revolver-cannons, 1 reflector.4Istituto Storico e di Cultura dell’Arma del Genio, Roma, Probabile sistemazione forze nemiche, ISCAG_cart_704.
Regarding the cannons mentioned, there are numerous references in the Italian department diaries of the human losses caused by these armaments – for example in a single day in 1917 there were 1 dead, 3 seriously wounded, 11 light wounded, of which 2 succumbed later5Archivio dell’Ufficio storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma, Diario comando III sottosettore, AUSSME_B1_130s_87e, 26 maggio 1917. – as well as frequent references to Sasso di Sesto/Sextenstein sentinels targeted by rifle shots from the observatory located on top of the Torre di Toblin, to which the Italian artillery responded, acts which often aimed to prevent construction from taking place in the area.6Archivio dell’Ufficio storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma, Allegati Diario I Corpo d’Armata, AUSSME_B1_110D_3A. After the first attempt to attack Torre di Toblin in August 1915, other plans were studied the following winter, but the lack of men and means prevented them from put them into practice.
Allegati Diario I Corpo d’Armata, AUSSME_B1_110D_3A, Archivio dell’Ufficio storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma.
Diario comando III sottosettore, AUSSME_B1_130s_87e, Archivio dell’Ufficio storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma.
Monografie del I Corpo d’Armata – Genio – Sistemazione difensiva, AUSSME_B1_110D_23A, Archivio dell’Ufficio storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma.
Probabile sistemazione forze nemiche, ISCAG_cart_704, Istituto Storico e di Cultura dell’Arma del Genio, Roma.
- Photos
- Documents