Deutschnofen (Nova Ponente)

The village on the Eggental's sunny plateau, at 1,357 metres: Thurn Castle, the Maria Weissenstein sanctuary and, within the municipality, Obereggen below the Latemar.

A short history

Deutschnofen, Nova Ponente in Italian, sits at 1,357 metres on an open plateau in the Eggental (Val d'Ega), among meadows and spruce forest. At the end of 2025 the municipality had 4,117 residents and, besides the main village, includes the hamlets of Eggen, Obereggen and Petersberg. From here you see the Schlern, the Rosengarten and the Latemar, and to the south the Zanggen (Pala di Santa), the Weisshorn and the Schwarzhorn.

Its written history begins in 1150, when documents call the area Nova or Nove, newly cleared land. In 1265 Deutschnofen is recorded as a parish and in 1272 as the seat of a court, and for centuries it governed itself through its own jurors and farmer judges. According to the municipality, the German name of the plateau, Regglberg, comes from 'Monte delle Regole': the Regole, the village communities of the neighbouring Val di Fiemme, held timber and grazing rights reaching this far, until in 1491, after a long dispute, the border was fixed at the Lavazè pass and the Zanggen.

The village's wealth was its forest. Farmers hauled timber by ox cart down to Leifers (Laives) and Branzoll (Bronzolo) on the Adige, and from there the wood travelled south as rafts; before the railway, the municipality writes, even goods from Germany bound for Italy floated down to Verona on rafts of Deutschnofen timber. Each farm marked its logs with its own sign, still visible on the church pews. As early as around 1600, people from Bolzano and Leifers came up here for the summer.

Thurn Castle, recorded since 1279 as the farm of the court's lords, took its present form in the second half of the 17th century; the municipality bought it back in 1911, used it as a school and, after restorations in 1984 and 1988, moved the town hall into it. Near the hamlet of Petersberg stands the Maria Weissenstein (Pietralba) sanctuary: according to tradition, in 1553 the Virgin appeared to Leonhard Weissensteiner after he had fallen into a ravine, and today it is South Tyrol's most popular pilgrimage site. Pope John Paul II came here in July 1988.

How to fit Deutschnofen (Nova Ponente) into a three, five or seven day trip: The Dolomites in 3, 5 or 7 Days: How to Plan Your Trip.

What to see

• Thurn Castle, in the village: today home to the town hall and the Deutschnofen museum.
• The little church of St Helena (Sant'Elena), an easy walk from the centre: its foundations date back to the 12th century.
• The Maria Weissenstein sanctuary near Petersberg, open from 7.30 am to 7 pm, with ceiling frescoes by Adam Mölk and the original chapel inside the church.
• Obereggen, the hamlet at the foot of the Latemar where the lifts of Ski Center Latemar start.
• The cross-country trails, which start from the village Sport Center at 1,350 metres.

How to get to Deutschnofen (Nova Ponente)

By car, leave the A22 at Bolzano Nord and follow the signs for the Eggental: the tourist board reckons half an hour at most to reach the valley. By train you arrive in Bolzano, and from the bus station regional buses climb to the villages of the valley. In winter the ski bus links the village with Obereggen: in the 2025/26 season the Petersberg-Deutschnofen-Obereggen line was running. If you stay with a member of the Eggental tourist associations you receive the South Tyrol Guest Pass, valid for seven days on all public transport in South Tyrol.

When to go

The tourist board describes Deutschnofen as the sunniest village in South Tyrol: 2,360 hours of sunshine a year on average. In summer it is a quiet base for walks on the plateau and on the Latemar, with the Obereggen lifts open until 4 October in 2026. In winter you ski at Obereggen, from 27 November 2026 to 4 April 2027, and set off on cross-country skis from the village.