Brenner Autobahn the "Brenner Autobahn" climbs up the Wipptal ("Wipp Valley"), passes by the villages Steinbach and Gries-am-Brenner, and reaches the Brenner Pass at above sea. After passing through toll gates 200 metres south of the Italy-Austria border, the A22 motorway begins its gradual descent through the Eisack Valley. It passes by the towns of Sterzing and Brixen before arriving outside Bolzano at above sea. After Bolzano, the motorway continues to Auer, Trento, Rovereto, Ala and meets the A4 Milan-Venice Highway west of Verona. Beyond Verona, the motorway continues to Mantua and Modena, where it terminates and meets the A1 motorway. The
Brenner Pass Counts of Tyrol within the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa made frequent uses of the Brenner Pass to cross the Alps during his imperial expeditions of Italy. The 12th-century Brenner Pass was a trackway for mule trains and carts. Modernisation of Brenner Pass started in 1777, when a carriage road was laid out at the behest of Empress Maria Theresa. Modernisation further took place under the Austrian Empire and the Brenner Railway, which was completed in stages from 1853 to 1867. It became the first trans-Alpine railway without a major tunnel and at high altitude (crossing Brenner Pass at