Brenner Pass part of County of Tyrol (now South Tyrol), was transferred to Italy, and Italian troops occupied Tyrol and arrived at Brenner Pass in 1919 to 20. During World War II, German Führer Adolf Hitler and Italian Duce Benito Mussolini met at Brenner Pass to celebrate their Pact of Steel on 18 March 1940. Brenner Pass was part of the ratlines that were used by some fleeing Nazis after the German surrender in 1945. The motorway E45 (European designation; in Italy A22, in Austria A13), Brenner Autobahn/Autostrada del Brennero, begins in Innsbruck, runs through Brenner Pass, Bozen/Bolzano, Verona and finishes outside
Brenner Pass Raetia. Via Augusta was completed in 46–47 AD; the route took its course along the Adige valley to the neighbouring Reschen Pass (west of Brenner Pass at above ), then descended into the Inn valley before rising to Fern Pass towards Augsburg. The Roman road that physically crossed over Brenner Pass did not exist until the 2nd century AD. It took the "eastern" route through the Puster Valley and descended into Veldidena (modern-day Wilten), where it crossed the Inn and into Zirl and arrived at Augsburg via Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Alamanni (Germanic tribe) crossed the Brenner Pass southward into modern-day Italy