From 1908 to 1910 Gustav Mahler has spent his summer vacation in Dobbiaco and composed his last three orchestral works here. In his honour, the Gustav Mahler Music Weeks have been held annually since 1981, since 1999 they are held at the Grand Hotel Cultural Center. The festival offers orchestral and chamber concerts with well-known artists, exhibitions, and lectures on Mahler's work and world.
Gustav Mahler Music Weeks is a small ambitious and internationally recognised music festival in Mahler's summer landscape, Toblach. It is dedicated to Gustav Mahler's tradition and his work, and is a meeting place for Mahler's music, scholarship and discography.
Gustav Mahler's first contact with Toblach can be traced to July 1897, when he undertook a bicycle tour from Vahrn through the Puster Valley. During the following years he returned for several "Blitzausflüge" – short excursions – in order to refresh himself mentally from his work on the 4th to 8th symphonies.
When his 4 ½-year-old daughter Maria died of scarlet fever and diphtheria in Maiernigg in July 1907, it was no accident then that he sought refuge in Schluderbach and Misurina. And eventually, during the summers of 1908 to 1910 Mahler, his wife Alma, and daughter Anna ended up staying just outside Toblach at the Trenkerhof in Alt-Schluderbach, and his third "composer's cottage" was built nearby.
There he spent, as reported by a contemporary witness, "most of the day and was not to be disturbed by anyone, not even his wife". It was there that he created his last three major works: Das Lied von der Erde (1908), the Ninth Symphony (1909), and the unfinished Tenth Symphony (1910).
In addition to his work, Mahler often walked to the center of the village of Toblach and to Aufkirchen, he went on excursions within the surrounding area, and he entertained many guests. Among them were Richard Strauss and his wife, with whom he dined at the Grand Hotel. The summer of 1910 was overshadowed by a grave marital crisis, his work interrupted by a trip to Holland to consult Sigmund Freud. On September 3, an exhausted Mahler finally departed from Toblach. It was to be his farewell, for the following May he died of bacterial endocarditis in Vienna.
By car
From the North:
Munich - Rosenheim - Kufstein - Innsbruck - Brenner motorway - Bressanone exit - Pusteria state road no. 49 towards Alta Val Pusteria.
From the East:
Take the A10 or Felbertauern motorway towards Lienz and continue towards Alta Val Pusteria.
From the South:
Venice - Cortina - Dobbiaco,
or Verona - Brennero motorway - Bressanone exit - State road no. 49 towards Alta Val Pusteria
By train
Brenner Line (Innsbruck-Bolzano): Change at Fortezza - then take a local train across the Val Pusteria to Dobbiaco.
Switzerland: from Zurich to Innsbruck - take the Brenner line - change at Fortezza - then take a local train across the Val Pusteria to Dobbiaco.
By plane
The closest airports to Dobbiaco are Bolzano, Innsbruck, Munich, Venice, Treviso and Verona.
NEW: Südtirol Transfer
Travelling to South Tyrol by bus or train has never been this easy! The new connecting shuttle Südtirol Transfer takes you from the train or bus station directly to Toblach. Read more here.
There is a wide range of accommodation available (hotel, apartment, b&b, private rooms). Because it’s a holiday spot, advance booking is recommended because of the high season.
It is recommended to have dinner before the concerts because local restaurants will not stay open after 9pm.
There is only one place in the village centre which serves food until 23.30, booking is recommended through this link.
