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Smugglers' Trail

To Klobenstein Pilgrimage church

Cross the River Ache at Church Maria Klobenstein - and wath the rafting boats passing by
Church Maria Klobenstein - access via Smugglers' Trail from Kössen in Kaiserwinkl
Smugglers' Trail leads across the hang bridge between Kössen/Tirol and Schleching in Bavaria

The Smugglers’ Trail runs along the route of a historic path between Bavaria and Tyrol. A suspension bridge spanning 33 metres joins Klobenstein to the Smugglers’ Trail.

According to the legend, a giant boulder came crashing down and broke into pieces before it was otherwise about to hit a farmer’s wife, and as a thank you for her salvation the Maria Klobenstein was built. The pilgrimage site consists of two chapels – the Loreto Chapel built in 1700 and the Mariahilf-Lourdes Chapel built in 1731-33. The Gasthaus Klobenstein guesthouse reminds visitors of a former hermit residence.

After the World War II, cigarettes, coffee, rum and even cheese were smuggled through this route. As long ago as the early Bronze Age (1800 BC) this was an important trading route for copper and bronze. In the Middle Ages the route retained its purpose but the commodities changed to wine and salt.