The Birnlücke is the border pass at the western end of the Hohe Tauern

Hohe Tauern

The Hohe Tauern or High Tauern are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian state of Salzburg with Carinthia and East Tyrol, while a small part in the southwest belongs...

 mountains in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, between the Venediger Group

Venediger Group

The Venediger Group is a sub-group of the Austrian Central Alps in the Eastern Alps. Together with the Ankogel Group, the Goldberg Group, the Glockner Group, the Schober Group, the Kreuzeck Group, the Granatspitze Group, the Villgraten Mountains and the Rieserferner Group the Venediger Group forms...

 and the adjoining Zillertal Alps

Zillertal Alps

The Zillertal Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps on the border of Austria and Italy. The range is named after the Zillertal on its north....

. The border between Austria and Italy has run over the pass since 1919. The pass forms the border between the Austrian state of Salzburg

Salzburg (state)

Salzburg is a state or Land of Austria with an area of 7,156 km2, located adjacent to the German border. It is also known as Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its capital city, also named Salzburg...

 and the Italian region of South Tyrol

South Tyrol

South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...

, the valleys of the Krimmler Achental and Ahrntal

Ahrntal

Ahrntal is a Gemeinde and valley in South Tyrol in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.-Geography:The municipality lies about 120 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 70 km northeast of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria...

, and the Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park and Hohe Tauern National Park.

Until the Schengen Agreement

Schengen Agreement

The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...

 there used to be a regular border checkpoint at Krimmler Tauern .

Not far south of the border crossing at is the Birnlücken Hut (Rifugio Tridentina) of the Italian Alpine Club's Bruneck

Bruneck

Bruneck is the largest town in the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol. Bruneck lies at the confluence of the Ahr with the Rienz Bruneck is the largest town in the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol. Bruneck lies at the confluence of the Ahr with the Rienz...

branch. It was built in 1900 and named after the pass.

Name

The name Birnlücke is a corruption of the old spelling. As late as 1888 the pass was called Pyrlücke, after the old names for the stream, the Pirra or Birlbach, in the Ahrn valley. The Italian name is Forcella del Picco.