This is the sixth - and final - Reinhold Messner Museum; like the previous five, it was built in the Italian province of South Tyrol, the climber's homeland. This educational project, introducing the public to the history of mountaineering, Messner calls his "fifteenth eight-thousander": he himself is best known for being the first to conquer all 14 peaks over 8000 m, and also the first to climb Everest alone and without an oxygen mask.
The place chosen is Kronplatz - the popular "ski" peak of the Dolomites. From the windows and from the panoramic terrace of the museum you can see Messner's "world of childhood": the Geisler peaks, the central peak of the Heiligkreuzkofel (the climber calls the most difficult climb in his life), the granite mountains of the Ahr River valley covered with glaciers.
Kronplatz has a diverse cultural, sports and transport infrastructure, so the museum will not experience a shortage of visitors. It is inscribed on the slope of the mountain at an altitude of 2275 m above sea level: 4,000 m3 of soil and rock taken out during the construction were used to fill the structure from the sides and from above.
The building itself is made of reinforced concrete and fiber-reinforced concrete. Visitors enter it from one side, view the exhibition in an interior reminiscent of grottoes and caves, with staircases inspired by waterfalls, and exit from the opposite side - to an observation terrace with a 240-degree view. From it, at the request of Messner, a panorama of Mount Ortler and South Tyrol opens; he also provided windows with views of the Heiligkreuzkofel and Peitlerkofel.
For the outer surfaces, light-colored panels are used, reminiscent of the limestone of the Dolomites, in the interior - black shimmering surfaces resembling anthracite. The total area of the museum is 1000 m2.
