St. Johann Church

St. Johann's Church

A Romanesque gem at the gateway of Stilfserjoch pass

Prad am Stilfserjoch'ss/ Prato allo Stelvio's oldest church, St. Johann, is located in the village’s southeast in a green meadow landscape at the gateway of the high Alpine Ortler mountains. John the Evangelist and John the Baptist are honoured as patron saints.

St. Johann's Church was built at the beginning of the 13th century by the Counts of Tschengelsberg for there own use. It was designed in Romanesque style and pastored by the clergy from Tschengls/Cengles. In 1421, just 200 years later, the last of the Tschenglsberg line died.
With its recessed round apse and the flat ceiling in the nave, the St. Johann's Church is a typical Romanesque church that underwent constant structural changes as time went on. In addition to the exposed Romanesque frescoes, valuable Gothic frescoes are also on display, as are a baroque wooden ceiling and a impeccable tomb slab from the Counts of Tschengelsberg, as well as a gallery dating from the year 1600.

The two contemporary frescoes by the Mals/Malles painter Karl Plattner from 1948 are also quite significant. The roof was recently covered with traditional shingles in 2002.

The lonely grave of Hermann Müller
In the cemetery of St. Johann's Church in Prad/Prato there is the grave of honour of the German botanist Hermann Müller. Müller died suddenly on August 25, 1883 during a research trip to the Ortler region and was buried locally in Prato. The Thuringian scientist, whom Charles Darwin valued above all others, recognised in the course of his research work that flowers and animals co-evolve in response to one another. An orchid species was also named after him posthumously.
Closed, only open on request: 01.09. - 30.06.
Impressions
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Apple Strudel with short crust pastry

Apple Strudel with short crust pastry

The South Tyrolean classic

Ingredients
Ingredients for the pastry:
100 g butter
200 g sugar
30 g of wheat flour, sieved
1 pinch of salt
Grated lemon zest
Ground bourbon vanilla

Ingredients for the filling:
560 g of South Tyrolean apples
30 g of Sultanas
10 g lemon Juice
1 g cinnamon
0.5 g cloves
1 egg, whisked
Preparation
For the pastry, mix the butter and sugar together until fluffy; add salt, lemon zest, bourbon vanilla and flour and quickly knead to a consistent dough.
Form the dough into a square shape, wrap in cling film and leave to cool in the fridge for 2 hours.
For the filling, wash the apples, peel and quarter them and remove the core.
Slice the apples in to approx. 2mm thick pieces and pour on lemon juice.
Mix the spices and sultanas together well. Remove the short crust pastry from the fridge and roll out to a square measuring 25 x 35 cm and around 3 mm thick. Place the filling in the middle of the pastry square, tuck over the left and right-hand edges and fold the pastry together. Brush with whisked egg and place on a baking sheet covered with grease-proof paper.
Bake for a short time in a preheated oven at 200º C, reduce the temperature to 190º C and then leave the strudel to bake for a further 35 minutes or so.

Tip:
The short crust pastry will keep for up to 6 days in the fridge.
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