Those who want to get to know Telfs through its culture and local history will find a range of ways to do so: museums in the Noaflhaus, ecclesiastical and secular architecture, musical history and an annual custom. Mösern is also home to the Peace Bell, and there are routes that showcase Telfs as a cultural destination or a stop along the way. This lets you plan your stay around your own interests without confusing the cultural walking tour with the pilgrimage route.
Museums and Architecture in Telfs
The Noaflhaus in the centre of Telfs houses several museums and a gallery. Admission to the museums is free. In the Carnival Museum, figures, stories, multimedia presentations and film excerpts provide in-depth information about this old custom. The combination of stories and different forms of presentation offers several ways to explore Carnival.
The parish church of Peter and Paul also makes a striking architectural statement: it is a monumental, three-aisled Neo-Romanesque basilica with two façade towers. The description brings together different features, from the three-aisled structure to the design of the façade. Telfs Town Hall adds another perspective on the architecture. It is a listed building, and its façade is regarded as an important and rare architectural memorial and reminder. The church and town hall thus represent different aspects of local history and heritage preservation.
Customs, Musical History and the Peace Bell
Another cultural highlight is the history of music: for many years, Mrs Schindler hosted prestigious piano concerts in her salon at Villa Schindler. This extends the story beyond customs and architecture to Telfs’ former concert culture.
A recurring custom is associated with St Sebastian’s Day. Every year on 20 January, a statue is carried through Telfs in a solemn procession. The date provides a specific point of reference for the timing of this custom.
The Peace Bell is located in Mösern, a district of Telfs. It is Austria’s largest free-standing bell and rings for five minutes every day at 5 pm in support of good neighbourly relations and peace. Its regular time provides a clear reference for planning a visit to Mösern.
Cultural Walking Tour, Way of St James and Getting There
The Telfs cultural walking tour passes frescoes, ornate fountains and historically interesting buildings. It brings together various features of the local townscape: frescoes, decorated fountains and buildings of historical interest. By contrast, one stage of the Isar–Loisach–Leutascher Ache–Inn Way of St James leads from Leutasch via Telfs to Stams. If you are choosing between the two routes, this lets you distinguish a cultural walk featuring the sights mentioned here from a pilgrimage stage that places Telfs within a longer route.
If Telfer Bad is part of your plans, take the train to Telfs-Pfaffenhofen station and then, for example, bus route 2 to the “Telfs Schul- und Sportzentrum” stop. Check the timetable for your travel date if you plan to use this connection.
Discover more destinations: Bairbach, Buchen, Mösern, Telfes Im Stubai, Mühltal, Scharnitz, Igls, Schmirn.
Back to the main travel overview: Innsbruck-Land.
