Matrei am Brenner is a small municipality in the southern part of the District Innsbruck-Land and is located approximately 17 km south of Innsbruck.

At Mühlbachl, the road branches off to the north, one follows the valley along the river to get to Innsbruck, the other on the eastern shore, with a more circuitous route through Patsch, Lans and Ampass, comes up to Hall in Tirol.

During the War of Fifth Coalition (1809) many local people took part, including Josepf Rapp who was then adviser of Andreas Hofer and Joseph Eisenstecken commander of the Schützen.

A fire in 1914 destroyed most of the houses and during the Second World War, because of the strategic railway line running through it, Matrei was one of the places in Tyrol, which suffered heavy bombardment, that of March 22, 1945 caused 48 victims.

349) of Deutsche Sagen by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: In 1392 an angel caused a wooden statue of Mary, the mother of Christ, to appear in a larch tree in Waldrast, on Serles Mountain.

The statue was first noticed by a pair of shepherd boys, who called it to the attention of farmers in the valley below, and was thereafter removed from the tree and taken to the village of Matrei.