The black woman of Padaun

A dramatic relationship story took place on the Padaun high plateau (1,600 m) in Valsertal at the beginning of the 19th century. A picture in the chapel of the "Blind Lord" still reminds us of this today. The leading role is played by Nigana, a beautiful, dark-skinned woman who enchanted a young farmer from Padaun with her passionate love.

According to the memorial plaque, Johann Prechtl (vulgo Randolfer) from Padaun was seriously injured during imperial military service in Croatia, found by gypsies (a discriminatory term from today's perspective) and nursed back to health. During this time, he fell in love with the beautiful Nigana and married her.
However, Nigana led a wild, free life that did not correspond to Johann Prechtl's ideas. She kept leaving the Randolfer and when she did not return for a long time, it was assumed that she had died in a big fire in the neighboring village.

The Randolfer then returned to Padaun with a broken heart. When he had recovered from his heartbreak, he married the Atzwanger's daughter Nanni and she soon gave birth to a son, whom they named Hansele. The three of them led a peaceful and happy life until, in 1807, there was talk of a dark-skinned woman dressed all in white in the Wipptal valley. It was Nigana, who had been rescued in the fire and was now searching for her husband.
When Nigana found her husband, he decided with a heavy heart to leave Nanni and Hansele behind in a cloak-and-dagger operation and move back to Croatia with Nigana. As his legal wife, Nigana demanded this decision from him. Nanni from Atzwang could not explain why her husband had left her without saying goodbye and fell into a deep sadness.

A few years later, during the Tyrolean struggle for freedom, Randolfer, who fought for his homeland, returned to the Wipptal valley via South Tyrol and finally to Padaun, where he was happily reunited with his family. However, he had to go to war again in the Inn Valley, while Nigana went in search of him once more. After many wrong turns, she came close to the Wallenstein near Padaun with a group of French soldiers. There, the people of Padaun had sought refuge from the attackers in a cave near the "Blind Lord". All the French soldiers, including Nigana, were killed by a blast triggered by the Wallenstein. Her husband buried her in the Lueg cemetery. Nigana's gravestone can still be found in the Lueger Kirchl church (between Gries and the Brenner Pass) - unfortunately, access to the church is now closed due to falling rocks.