When you’re smuggling Italian cigars while hitchhiking across the Alps, the imposing Austrian customs checkpoint near Nauders will give you a brief scare.
But it was Sunday morning and the soldiers were apparently attending church. Or they didn’t want to step out of their fortress in the rainy weather.
The Happy Hermit 
That looks kinda cool from the photo. It blends in with the landscape instead being a glaring eyesore.
Glad you got to keep your cigars 😂
Later, I realized that the Austro-Hungarian Empire has meanwhile dissolved and most of its successor states have joined the European Union, so I wouldn’t have needed to worry about any customs check. :-)
But the fortress is really impressive.
It was built in 1840 and used in World War I, when Austria-Hungary and Italy were on opposing sides and fighting in the mountains.