Katharina Lanz was a Tyrolean patriot, a protagonist of the Insurrection that opposed her people to the French occupation. Together with her fellow countrywoman Giuseppina Negrelli, she is considered a sort of Joan of Arc of Tyrol.
Katharina Lanz, who works as a servant in Spinga, participates in the clashes that broke out in the village on April 2, 1797, between the Tyrolean rebels and the French intent on advancing from the Pusteria Valley. The Tyroleans manage to repel the French towards the surrounding fields. Katharina Lanz stands out for her courage. According to tradition, the young woman, armed only with a pitchfork, drives the French soldiers from the cemetery's retaining wall. Her audacity soon falls into oblivion. It is only around 1870 that, thanks to Karl Maneschg's reconstruction of the events, her figure becomes famous among the general public as the "girl from Spinga," who worked as a governess for Maneschg's brother. In 1912, Livinallongo dedicated a bronze statue to her.
