Zillertal
The Zillertal ("Ziller valley") is a valley in Tyrol, Austria that is drained by the Ziller river. It is the widest valley south of the Inntal ("Inn valley") and lends its name to the Zillertal Alps, the strongly glaciated section of the Alps in which it lies.[1] The Tux Alps lie to its west, while the lower grass peaks of the Kitzbühel Alps are found to the east.
The Zillertal is one of the valley areas in Tyrol most visited by tourists.[1] Its largest settlement is Mayrhofen.
Geography
The Zillertal branches from the Inn trench near Jenbach, about 40 km northeast of Innsbruck, running mostly in a north-south direction. The Zillertal proper stretches from the village of Strass to Mayrhofen, where it separates into four smaller valleys, the Tux valley and the sparsely settled, so-called Gründe – Zamsergrund, Zillergrund and Stilluppgrund. Along the way, two more Gründe and the Gerlos valley, which leads to the Gerlos Pass and into Salzburg, branch off.
Unlike other side valleys of the Inntal, the Zillertal rises constantly, but only marginally, from one end to the other – only about 100 m over 30 km. Permanent settlements cover about 9% of the entire area of the Zillertal municipalities.
History
Near the Tuxer Joch, a pass between the Wipptal and the Tux valley, there have been archeological finds from middle Stone Age. The oldest remains of settlements in the Zillertal date back to the Illyrians during the late Bronze and early Iron Ages – a tribe from the Balkan Peninsula who were absorbed by the Bavarians (Baiuvarii).
The earliest written record of the Zillertal dates from 889, when Arnulf of Carinthia granted land to the Archbishop of Salzburg in the "Cilarestal". Ownership of the valley was divided along the river Ziller. Even today this division is visible, as churches on the right bank of the river generally have green towers and belong to Salzburg Diocese, while churches on the left bank have red towers and belong to Innsbruck Diocese.
In 1248, the land west of the Ziller was acquired by the Counts of Tyrol, while the lands east of the Ziller pledged as security to the Counts of Tyrol by the Lords of Rattenberg from 1290 to 1380. In 1504, with both the County of Tyrol and the Archbishopric of Salzburg dominated by the Habsburgs, the Zillertal valley was united under Emperor Maximilian and put under joint Tyrolean/Salzburgian rule.
In 1805, the Treaty of Pressburg ended the War of the Third Coalition and forced Austria to cede Tyrol to Bavaria. For the purposes of this treaty, the Zillertal was considered part of Salzburg and thus remained with Austria. The people of the Zillertal nevertheless joined Andreas Hofer's Tyrolean Insurrection of 1809 in the Battle of the Ziller Bridge (14 May). Later that year, the insurrection was defeated and the Zillertal briefly became Bavarian until the Congress of Vienna in 1814/1815.
While the relatively lenient stance of the archbishops of Salzburg had allowed the creation of small pockets of Protestantism in their lands since the Protestant Reformation, the remaining Protestants were oppressed more harshly during the Habsburg rule of the 19th century. In 1837, 437 Protestant inhabitants of the Zillertal left the valley after they were given the choice of renouncing the Augsburg Confession or emigrating to Silesia, where Frederick William III of Prussia offered them lands and housing near Erdmannsdorf (now Mysłakowice in western Poland).
In 1902, the Zillertal Railway was constructed, which still runs between Jenbach and Mayrhofen to this day, opening up the valley, the economy of which had previously relied mostly on agriculture and mining, to commerce and tourism. From 1921 to 1976, magnesium carbonate (and later tungsten) were mined around the Alpine pastures of the Schrofen and Wangl Almen above the Tuxertal A ropeway conveyor of more than 9 km length was used to transport the ore to the Zillertal Railway goods station in the valley below.
The Zillertal was known for its itinerant tradesmen, "farm doctors" and singing families. In the second half of the 19th century refuge huts were erected and trails established as climbing became a mass sport. The development of the area for tourism began in 1953/1954 with the construction of the Gerlosstein ski region, today the Zillertal Arena, which was soon followed by other lifts and the opening of the Mayrhofner Penkenbahn in 1954. The use of water power took off in the 1970s.
Economy
In the second half of the 20th century, after the end of mining in the valley, tourism became the area's dominant economic activity. In 2003, tourists stayed a total of 6 million nights in the valley, mostly during winter sports holidays. Following a phase of mergers by building connecting lifts during the 1990s and early 2000s, there are now four big ski areas and three smaller satellite areas in the valley, with a combined total of more than 170 lifts and more than 630 km of downhill slopes.
Traditional agriculture – mostly cattle, dairy and some sheep farming on the Alm pastures – is still widespread and the large sawmill outside the village of Fügen is a sign of the lumber industry that also plays a significant role. The periphery of the area is home to a number of factories. Four large reservoirs in the Gründe supply water to a total of eight hydroelectric power stations, generating slightly more than 1,200 GWh per year.
Culture
The Zillertal is particularly renowned for its musical tradition. For instance, several families of travelling singers and organ builders from the valley have been credited with spreading the Christmas carol Silent Night across the world during the 19th and early 20th centuries. More recently, the Schürzenjäger band have had tremendous success in German-speaking countries with their crossover mix of Volksmusik and pop.
Gallery
Berliner Hütte
Neue Post in Mayrhofen
Mainstreet in Mayrhofen
Mainstreet in Mayrhofen
Hintertux Glacier
Pfitscherjochhaus and the Jochsee
References
- 1 2 "Zillertal". Encyclopedia of Austria. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zillertal. |
- Zillertal website (Summer)
- Zillertal website (Winter)
Coordinates: 47°20′N 11°52′E / 47.333°N 11.867°E