Fotschertal
The Fotschertal , sometimes just called the Fotsch , is a side valley of the Sellrain Valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol . The valley in the northern Stubai Alps stretches from 908 m above sea level. A. high-altitude place Sellrain in a length of about 15 kilometers to the south. At the end of the valley is under 3087 m above sea level. A. meter high Hohen Villerspitze a small glacier , the Fotscher Ferner , embedded. The craggy Hohe Villerspitze at the southern end of the valley is also the highest point in the frame of the Fotschertal. The valley is drained by the Fotscher Bach , which flows into the Melach near Sellrain . Permanently inhabited settlement areas can only be found in the northern entrance area of the valley. The inner part of the Fotschertal is part of the Kalkkögel quiet area .
tourism
The valley is up to the Potsdamer Hut opened by an infrastructure which is up to a parking lot just below the Alpengasthof Bergheim Fotsch ( 1464 m above sea level. A. ) except for the toboggan season is publicly passable. The valley is a popular hiking, tobogganing and ski touring area, especially for day tourists. Accommodation and meals can be found in the Alpengasthof Bergheim Fotsch and at the 2009 m above sea level. A. high-altitude Potsdamer Hütte of the Dinkelsbühl section of the German Alpine Club . Popular hiking destinations are the Schaflegerkogel ( 2405 m above sea level ), the Fotscher Windegg ( 2577 m above sea level ), the Rote Kogel ( 2832 m above sea level ) or the Schwarzhorn ( 2812 m above sea level ). The two three-thousand-meter high Villerspitze ( 3087 m above sea level ) and Lüsener Villerspitze ( 3027 m above sea level ), on the other hand, require climbing in the 2nd degree of difficulty on the UIAA scale . Also popular are the yoke crossings into the three neighboring valleys, these are the Senderstal in the east, the Oberberg valley in the southeast and the Lüsenstal in the west .
The Fotschertal has been a popular summer resort since the beginning of the last century, as shown by numerous older ski huts (e.g. Akademikerhütte, Fotscherhütte) in the central part of the valley. It is therefore not surprising that when planning the Sellraintalbahn a route was chosen that appears to be unfavorably chosen in relation to the settlement geography of the Sellraintal. In order to better develop the tourist destinations and to bypass the gorge of the lower Sellraintal, the railway should be built high above the valley floor and would have opened up the Fotschertal (in the area of the ice bridge) in a wide loop. However, this plan was not implemented. Instead, a road that can be used in summer as far as the Alpengasthof Bergheim Fotsch leads into the valley - with all the advantages and disadvantages for the valley's tourist value. The Innsbruck Ski Club also has a hut (Fotscherhütte) in the Fotschertal, which is used by club members as a ski tourer's hut in winter and by club members for relaxation in summer.
climate
The Fotschertal, which is open to the north, is somewhat protected by the Northern Limestone Alps, but is less influenced by continental influences than other valleys in the central Alps , such as the Ötztal . The climate in the Fotschertal is somewhat favored by the influence of the foehn .
vegetation
In the front and deeper part of the valley dense spruce forests predominate , which from an altitude of 1500 m above sea level. A. are increasingly being replaced by stone pine . Leg pine ( Latschen ) can be found in the Fotschertal, for example in contrast to the Northern Limestone Alps, only at a few locations. The tree line in the Fotschertal is now deeper than it was originally due to human influence. The reasons for this are on the one hand the intensive alpine farming , on the other hand logging for the Saline Hall .
geology
Geologically, the Fotschertal belongs to the crystalline part of the Stubai and Ötztal masses . The predominant rocks in the valley are gneiss , mica schist and amphibolite . The valley has been heavily shaped by the Ice Age glaciers. Especially in the rear part of the valley is designed as a typical U-shaped trough valley . Some lakes are also relics of the Ice Age.
archeology
At the beginning of the 2000s, some Mesolithic sites became known in the Fotschertal . A Mesolithic arrowhead was found on the road just before the Potsdamer Hütte, which was probably washed in from the slopes above. Another site is the Ullafelsen , a hilltop with a height of 1867 m above sea level. A. Height. A third site was discovered above the dilapidated Kaseralm and partially excavated.
The site at Ulla rocks, with locals Rieglschrofen called, was developed by the University of Innsbruck systematically excavated under the direction of Professor Dieter Schäfer and accurately researched. The Stone Age devices found there date from the Mesolithic and are around 10,000 years old. The material from which the devices are made comes from a large area from Monte Baldo on Lake Garda to southern Germany.
literature
- Irmingard Kemmer: Vegetation studies in the interior Fotschertal / Northern Stubai Alps. In: Yearbook 1993/58. Year of the Association for the Protection of the Mountain World 39-118.
- Dieter Schäfer (Ed.): The Mesolithic Project Ullafelsen, Part 1 . Man and the environment in the Holocene of Tyrol, Volume 1 . Innsbruck 2011, 560 pages. Publishing house Philipp von Zabern.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kalkkögel. In: tiroler-schutzgebiete.at. State of Tyrol, Environmental Protection Department, accessed on March 16, 2016 .
- ^ Dieter Schäfer: Hochgebirgsarchäologie. In: hochgebirgsarchaeologie.info. 2005, archived from the original on September 13, 2005 ; accessed on March 16, 2016 .
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 10 ′ 24.5 ″ N , 11 ° 13 ′ 8.9 ″ E