Tyrolean low mountain range
The low mountain range is a settlement region in North Tyrol . It presents itself as a terrace landscape in the central Inn Valley , which towers above the valley floor by about 100 to 500 meters.
On the concept of the low mountain range
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Patscherkofel_aus_dem_H%C3%B6ttinger_Graben.jpg/290px-Patscherkofel_aus_dem_H%C3%B6ttinger_Graben.jpg)
Both in the North Tyrolean Inntal and in the South Tyrolean Eisack and Etschtal there are pronounced slope shoulders, which represent an excellent settlement area. These are known locally as low mountain ranges (and are to be differentiated from the now generally widespread concept of low mountain range as mountain range, although they represent its root term). These include in North Tyrol:
- the sun terrace in the upper court,
- the Mieminger Plateau ,
- the Seefeld plateau ,
- a zone around Innsbruck - the (Tyrolean) low mountain range in the true sense with Gnadenwalder terrace -
- as well as Weerberg , Vomperberg and Angerberg ,
- the terrace of Häring and Schwoich ,
and other. Similar areas in South Tyrol are:
- the slopes in Vinschgau ,
- the low mountain range of Tesimo and Prissian ,
- the locations of the burgrave office around Dorf Tirol ,
- the altitude of the Bozen basin around Oberbozen ,
- the plateau of Überetsch and
- the Eisack Valley low mountain range .
Structure and communities of the Tyrolean low mountain range
The low mountain range around Innsbruck is divided into two parts by the Inn , and the Sill into three parts:
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Southern low mountain range:
- Western / southwest low mountain range : At the foot of the Kalkkögel of the Stubai Alps in the Upper Inn Valley
- South-eastern low mountain range : At the foot of the Tuxer Voralpen (mountain foot of Patscherkofel and Glungezer ) in the Lower Inn Valley
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Northern low mountain range : at the foot of the Nordkette
- with Hungerburg , Mühlau , Arzl (districts of Innsbruck), as well as Rum , Thaur , Absam , and behind Mils and Hall still Gnadenwald - specifically called Gnadenwalder Terrasse .
All three parts of the southern low mountain range now also form the state's planning associations , development regions for regional spatial planning (with the exception of the Innsbruck districts), the communities of the northern low mountain range together with Hall and the valley towns ( Hall and surroundings ) . Together they cooperate in the association Innsbruck and the surrounding area .
Geology and geomorphology
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/L%C3%A4ngsschnitt_westlich_der_Melachm%C3%BCndung.svg/400px-L%C3%A4ngsschnitt_westlich_der_Melachm%C3%BCndung.svg.png)
![White stripes.svg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/White_stripes.svg/18px-White_stripes.svg.png)
Level of Melachaccording to Hans Bobek / Federal Geological Institute (1935)
The low mountain range terraces of the Inn Valley form a geological feature of the Inn Glacier that has been well studied. Breccias and conglomerates lie over older Ice Age moraines and covered by younger ones, which is why they are assigned to the Mindel-Riss interglacial (about 330,000 years ago) (evidence in the Höttinger geologists' gallery 1910). These are the Höttinger Breccia in the northern and the Ampasser conglomerate in the southern low mountain range. Above are post-glacial formations, which are known as the terrace sediments of the Tyrolean low mountain range , powerful limnofluvatile deposits that block the valley entrances to the side valleys and have also sealed off the Achental from the Inn valley. In some cases there are also clays that go back to the temporary blockage of the urine by debris flows from the side valleys and reservoirs. The moor areas around Lans and Vill ( Lanser See , Viller Moor ) or the Wirtssee near Grinzens were created from remnants of dead ice .
The geological conditions of the other terraces are similar, but in some cases they are directly glazed in the rock (sun terrace, Seefeld), or, as on the Angerberg, a glacial furrow landscape with a mixture of rock and sediment. The late glacial terrace sediments are largely closed from Landeck to Kufstein.
While the western low mountain range is more uniform, the south-eastern one is divided into several levels with terraces and valley cuts. The northern low mountain range around Innsbruck is less pronounced than the southern and also divided by valleys, from the large cone of debris in the Hall valley (Mils and Hall), where the southern plateau ends opposite the Voldertal , in the Gnadenwald again clear and compact - this section is also special Called Gnadenwalder Terrace .
Inward into the valley, where the north bank is shaped by the Martinswand , the Terrassenland behind Zirl continues inconspicuously on both sides of the valley, while the low mountain range continues on the southern edge of the Inn valley after a break at Volders and Wattens near Weerberg. On the northern edge of the Inn valley , the Gnadenwalderterrasse continues after an interruption through the Vomper Loch in the Vomperberg area and ends east of the Stallental north of Stans .
Settlement history and infrastructure
Since it is assumed today that in prehistoric times - apart from favored dry locations - it was not primarily the valleys but rather the mountain areas of the Alps that were settled first, these terraces probably form the actual settlement core of the Inn Valley: the valley floors were consistently swampy after the glacial period and just as unsuitable for agriculture as they are as a traffic route; the actual drainage and settlement of the valley areas - at least in cities like Innsbruck continuously since Roman times - did not come to an end until the 18th century through large-scale river regulation and drainage , which made them the main Alpine settlement area; the old mule tracks also run consistently on the slopes and terraces ( high trails ). The permanent settlement of the high altitude areas from the Bronze Age is well documented in the Innsbruck area, for example at Goldbichl .
The names of the places in the low mountain range are partly pre-Roman (“Illyrian”, correctly Alpine Celtic : Breonian / Rhaetian ), partly from Roman times (from 15 AD, Latin / Rhaeto-Romanic ), which means the continuity of settlement at least for the last two Documented for thousands of years.
On both sides of the valley from the Middle Ages onwards (partly based on Roman posts) several castles secured the transport routes of the southern low mountain range, such as Ambras , the Natterer Sonnenburg and Waidburg , Strasbourg near Vill, Vellenberg near Götzens, the Igler Hohenburg , on the northern plateau only Thaur Castle ( Talburg des Haller Salzberg ), while numerous mansions settled there from the Renaissance onwards ( Weiherburg in Hötting, Grabenstein / Sternbach , Rizol , Sonnenheim in Mühlau, Ulrichhof / Granz , Madlein in Thaur, Melans near Absam).
Rural throughout the whole of the 20th century, the places have retained their village character to this day, only in the immediate vicinity of Innsbruck (Igls, Mühlau, Arzl, Rum, Thaur) have they become the preferred residential area. Most of the resident population now commutes to the Inn Valley. In addition, it forms an important local recreation area and with the Hungerburgbahn (to Hafelekar ), Patscherkofelbahn and Muttereralmbahn (with a connection to the Axamer Lizum ) also has major national tourist facilities. The south-eastern plateau near Innsbruck is accessible by the low mountain railway (tram line 6).
(detail from Franzisco-Josephinische Landesaufnahme, around 1898–1905, sheet 29–47 Innsbruck ; valley floor gray, terraced land lime green)
literature
- Günter Krewedl: The vegetation of wet locations in the Inn Valley between Telfs and Wörgl Basics for the protection of threatened habitats (= reports of the Natural Science-Medical Association in Innsbruck. Supplement 9). Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 1992, chapter 2.4. The Inntal and its terraces , p. 9 ff ( PDF on ZOBODAT , there p. 19 ff).
Web links
- Planning Association 18 - West Central Mountains
- Planning Association 19 - Südostliches Mittelgebirge
- Planning association 16 - Hall and surroundings
proof
- ↑ Entry on Mittelgebirge (Tiroler Mittelgebirge) in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
- ↑ a b the terrace characteristics also continue into the lower Wipptal, see this view from Patsch into the valley (picture from Wikimedia)
- ↑ Regional spatial planning ( Memento of the original dated December 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Tyrolean regional government, regional development and future strategy department
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↑ a b Hans Bobek: The more recent history of the Inntalterrasse and the retreat of the last glaciation in the Inntal. In: Yearbook of the Federal Geological Institute. Year 85, Vienna 1935, pp. 135–189 ( PDF on ZOBODAT );
Presentation follows R. Oberhauser, FK Bauer: The Geological Structure of Austria. Springer, 1980, ISBN 3-211-81556-2 , chapter 3.13.2.2. The Tyrolean Inn Valley. P. 490 col. 2 ff. - ↑ The host lake . In: Senderswind - village newspaper Grinzens online
- ↑ Bobek 1935, p. 170 (pdf p. 36)
- ↑ see view near Baumkirchen, with Weerberg opposite and near Zirl towards the valley (pictures from Wikimedia)
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↑ See the current state of knowledge: Werner Bätzing: Die Alpen. History and future of a European cultural landscape. 2nd Edition. CH Beck, 2003, ISBN 3-406-50185-0 , Chapter 2. Early forms of human use of the Alps , p. 44 ff.
Early dating, for example: Klaus Oeggl , Kurt Nicolussi: Prehistoric settlement of central Alpine valleys in relation to climate development. alpine space - man & environment, vol. 6: Climate change in Austria , iup • innsbruck university press 2009, ISBN 978-3-902571-89-2 ( pdf , uibk.ac.at)