Gurgl

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Gurgl ( locality )
locality
Gurgl (Austria)
Red pog.svg
Basic data
Pole. District , state Imst  (IM), Tyrol
Judicial district Silz
Pole. local community Soelden
Coordinates 46 ° 52 '12 "  N , 11 ° 1' 35"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 52 '12 "  N , 11 ° 1' 35"  Ef1
height 1907  m above sea level A.
Residents of the village 452 (January 1, 2020)
Postcodesf0 6450, 6456 Obergurgl
Statistical identification
Locality code 16449
Counting district / district Gurgl-Vent-Zwieselstein (70220 001)
image
Obergurgl seen from the Hohe Mut Bahn
Source: STAT : index of places ; BEV : GEONAM ; TIRIS
f0
452

The Gurgler Valley with Obergurgl and Hochgurgl (in the background)
Parish church hl. Johannes Nepomuk
Chapel of St. Joseph in Untergurgl
Memorial to commemorate the emergency landing and rescue of Auguste Piccard
Chapel and lifts in Hochgurgl

Gurgl is a fraction of the municipality of Sölden in the Imst district in Tyrol with 452 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020). It consists of the village of Obergurgl and numerous smaller settlements.

geography

Gurgl is located in the Ötztal Alps near the main Alpine ridge and is surrounded by peaks up to 3500  m high and several glaciers, the largest of which is the Gurgler Ferner . The settlements are in the Gurgler Valley at an altitude of 1770  m above sea level. A. up to 2154  m above sea level A. (Hochgurgl), Obergurgl is 1907  m above sea level. A. as the highest church village in Austria.

The village of Gurgl includes the village of Obergurgl, the hamlets of Dreihäusern, Pill and Poschach, the Rotten Angern, Hochgurgl, Kressbrunnen, Pirchhütt and Untergurgl as well as the refuge huts Fidelitashütte , Hochwildehaus , Karlsruher Hütte and Ramolhaus .

climate

Protected by the high mountain ranges, Gurgl has a relatively dry inner-alpine climate. The annual mean of the precipitation (period 1971–2000) at the measuring point Obergurgl ( 1938  m above sea level ) is 819 mm. The daily maximum was measured on May 22, 1983 at 87 mm. On average there are 198 days with snow cover.

Average monthly temperatures and precipitation for Obergurgl
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) -0.9 -0.4 2.3 5.3 10.7 14.2 17.0 16.4 12.7 9.3 2.8 -0.7 O 7.4
Min. Temperature (° C) -8.2 -8.7 -6.2 -2.9 1.8 4.6 6.8 6.8 3.7 0.8 -4.4 -7.4 O −1.1
Temperature (° C) -5.3 -5.5 -3.0 0.3 5.5 8.9 11.2 10.5 7.0 3.7 -1.8 -4.7 O 2.3
Precipitation ( mm ) 52 53 56 60 87 91 98 103 68 76 82 58 Σ 884
Humidity ( % ) 52.9 51.8 51.7 52.1 51.4 50.9 50.5 52.6 52.7 51.8 56.9 57.6 O 52.7
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
-0.9
-8.2
-0.4
-8.7
2.3
-6.2
5.3
-2.9
10.7
1.8
14.2
4.6
17.0
6.8
16.4
6.8
12.7
3.7
9.3
0.8
2.8
-4.4
-0.7
-7.4
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g
52
53
56
60
87
91
98
103
68
76
82
58
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

history

The name Gurgl is traced back to Gurgall , which should mean something like “place in the glacier crown ”. The traces of the first settlement go to 7500 BC. Back to about 4500 BC. There is evidence of slash and burn and pasture farming in the Obergurgl area. Settlement did not come from the Inntal via the Ötztal , but from the Vinschgau via the main Alpine ridge. Gurgl was first mentioned in 1250 when a "Heberhardus von Gurgele", a servant of the Vinschgau lords of Montalban , was named in a document. Gurgl originally belonged to the Passeier court , from 1286, like the rest of the Ötztal, to the Petersberg court .

Like Sölden, Gurgl originally belonged to the original parish of Silz . In 1727 it became a chaplain, in 1769 a curate , and in 1891 it was elevated to an independent parish. In 1737 the church of St. Johannes Nepomuk , which was expanded in 1967 according to plans by Clemens Holzmeister . From 1856 to 1864, Adolf Trientl was curate in Obergurgl. The parish of Gurgl also includes the chapel dedicated to St. Josef in Untergurgl and the chapel in Hochgurgl.

On May 27, 1931, Auguste Piccard landed after setting a new altitude record with the balloon on Gurgler Ferner, where he had to spend one night before being recovered from Obergurgl. A memorial erected in 1989 commemorates this landing.

In the 20th century Gurgl developed into a winter sports resort, in 1949 the first drag lift was built in Obergurgl, followed by the chair lift to the Hohe Mut in 1953. In 1960 the Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road was completed and the hotel village Hochgurgl built.

Gurgl was often affected by natural disasters, especially avalanches, which led to the destruction of buildings and fatalities. In January 1951, for example, all buildings, including the church in Untergurgl and Angern, were destroyed by avalanches, killing seven residents. Up until the 19th century, the regular eruption of the Gurgler ice lake caused devastation in the entire Gurgler valley.

Economy and Infrastructure

Agriculture is only possible under difficult conditions and used to be barely enough to feed the population. Due to the altitude and the short growing season, no grain cultivation is possible.

Due to old laws, sheep from South Tyrol graze above Gurgl every summer, which are driven over the mountains from the Passeier . The route used to run over the Gurgler Ferner, today over the Timmelsjoch .

The tourism brought a fundamental change in the 20th century. Today there are over 4,000 guest beds in Gurgl and around 85,000 guests are accommodated annually. Obergurgl and Hochgurgl have an extensive ski area with 25 lifts and 112 kilometers of slopes.

The University of Innsbruck operates the Alpine Research Center Obergurgl, which has been conducting research on meteorology , glacier research , vegetation , as well as altitude and sports medicine since 1951 . The former federal sports center was converted into the Obergurgl University Center and is now used as a research, conference and congress center.

literature

Web links

Commons : Gurgl  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Obergurgl  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. Statistics Austria: Population on January 1st, 2020 by locality (area status on January 1st, 2020) , ( CSV )
  2. Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics: Climate data from Austria 1971–2000
  3. Office of the Tyrolean Provincial Government (Ed.): Statistisches Handbuch Bundesland Tirol 2009 , pp. 50–52 ( PDF; 9.3 MB )
  4. a b The shaft drive in the Ötztal (PDF; 315 kB)
  5. Tirol Atlas: Natural History Tyrol
  6. Luis Pirpamer: natural event avalanche: a natural occurrence . In: R. Lackner, R. Psenner, M. Walcher (eds.): Is it the Sindt river? Cultural strategies & reflections for the prevention and management of natural hazards. alpine space - man & environment, vol. 4. Innsbruck University Press, Innsbruck 2008, ISBN 978-3-902571-32-8 , pp. 75-84. ( PDF; 2.7 MB )
  7. Tirol Werbung: Obergurgl-Hochgurgl - general information ( Memento from September 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  8. Facts about the ski area , obergurgl.com
  9. ^ University of Innsbruck: The History of the Alpine Research Center Obergurgl