Oetz

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are given under Ötz .

Oetz
coat of arms	Austria map
Basic data
Country:	Austria
State :	Tyrol
Political District :	Imst
License plate :	IN THE
Surface:	29.17 km²
Coordinates :	47 ° 12 '  N , 10 ° 54'  E Coordinates: 47 ° 12 '17 "  N , 10 ° 53' 53"  E
Height :	812  m above sea level A.
Residents :	2,392 (January 1, 2020)
Population density :	82 inhabitants per km²
Postal code :	6433
Area code :	05252
Community code :	7 02 14
Address of the municipal administration:	Hauptstrasse 51 6433 Oetz
Website:	www.oetz.tirol.gv.at
politics
Mayor :	Hansjörg Falkner ( ÖVP )
Municipal Council : (2016) (15 members)	14 The Oetz Citizen List with Mayor Hansjörg Falkner, 1 alternative for Ötz - AfÖ
Location of Oetz in the Imst district
View from the Calvary
Source: Municipal data from Statistics Austria

Oetz is a municipality in the Imst district ( Silz judicial district ) in Tyrol in Austria with 2392 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020).

geography

Oetz is located in the lower Ötztal in a valley widening between two landslide landscapes. The place, a clustered village , has a particularly mild climate due to its basin location at the foot of the 3007  m high Acherkogel , which is why it is sometimes called "Merano North Tyrol" like the district town of Imst. The Ötztaler Ache flows southwest of the main town .

The community consists of the villages of Oetz, the Ötzermühl, which has long grown together with it, and the independent villages of Ötzerau, Habichen and Piburg. The community also includes the hamlets of Mühlau and Riedeben, the Rotten Ebene, Schlatt, Schrofen, Seite ,stufenreich and Taxegg, as well as several individual farms and alpine pastures. Neighboring communities are Haiming , Sautens , Silz and Umhausen .

history

First traces from the Hallstatt period indicate that people settled in this area about two and a half thousand years ago. For the first time, "Ez" is mentioned in a deed of donation from Duke Henry the Lion to Wilten Abbey , allegedly dated 1166 - although it was forged by Joseph von Hormayr before 1838 .

The community hall of Oetz, which was named hall “Ez” in the mid-1990s after an ideas competition, still reminds of this incorrect mention . This designation is also a blatant misinterpretation because “Ez” appears in a sentence written in Latin and therefore cannot know “tz”. Correctly transcribed, the name should be "Etz" - just as the name of the place is still used in dialect today and was previously written in Middle High German. Another spelling variant was "Ecs" . It is precisely from this point of view that the tradition “Antiquas locus [super] munitionis fluvio Ez” (“The old fortress [above] the river “ Ötz ” ) from 1259 can be seen. In Meinhard des II. Urbar from 1288, already Written in Middle High German, the name “Etz” appears with “tz”.

Like the whole valley, Oetz belonged to the Petersberg court near Silz , which Duke Meinhard II brought under his rule in 1266/67. "Dingstatt" (place of the court day) for the Ötztal was in Oetz, which is why the valley was named after this municipality.

The expired Auenstein Castle was in Ötzerau in the 12th century.

As in other places in the area, flax cultivation played a major role from the 17th century until it was discontinued at the beginning of the 20th century.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Oetz developed more and more into a tourist community. The first beautification association was founded as early as 1877 by the hotelier and Reichsrat member Johann Tobias Haid. A boom followed from the middle of the 20th century. Since the 1990s, however, the number of beds and overnight stays has been falling again; they are currently only two thirds of the value at that time, mainly because many former private room landlords have turned their backs on tourism. The community leadership is now trying to counteract this decline with controversial projects.

Surname

The name of the community goes back to Old High German  etzen  ' graze '. In the course of the labialization, the “E” in “Etz” changed to “Ö”. There are intermediate levels where a small “e” appears above or next to the “O”. These intermediate levels can be found in local church registers, in which, for example, “O ^e tz” can be read. This version corresponds to today's "Ötz". It is written with umlaut in many traditions. Presumably for technical reasons, the spelling “Oetz” was also used in printed works towards the end of the 19th century. At that time, umlauts could not be displayed in letterpress and newspaper printing. Therefore, at that time, “Oetz im Oetzthale” could also be read. Such as in "Ueber Land und Meer" by the Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.

In 1995 the Tyrolean Provincial Archives noted the spelling “Oetz”: “Not until the end of the 18th century. temporarily the annoying spelling 'Oetz' became established, which, contrary to numerous expert reports, still exists. "Regardless of this, in 2014 the Oetz municipality asked the State of Tyrol to change the official spelling from “Ötz” to “Oetz”. The reason: "Oetz" was the "always used" version. The application was approved because each municipality can determine its own name. This also applies if the spelling breaks with tradition and meaning. However, the actual cadastral community still bears the original name Ötz . The spelling of the districts and hamlets such as "Ötzerberg" was not changed either.

The “Oetz” version is an exception. Both the Ötztal valley, the Ötztal tourist board and other place names such as Ötztal-Bahnhof , Kühtai , Köfels , Sölden and testimonials such as DJ Ötzi or the ice cream man Ötzi are written with umlauts. Östen even returned to its umlaut, although it was written as "Oesten" in the Franziszeische map of 1856. In this regard, the municipality of Oetz took a step back in 2019, when the "Ö" was reinserted into the spelling "Hochoetz" that had prevailed until then. However, the "E" remained at the same time, which is why the "Hochöetz" version, which was a source of confusion, was used.

Field name map

As in other Tyrolean communities, many old names in Oetz were recorded in a so-called corridor directory for posterity around 2015. However, this also led to misunderstandings and different spellings, such as "Perweg / Bärweg". In this case, however, the municipality of Oetz bowed to other institutions and adopted the spelling "Beerweg".

Population development

economy

The community is a two-season tourist destination with the skiing and hiking area Hochoetz . However, many residents commute daily to their workplaces in larger towns ( Imst , Landeck , Telfs and Innsbruck ). According to the traffic census of the state of Tyrol, around 14,500 vehicles roll through Oetz every day, and on peak days even more than 21,000. In comparison, fewer vehicles drive over the Fernpass . In 2018, the community management announced a “master plan” to solve the traffic problem.

Oetz had its best days for tourism in the late 1970s to early 1980s. In 1981, at the height of tourism, 398,710 overnight stays were recorded. The overnight stay statistics leveled off at around a quarter of a million around the turn of the millennium. The community had tried in vain to increase the number of overnight stays again. To this end, the Hochoetz ski area was expanded several times and numerous major tourist projects such as the Aqua Dome and Area 47 were built in the immediate vicinity .

Between late autumn 2018 and spring 2019 there were heated discussions about a new ski area in the Feldring / Schafjoch area. However, the project applicants withdrew the project that had already been submitted to the state for UVE assessment and started a dialogue process.

At the same time, an investor model in the form of an apartment complex built in Oetz also raised a lot of dust.

Until the merger of the local sections of the valley, the Oetz tourist board was its own institution. The last independent chairmen were Hans Röck and Kurt Fischer. The common valley association Ötztal Tourismus was initially under the motto "A bond that connects" and only showed the uniform lettering "Ötztal" in addition to a colorful stripe. But soon the logos of Sölden and Obergurgl were also placed on the tape. Since then there have been no references to other valley communities. After a short transition period with Anton Haid as the local committee chairman, Roland Haslwanter is at the helm. The entrepreneur also acts as a local council and is active on the mountain railways' supervisory board.

politics

Up until 1849 there were so-called chiefs or local chiefs in the various places. The first known mayor in Oetz were: Bartlmä Morherr, died in 1858, he was a teacher and organist for 44 years. His son Alois Morherr is also listed as head of the parish in the parish register, he was also an organist and teacher.

Other mayors: Franz Alois Jäger (1890–1908); Heinrich Schöpf (1908–1911); Alois Neurauter (1911-1915); Nikolaus Jäger (1916–1922); Jakob Kuen (1922-1938); Kurt Schwemberger, Paul Hantinger, Klaus Plattner (these three were responsible for the village during World War II); Franz Grießer (handed over to the occupation in 1945); Alois Schmid (1945-1950); Walter Gritsch (1950–1986); Joachim Grießer (1986-2004); Hansjörg Falkner (2004–?).

Family-friendly community

As in the neighboring communities of Haiming and Sautens, the “Family-friendly community” campaign was carried out in 2018 . Under the patronage of the state of Tyrol "the attractiveness of the municipality as a business location is to be increased and a competitive advantage as a tourist destination to be created" . For this purpose, lists of topics were created in working groups and sorted according to urgency. The first issue was then “traffic”. The community leadership has committed itself to take the concerns of the population seriously and to eliminate grievances.

Culture and sights

See also:  List of listed objects in Oetz

• The late Gothic parish church was expanded in baroque style.
• In the town center there are historic inns, some with painted facade.
• The tower museum was awarded the Tyrol State Museum Prize in 2004.

freetime and sports

• Kayak championships: Oetz is often the scene of kayak championships such as the Sick LIne, which take place on the Ötztaler Ache .
• The Ötztaler Ache is used commercially with rafts .
• Bicycle : Oetz is the starting point for the east-west crossing of the Kühtaisattel, which is very demanding by bicycle.
• Alpine skiing: Hochoetz ski area

Piburg lake

A popular destination is the nearby Piburger See . The 800 m long, 250 m wide and up to 25 m deep lake is the result of a landslide . The natural water is the largest lake in the Ötztal. At up to 23 ° C, it is also the warmest mountain lake in Tyrol.

"The most beautiful walk in Tyrol is from Roppen via Sautens to Piburger See and over the Achstäuse to Oetz." (Brother Willram, poet)

View of the parish church and the road to Kühtaisattel

The Piburger See is one of the oldest nature reserves in Tyrol . It was declared a natural monument as early as 1929. In 1983 the protected area could be expanded, the current landscape protection area Achsturz – Piburger See was created. Landscape protection areas are areas that are placed under protection in order to preserve the particular nature and beauty of the landscape and the resulting recreational value. The protection of animals and plants takes a back seat here. In the spring of 2004, the Tyrolean state government set up a care center for this protected area. The main tasks of the area management are to convey the special features and importance of a protected area and thus to sensitize the population to it.

The documented history of the lake goes back to the year 1282, when Count Meinhard II donated the lake to the Stams Abbey in the Upper Inn Valley as part of the neighboring Piburg farm . This document is one of the four oldest written records in the state of Tyrol. In 1860 the monastery sold the lake to Johann Leitner, known as the "devil's smith", and in 1876 it came into the possession of the Pfaundler family. In 1980 the municipality of Oetz bought the lake and had the old bathing and boat facilities renewed.

The story tells:

“Where this mountain lake hits its waves in Ötzthal, there used to be a beautiful plain with a proud farm and a friendly chapel. The courtyard and chapel have sunk because the residents there did not sanctify the holiday. They were so godless that on the high day of Our Lady (August 15th) they brought in the hay they had mowed the previous day. But when they came to the barn with the first big load, the ground suddenly gave way and the whole yard sank with man and mouse. "

Sons and daughters of the church

• Kassian Haid (1879–1949), Abbot of Mehrerau Abbey and Abbot General of the Cistercians
• Bruno Griesser (1889–1965), monk of Mehrerau Abbey, Cistercian and church historian
• Rudolf Klotz (1921–1986), Austrian local historian and writer
• Adolf Trientl (1817–1897), priest and agricultural advisor
• Hans Jäger (1937–2012), gallery owner and collector, founder of the Tower Museum and the associated association
• Dora Czell (* 1947), artist and educator

literature

• History of the Ötztal (Schlern-Schriften 229). Wagner University Press, Innsbruck 1963.
• Eduard Widmoser: Oetz - past and present. On the occasion of the centenary of tourism in Oetz in 1977. Self-published by the municipality, Oetz 1978

Web links

Commons : Oetz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Oetz  - travel guide

• 70214 - Oetz. Community data, Statistics Austria .

• Site of the municipality of Oetz
• Tower Museum Oetz
• Oetz , in the history database ofthe association "fontes historiae - sources of history"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martin Bitschnau , Hannes Obermair : Tiroler Urkundenbuch, II. Department: The documents on the history of the Inn, Eisack and Pustertal valleys. Vol. 2: 1140-1200 . Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 2012, ISBN 978-3-7030-0485-8 , p. 184–185 No. 625 (with detailed remarks) .
2. ↑ Bernhard Stecher: The matter with the neuter community hall, in: wöll, töll, total - Mythos Ötztal, bp10.at, 2017 . Ed .: Bernhard Stecher. Oetz, ISBN 978-3-200-05132-4 .
3. ↑ Max Strozzi: Residential area in Oetz must give way to investor model. Tiroler Tageszeitung, February 3, 2018, accessed on May 5, 2018 . 
4. ^ Albert L. Lloyd, Otto Springer, Rosemarie Lühr, Karen K. Purdy: Etymological Dictionary of Old High German . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1988, ISBN 978-3-525-20768-0 ( google.at [accessed on May 5, 2018]).
5. ↑ Bernhard Stecher: wöll töll completely - the myth of the Ötztal . 2nd Edition. bp10.at, Oetz 2018, ISBN 978-3-200-05132-4 , p. 132-144 .
6. ↑ Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (ed.): Ueber Land und Meer . 1893, p. 29 .
7. ^ Sebastian Hölzl: The municipal archives of the Imst district . Ed .: Land Tirol. 1995.
8. ↑ Peter Nindler: Step back and Ötz becomes Oetz. Tiroler Tageszeitung, April 21, 2014, accessed on May 5, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Bernhard Stecher: wöll töll completely . Ed .: bp10. 2nd Edition. bp10.at, 2018, ISBN 978-3-200-05132-4 , pp. 40 ff .
10. ^ Province of Tyrol: Traffic situation / statistics
11. ↑ Alexander Paschinger: "The Ötztal needs a master plan". Tiroler Tageszeitung, January 17, 2018, accessed on March 28, 2018 . 
12. ↑ Silz / Kühtai - development of Pirchkogel / Feldringer Boden and merger with the "Hochötz-Balbach" ski area via Ochsengarten Alpenverein. In: alpenverein.at. Retrieved April 2, 2019 . 
13. ↑ Max Strozzi: Re-dedication in Oetz highly controversial. In: tt.com. April 11, 2018, accessed April 2, 2019 . 
14. ↑ OETZER community service . 2018.
15. ^ Land Tirol: Family-friendly community. Retrieved January 15, 2019 . 
16. ↑ Bernhard Stecher: wöll töll completely . Ed .: bp10.at. 1st edition. 2017, ISBN 978-3-200-05132-4 , pp. 206 .
17. ↑ Hans Jäger: Herzblut 2013 and Kunstspuren 2014 . Tower Museum Association, Oetz.