Plöckenpass

Plöckenpass ( Passo di Monte Croce Carnico )
Pass height	1357 m above sea level A.
Mountains	Carnic Alps
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Coordinates	46 ° 36 '13 " N , 12 ° 56' 42" E Coordinates: 46 ° 36 '13 " N , 12 ° 56' 42" E

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The Plöckenpass ( Italian Passo di Monte Croce Carnico ), 1357 m above sea level. A. , is a 37 km long pass in the Carnic Alps on the route from Kötschach-Mauthen in Gailtal ( Carinthia ) to Timau in Friuli, Italy . From there the road goes south to Tolmezzo and Udine .

Location and surroundings

West of the top of the pass is the Frischenkofel (Italian: Cellon) ( 2241 m above sea level ), east of the Kleine Pal (Pal Piccolo) ( 1867 m above sea level ). Both mountains are part of the open-air museum on the Plöckenpass, which illustrates the fortifications from the mountain war of 1915–1918 . In the valley town of Kötschach-Mauthen is the Museum 1915–1918 , which is also run by the Association of Friends of the Dolomites .

Nearby is the Hohe Warte ( 2780 m above sea level ), the highest point in the Carnic Alps.

The Karnische Höhenweg leads at the Plöckenhaus ( 1244 m above sea level ) over the Plöckenpass road .

history

The name Plöckenpass is still a very young name, in the Middle Ages it was called "Monte Crucis", in German Kreuzberg , a name that it still has today in Italian as "Monte Croce Carnico".

Finds that were made in Gurina north of the Plöcken showed that the transition was used at least from the Iron Age . But it was probably already known and in use in the Bronze Age . When the Romans began to use the Plöcken, they were able to fall back on the old mule tracks before expanding them or building completely new ones.

The Plöckenpassweg actually consists of two passes, after having crossed the Plöckenpass on your journey from the south and arriving in the upper Gailtal , you immediately have to accept an ascent over the 981 m high Gailbergsattel if you continue north the great passes of the Hohe Tauern .

The Roman times

Both passes have had a common history for a long time, which goes back to times when the Romans had not yet built their roads over both passes. This was the western branch of the Via Julia Augusta , which created a direct connection from the easternmost Veneto to Raetia and Noricum . The eastern branch of the road led over the Saifnitz saddle , although it represented a certain detour towards the Plöckenstrasse, but it was better developed. It was built by the legions of Tiberius shortly after the turn of the century and it was named after the daughter of Augustus. In a rock inscription from the year 373 it says on the Plöckenpass over the partly only 1.5 m wide road: "Only a wagon and a team of mules allow the rugged cliffs to force the passage there". Other rock inscriptions from this period report that the two emperors Valentinian I and Valens had dangerous places defused and damaged ones repaired in late antiquity. In Zuglio , on the southern ramp of the Plöcken, you will find two honorary inscriptions immured in the church, which were also dedicated to Celtic tribes and places of today's East Tyrol and Veneto . An inscription is said to have reported an expansion of the Plöckenpass in Caesar's time, but it was destroyed by a rock fall from the Polinik.

The middle age

Even after the end of Roman rule, the road over the Plöckenpass was still used. It is mentioned in the 6th century as a very busy and easily accessible street. Since there was certainly no road construction work on Plöcken in the previous two centuries, this shows again how robustly Roman roads were constructed. Even after centuries without any maintenance work, the pass road was still usable.

The Plöckenpass was probably used very actively throughout the Middle Ages, especially when supraregional trade increased again from the High Middle Ages. This also increased the traffic on the Plöckenpass. The county of Gorizia , which benefited greatly from this, put together convoys for the travelers. A “gelaitum ex ista parte Montis Crucis” is mentioned as early as 1300.

The Modern Age

Until the end of the 19th century, the Plöckenpass was only passable by two-wheeled carts, only then was the old road widened so that it could also be driven on by carts and larger wagons.

During the First World War , the Plöckenpass became a theater of war on the Austro-Italian front. The mountain ridge of the Carnic Alps rises here flanking like a locking bolt, so the tactical and operational importance for the military on both sides was correspondingly great. Carinthian elite units fought bitter defensive battles against the Italian Alpini here . Like the French before them in 1809, they tried to penetrate into the Gail Valley, but in contrast to the French, without success. The Italians only managed to occupy insignificant peaks and passes, at least temporarily - including the Wolayer Pass or the Wolayer Seekopf . As in other sectors of the front in the Alps, the soldiers dug themselves into the ground and trench warfare ensued. But only two thirds of the soldiers died as a result of direct enemy action, and a third were killed in avalanches. These were often triggered by targeted fire on the opposing side. Both sides began to expand and strengthen their positions more and more. Numerous bunkers, tunnels and patrol routes from this period are still largely visible today. Numerous access routes to the front positions were laid out from the valleys in order to be able to continuously supply them with supplies. Today there is an open-air museum at the Kleiner Pal to the east, which opens up the battlefield with all its structures and reminds of the battles. The preserved and partially restored remains of the fortifications and bunkers can be visited, as can the “Heroes Cemeteries” on Plöcken. The Association of Friends of the Dolomites has been looking after these war relics since 1983. The museum is a station on the Peace Path (Le vie della pace).

The fierce fighting on the Plöckenpass made it impassable for a long time after the war. After the first expansion work began in 1926, the Italian pass ramp had been fully prepared and partly rebuilt in 1938. The Austrian side was completed later.

A 7.8 km long base tunnel is planned for the extension of Felbertauern Straße, which is currently being planned, the north portal of which is to be around 6 km east of the Plöckenpass. It is planned that the Plöckenpass will either be made winter-proof or that the Plöckenpass will be crossed by a 3.5 km long crest tunnel. The base tunnel is out of the question due to the costs and the expected increase in traffic.

Since the 1980s there have been initiatives and resistance to the construction of the Plöckentunnel.

An important tunnel under the Plöckenpass has been around for a long time, it takes up the TAL pipeline , which leads from Trieste to Ingolstadt , and thus considerably shortens the way for Germany to the oil fields in the Middle East .

Web links

Commons : Plöckenpass - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Plöckenpass and the surrounding area on Austrian Map online 1: 50,000 (ÖK 50) of the BEV

↑ The passports Portal: Plöcken Pass (Passo di Monte Croce Carnico). Retrieved February 10, 2020 .

↑ Study on the expansion of the Plöckenpassstrasse. In: kaernten.ORF.at. April 8, 2019, accessed April 9, 2019 .

↑ Osttiroler Heimatblätter ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2
↑ Steffan Bruns: Alpine passes - from the mule track to the base tunnel, vol. 4

[BEV-1] Plöckenpass and the surrounding area on Austrian Map online 1: 50,000 (ÖK 50) of the BEV

[2] The passports Portal: Plöcken Pass (Passo di Monte Croce Carnico). Retrieved February 10, 2020 .

[3] Study on the expansion of the Plöckenpassstrasse. In: kaernten.ORF.at. April 8, 2019, accessed April 9, 2019 .