Präbichl

This article explains the pass of the Eisenerzer Alps near Leoben and the place there, for the location in the Grazer Bergland see Präbichl (municipality Semriach) .

Präbichl
North ramp of the new Präbichl-Straße, in the background the Pfaffenstein
Compass direction	North	south
Pass height	1226  m above sea level A.
district	Leoben , Styria
Watershed	Erzbach	Vordernbergerbach
Valley locations	Iron ore	Vordernberg
expansion	B115
Mountains	Eisenerzer Alps
profile
Max. Incline	10%	15%
Map (Styria)
Coordinates	47 ° 31 '27 "  N , 14 ° 56' 51"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 31 '27 "  N , 14 ° 56' 51"  E

The Präbichl (formerly also Prebichl) is a mountain pass ( 1226  m above sea level ) in the Leoben district in Upper Styria .

Location and traffic

Weiritzgraben Viaduct, 1912

The Präbichl separates the Eisenerzer Alps ( Eisenerzer Reichenstein , 2165  m ) from the Hochschwab ( Polster , 1910  m above sea level ). The pass connects the Erzbachtal in the north with the Vordernbergertal in the south and thus the communities Eisenerz and Vordernberg . The top of the pass with the Präbichl Rotte is part of the Vordernberg community.

The Eisenstrasse (B115) runs through both valleys, the north ramp of which was redesigned in the 1970s due to the advancing Erzberg mining. Of the old road, which had a gradient of up to 24% and was possibly already used in the Bronze Age, but verifiably in the Middle Ages, only the upper third is left as a forest road; the lower section was filled in with excavated material from the ore mountain .

The Erzbergbahn , which used to connect the Erzberg with the ironworks in Leoben - Donawitz , also runs over the pass . This route is now operated as a museum railway.

From the top of the pass there is a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains, and from the northern access ramp there is also a view of the striking steps of the Erzberg.

history

Old pass road at the Weinscheingraben viaduct of the Erzbergbahn

The pass crossing may have been used as early as the Bronze Age, but it has certainly been used as a mule track since the beginning of ore mining.

The earliest written document is from 1314 and is "mons Prepuhel". The name goes back to the Slovenian prepuch (windy, exposed place). The name was mistakenly dissimilated to Bichl .

With the construction of the Erzbergbahn, ore transport was shifted to rail.

Shortly before the end of the Second World War in 1945, over 200 Hungarian Jews were shot on the Präbichl  during a death march by members of the Eisenerzer Volkssturm . In 1946 ten men were sentenced to death by British military courts in the three iron ore trials for these crimes . A memorial on the top of the pass commemorates the victims today.

After the Second World War , a small but very popular ski area was created on weekends.

economy

Präbichl wind turbine

Präbichl
Wind turbine and substation
location
Coordinates	47 ° 31 '26 "  N , 14 ° 56' 57"  E
country	Austria
Data
Type	Wind turbine
Primary energy	Wind energy
power	0.6 megawatts
operator	Rudolf Schartner electric charging station
Start of operations	1/2001
turbine	Enercon E40

In January 2001 a wind power plant was built here, a tower with a 50 m hub height and an Enercon E40 turbine with 600 kW nominal power and 44 m rotor diameter. It was - after the Almwind plant - the first larger wind turbine in Styria. It is operated by the Rudolf Schartner electric charging station.

The nearby Präbichl substation from around 1921 is a listed building .

The eastern Eisenerzer side of the valley is in the above development program kind field of wind energy ( Sapro wind energy ) square kilometers in the amount of 1.9 than 2013 suitability zone to further expansion expelled. It extends with about 0.2 km over 700 to about 1600 m altitude. 5 more wind turbines are planned here.

tourism

For mountain hikers, the Präbichl is the starting point for the high trail of the Eisenerzer Alps to the west and the Hochschwab crossing to the east, it is also on the north-south long-distance hiking trail . At the same time, the two valley locations are also members of the Austrian Iron Road ; The pass used to be an important link in the ore processing chain from the Erzberg. In addition to tourism , alpine farming and forestry are also practiced in this area .

Präbichl ski area

The Präbichl belongs to the market town of Vordernberg and has been used as a winter sports resort for more than a hundred years .

In 1948 a single chair lift was built on the upholstery , which brought guests up to a height of 1,800 meters. The initiators were entrepreneurs and private individuals from Leoben and Trofaiach . Back then, the lift was one of the first chairlifts in Styria. The lift was modernized at the end of the 1980s. In 1988 the mountain station burned down. In the absence of a water pipe, the water for extinguishing was transported by lift in buckets. This kept the damage to a minimum. This lift was one of the last single chairlifts in Styria, which had side locking bars and wooden seats. On April 3, 2016, this lift, which was also called Polster-Classic , was discontinued by the Schiliftgesellschaft (the main owner of which is the market town of Vordernberg) to the chagrin of many fans of the upholstered slopes (upholstered channel, upholstered triangle and descent via the Leobnerhütte) and many mountain hikers .

Ski area Präbichl

Until 2012, there was also a diesel-powered drag lift on the upholstery, which was called Polster-Basic . On the opposite side, in the Grübl, there were also two tow lifts in operation. These were removed and replaced in 1997 by a detachable quad chairlift. In 1998, a second such followed on the cushion, but only up to a height of around 1,600 meters. These two buildings cost 11 million euros. After the year 2000 the Arenalift was built to provide less experienced skiers with their own ski lift . In 2007 the Weidtallift was taken over and the ski area was expanded towards Vordernberg. There are currently 9 slopes and 3 ski routes with a total length of 20 km.

literature

• Susanne Klemm: Streets for the Styrian Erzberg: Archaeological and historical research on old streets in Styria, 16.-18. Century . Lit Verlag, Vienna 2011

Web links

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

• Präbichl region (tourism website)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Präbichl and the surrounding area on ÖK 50 , www.austrianmap.at , Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying Austria, Austrian map.
2. ↑ The official name is Eisenstrasse , not Eisen Strasse , cf. the information on the websites of the states of Upper Austria and Styria, z. B. Province of Upper Austria: B115 Eisenstraße / B122 Voralpenstraße, Tabor / Posthof junction. Websites of the Austrian Federal Government, May 29, 2012, accessed on April 25, 2018 .  or State of Styria: B115: road, bridge and wall renovation. Traffic server of the State of Styria, May 29, 2012, accessed on April 25, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Fritz Frhr. Lochner von Hüttenbach: On the name property of the early Middle Ages in Styria (=  magazine of the Historical Association for Styria . Volume 99 ). Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2008, p. 35 ( historerverein-stmk.at [PDF; 16.9 MB ]).
4. ↑ Memorial for the death march on the Präbichl , no-racism.net
5. ↑ The last days of the Nazi terror. In: derStandard.at. November 7, 2015, accessed December 3, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Ordinance of the Styrian state government of June 20, 2013, with which a development program for the field of wind energy is issued. LGBl. No. 72/2013 (as amended online, ris.bka ).
7. ↑ Office of the Styrian Provincial Government - Department 7 State and Community Development (Ed.): Development program for the field of wind energy . Ordinance, explanations, environmental report, LGBl. No. 72/2013. Graz 2013, overview plans: suitability zone Präbichl , p. 20 ( pdf ). pdf ( Memento of the original dated December 2, 2013 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.  
8. ↑ see application FAVD_Begutektiven , Rudolf Schartner, A13 Environment and Regional Planning, April 5, 2013 ( pdf , verwaltung.steiermark.at, accessed November 13, 2013).