Pyhrnpass

Pyhrnpass
The top of the pass with a sign in April 2009
Compass direction	North	south
Pass height	954  m above sea level A.
state	Upper Austria	Styria
Watershed	Teichl, Steyr , Enns , Danube	Pyhrnbach, Enns, Danube
Valley locations	Spital am Pyhrn	Liezen
expansion	Pyhrnpass road (B138)
Truck lock	> 7.5 t
Mountains	Northern Limestone Alps
map
Coordinates	47 ° 37 '12 "  N , 14 ° 17' 57"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 37 '12 "  N , 14 ° 17' 57"  E

The Pyhrnpass is 954  m above sea level. A. high pass near the border of the Austrian federal states of Upper Austria in the north and Styria in the south. It lies between Warscheneck and Bosruck ( Ennstal Alps ) in the Northern Limestone Alps in the Pyhrn-Eisenwurzen region .

The Pyhrnpass represents a very low transition in this area of ​​the Eastern Alps and for this reason has been significant since the Neolithic. It was caused by a landslide , possibly triggered by the asteroid impact of the Nördlinger Ries 300 kilometers northwest , which about 15 million years ago diverted the north-facing course of the Ur- Enns to the south, into the Graz Basin .

traffic

The Pyhrnpass road (B138) leads over the pass . It has a maximum gradient of 10%. On the Styrian side, you reach Liezen im Ennstal after 12 km from the top of the pass on the Pyhrnpass road . Spital am Pyhrn is on the Upper Austrian side .

The pass has been relieved by the Bosruck tunnel of the Pyhrn Autobahn (A 9) since 1983 , after the railway tunnel of the same name has existed since 1906. The importance of this pass road has therefore decreased significantly, it is also used as an alternative route due to the toll in the tunnel. Therefore, there is a weight restriction for vehicles over 7.5 t over the pass between Liezen and the Wurzeralm valley station (except for regular bus services). The average daily traffic over the pass is 2700 vehicles compared to 7700 through the Bosruck tunnel (status 2001).

On the Upper Austrian side, to the west of the pass, lies the Wurzeralm hiking and skiing area and east of the Bosruck, which is a popular hiking and ski touring mountain at 1992  m .

Surname

The name of the passport is a popular source of errors in essays and the like, people like to put the “y” after the “h”. However, the word does not come from Greek, but like the nearby mountain Pyhrgas, perhaps from Celtic, where Pyr stands for 'mountain' (see Pyrenees ), but Slavic descent is also up for debate (see the nearby Windischgarsten , today's Slovenian brdo with the meaning 'hill', 'hill' (cf. numerous place names in Carinthia, which usually appear as Egg in German ), area at the Bergeck or place names such as Pyhra , Pyhrabruck , Pyhrafeld in Lower Austria). In documents from the years 1190–1259, the Pyhrnpass is called pirdononis , which could mean something like "pointed mountain" (cf. pyramid ). At the foundation of the Gleink Monastery by the Styrian Margrave Otaker, there is talk of pirno monte in a document . The current form has been used since around the 16./17. Century called.

The Norische Strasse

From Paleolithic finds that were made in the Gamssulzenhöhle above the Gleinkersee , and from rock paintings that are probably just as old, one concludes that the Pyhrn Pass had been known and used for thousands of years. The first reliable evidence of cultural connections across the Pyhrn Pass does not come from the Neolithic period . In the early Bronze Age , the Pyhrnpass developed into the most important crossing point in the region, and the finds along the Pyhrnroute are quite extensive. But this probably first great bloom of the Pyhrnpass ended in the Bronze Age. Due to the Hallstatt salt mining , the transport routes had shifted to the west, in favor of the crossings of the Tauern and the later Salzkammergut . In the Iron Age , the Celts penetrated the area around the Pyhrn Pass, and as a result traffic over this crossing flourished again. The Pyhrnpass became part of the important trade route that connected the northern parts of Noricum with the southeastern parts of the country via the Pyhrnpass, Schoberpass and Neumarkter Sattel . Important settlements soon emerged, benefiting from trade on this road. The Celtic-Noric settlements Gabromagus ( Windischgarsten ) and Ernolatia (probably near St. Pankraz) are assumed to be in the immediate vicinity of the Pyhrn Pass.

At the turn of the ages, the Romans invaded this region, not as conquerors, but more as protectors of the Norics from northern Germanic peoples . Over time, however, they romanized Noricum and made it one of their provinces. At first the Romans probably used the relatively good Norwegian roads without expanding them significantly. But of course these continued to be used by the numerous long-distance traders, even more so, but now Roman troops and officials joined them. This soon made it necessary to expand the roads and the surrounding infrastructure. Post stations and rest stops were therefore set up, the germ cells of later cities. The pre-Roman ravines were rehabilitated, as can still be seen today on the north side of the Pyhrn Pass, and numerous bridges were built. The developed street reached a width of about 1.80 m and in places still forms the lowest layer of the modern Pyhrnstraße. The Roman road presumably ran for the most part on a very similar route to today's federal road. Which would explain that little of it was found, as the old street had largely been made unrecognizable through long use and later modernizations. Between Bliem and the summit of the pass, as well as between Oberer and Unterer Klause, the route of the Roman road deviated from the main road, as it was led directly over the crossing.

Fighting broke out on the Pyhrn Pass in the course of the July coup in 1934 , in which some people, including bystanders, were killed. The armed forces from Upper Austria tried to drive out putschists, including a woman who died in the tavern at the top of the pass.

swell

1. ↑ Pyhrnpass and the surrounding area on ÖK 50 , www.austrianmap.at , Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying Austria, Austrian map.
2. ↑ Kurt Lemcke : Geological processes in the Alps from the Obereocene in the mirror, especially the German molasses. In: Geologische Rundschau. Vol. 73, No. 1, 1984, ISSN  0016-7835 , pp. 371-397, here p. 386, doi : 10.1007 / BF01820376 .
3. ↑ Bliem is a farm near Pyhrn
4. ^ Steffan Bruns: Alpine passes. History of the alpine pass crossings. Volume 4: From the Danube to the Adriatic. Staackmann, Munich a. a 2011, ISBN 978-3-88675-274-4 , p. 150 ff.
5. ↑ Kurt Bauer : The fighting on the Pyhrnpass on July 26, 1934. (PDF; 122 kB) Accessed on November 30, 2017 .