Tauern

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Tauern (disambiguation) .

The word Tauern originally meant "high transitions" ( passes ) in the Austrian Central Alps and characterized the many mule tracks and passes that cut the parallel side valleys of the Salzach into the mountains. However, since the Middle Ages, when mining reached its heyday, Tauern has also been used to describe the corresponding mountain ranges. The name was retained in many local names.

etymology

The origin of the name of Tauern is interpreted differently.

• The name of the Tauern is an old substratum word ( * taur- for 'mountain'> ' mountain pass , transition') that came into German directly (less likely) or through Slavic mediation (more likely). (The Tauern name is probably pre-Slavic, but there is also a common Slavic tur- ' Schwellen '> 'Bodenschwellung', 'Ableitiger Hügel' etc.). 
• Another assumption is that the 'Tauern' is the only mountain range that has kept its pre-Slavic name in Carinthia in uninterrupted tradition. It is derived from the Indo-European * (s) teur- for 'bull, big mountain'. The Tauern are, so to speak, the “bulls”, the old Taurisker Upper Carinthia the “mountain dwellers”, and the old Upper Carinthian town of Teurnia is the associated mountain town.

If the name Tauern is pre-Slavic, it would be assumed to be Celtic , which is presumed to belong to the Tauris people, or as " Illyrian ", a collective term for possible pre- and early Celtic populations in the Alpine region. The name of the municipality Thaur near Innsbruck, which is derived analogously from Illyrian 'rock', but also from Rhaeto-Romanic Tgaura ('goat'), is unclear .

Mountain ranges

The following mountain groups today bear the name Tauern:

• Hohe Tauern , often also called Tauern forshort.
• Lower Tauern with its subdivision (from west to east):
  • Radstadt ,
  • Schladminger ,
  • Rottenmanner and Wölzer as well
  • Seckauer Tauern .
• Ossiacher Tauern , a ridge in the Gurktal Alps

The Hohe and Niedere Tauern were historically - and are still today in some mountain divisions - referred to as the Tauern Alps . This also extends partly in the Brenner Pass –Liesing / Paltental borders , including the Zillertal Alps .

Transport links

The following transport connections allow the Tauern to be crossed from north to south:

• The Felbertauernstrasse (B108) crosses under the mountains in the Felber Tauern range in the Felbertauern tunnel .
• The Tauernbahn passes under the mountains between the Mallnitzer and the Hohe Tauern in the Tauern tunnel . This is the only north-south railway connection between the Brenner Pass in the west and the Schober Pass in the east.
• The Grossglockner High Alpine Road crosses the Tauern in the area of ​​the Hochtor.
• The Tauern Autobahn (A10) crosses under the Radstädter Tauern.
• The Katschbergstraße (B99) crosses the Radstädter Tauern over the Radstädter Tauernpass.
• The Sölkpass crosses the Niedere Tauern and defines the border between the Schladminger and the Wölzer Tauern.
• The Triebener Straße (B114) crosses the Niedere Tauern in the village of Hohentauern and defines the border between the Rottenmanner and the Triebener (Seckauer) Tauern.

Transitions

The following passages are named Tauern (from west to east):

• In the Hohe Tauern these are all non-navigable mule tracks :
  • The Krimmler Tauern (2,634 m) connects the Krimmler Achental with the South Tyrolean Ahrntal .
  • The Felber Tauern or Windisch-Matreier Tauern (2,481 m) connects the Pinzgau Felbertal with the East Tyrolean Tauern Valley , in the immediate vicinity of the Old Tauern (2,498 m).
  • The Kalser Tauern (2,518 m) connects the Pinzgauer Stubach valley with the East Tyrolean Kalser Dorfertal .
  • The Heiligenbluter or Rauriser Tauern (2,576 m), commonly known as the Hochtor , connects the Pinzgau valley of the Fuscher Ache with the Carinthian Möll valley .
  • The Goldberg or Fraganter Tauern (2,754 m) connects the Pinzgau Rauriser Valley with the Carinthian Fragant .
  • The Niedere Tauern , also Mallnitz Tauern and the Hohe Tauern (2,459 m), also called Korntauern , connect the Pongau Gastein Valley with the Carinthian town of Mallnitz and the Möll Valley .
• in the Lower Tauern :
  • the Radstädter Tauern (1,738 m) connects Radstadt im Pongau with Mauterndorf im Lungau through the two Taurach valleys .
  • the Triebener Tauern (1,278 m), also called Rottenmanner Tauern , connects the Paltental at Trieben with the Pölstal .
• in the Kitzbühel Alps :
  • Thurntauern , today Pass Thurn

Corresponding passes can be found in the Tauern Valley as well as Tauernbach and Taurach several times, the latter partly from a Tauern Pass in both directions.

Tauern houses

→ Main article : Tauernhaus

The Tauern Houses of the Prince Archbishopric of Salzburg were built at the crossings as early as the Middle Ages, they served to protect and maintain the trade routes that were so important at the time, as well as accommodation and refreshment stations for the mule- traders and traders. Examples are the Krimmler Tauernhaus at the Krimmler Tauern and the Tauernhaus Schößwend , the Tauernhaus Spital and the Matreier Tauernhaus at the Felber Tauern. But accommodations that were built much later, such as the Kalser Tauernhaus built by the DAV in 1928 or the private Rauriser Tauernhaus, follow this tradition.

places

The following places also derive their names from the term Tauern:

• the Pongau community of Untertauern on the Radstädter Tauern Pass,
• the winter sports resort Obertauern directly on the Radstädter Tauernpass,
• the cadastral community of Untertauern of Ossiach am Ossiacher Tauern
• the hamlet of Tauern from Ossiach
• the village of Tauer von Matrei in East Tyrol

summit

Several peaks, mainly near the crossings, also have names derived from Tauern:

• Felber Tauernkogel (2,988 m), west above the Felber Tauern in the Venediger group .
  • Tauernkopf (2,704 m), an insignificant pre-summit on the east ridge of the Felber Tauernkogel.
• Tauernklammhöhe (2,798 m), insignificant summit between the Hollersbachtal and the Felbertal in the Venediger group, the Tauernklamm runs through its eastern flank .
• Kalser Tauernkogel (2,683 m), northwest above the Kalser Tauern in the Granatspitz group .
• Tauernkopf (2,626 m), east of the Hochtor in the Goldberg group .
• Tauernkogel (2,249 m) in the Tennengebirge , eponymous for the Tauernkogel group there.
• Funtenseetauern and Gotzentauern in the Berchtesgaden Alps .

Others

• The Tauern-Höhenweg runs through the Ankogel and Goldberg groups from Murtörl to Heiligenbluter Hochtor. It is a contiguous, marked climbing system that allows experienced and appropriately equipped mountaineers to cross the entire Tauern in this area without having to descend into the valley.
• Tauernmoossee in the Stubachtal
• Hohe Tauern National Park
• Tauernkraftwerke AG ( Kaprun power plant )
• Tauern piebald goat
• The Tauern Cycle Path takes its name from the mountain range and runs along the Salzach.

literature

• August Prinzinger : The Tauern. In: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Salzburger Landeskunde (MGSLK) 7, 1867, pp. 46–78 ( Google eBook, full view ).
• Heinrich Wallmann: What does Tauern mean? An alpine study. In: Journal of the German Alpine Club , year 1869–70 (Volume I), pp. 442–472. (Online at ALO ).
• Eberhard Kranzmayer : Place name book of Carinthia . Volume 1, The settlement history of Carinthia from prehistoric times to the present in the mirror of names. Archive for patriotic history and topography, Volume 50. Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1956, OBV .
• Willi End , Hubert Peterka : Glockner Group and Granatspitz Group - a guide for valleys, huts and mountains, written according to the guidelines of the UIAA . 8th, completely revised edition. Alpine Club Guide, Central Alps. Bergverlag Rother, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-7633-1258-7 .
• Willi End, Hubert Peterka (greeted): Venediger Group - with the northern Deferegger Alps (Panargenkamm, Lasörlingkamm). Alpine club guide for valleys, huts and mountains, written according to the guidelines of the UIAA for hikers, mountaineers and climbers. 5th, updated and completely revised edition. Alpine Club Guide, Eastern Alps. Bergverlag Rother, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-7633-1242-0 .
• Heinz-Dieter Pohl : The mountain names of the Hohe Tauern. OeAV documents, Volume 6. Austrian Alpine Association, Spatial Planning and Nature Conservation Department, Innsbruck 2009, OBV . - Table of contents online , accessed March 27, 2011.

Web links

• Entry on Tauern in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinz-Dieter Pohl: Carinthia - German and Slovenian names. Basics of naming . In: members.chello.at/heinz.pohl , May 16, 2010, accessed on March 27, 2011.
2. ↑ Pohl: Bergnames , p. 17 ff.
3. ↑ Kranzmayer: Book of Place Names of Carinthia , p. 21.