Toni Schruf

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Bust on the old council castle in Mürzzuschlag

Toni Schruf (born September 26, 1863 in Mürzzuschlag ; † February 16, 1932 there ) was an Austrian skier , mountaineer and regional entrepreneur and is considered a Central European skiing pioneer and Styrian tourism manager. Streets in Mitterdorf in Mürz Valley , St. Peter (Graz) and Mürzzuschlag are named after him.

Skiing pioneer

In 1890, Schruf made the first attempts on skis in Central Europe with the Graz cyclist and sparkling wine manufacturer Max Kleinoscheg . For this purpose, Kleinoscheg had skis delivered from Norway and initially used them as a climbing aid. Kleinoscheg, Schruf and Walther Wenderich climbed the Stuhleck, 1782 meters above sea level, on February 13, 1892, and held the first ski race in Central Europe on February 2, 1893 in Mürzzuschlag. In 1894 they organized a winter sports exhibition and made skiing popular. In the city center of Mürzzuschlag there is now a modern winter sports museum with the largest number of historical winter sports exhibits in the world.

Tourism manager

On February 22, 1900, Schruf founded the Rosegger Society Mürzzuschlag in the Roseggerstüberl in Mürzzuschlag . Among his friends were the Krieglach local poets Peter Rosegger and Fridtjof Nansen . As a hotelier , alpinist and poet, he promoted tourism in the Mürz Valley and throughout Styria .

Supported by the family of his wife Sophie (née Ramsauer), Schruf built the excursion inn on the Bärenkogel . When the weather was fine, theatrical performances were held on Sundays in a nearby natural arena. Like many guests, the theater group traveled from Vienna to Mürzzuschlag on the southern railway , had lunch at the Hotel Post and hiked or (in later years) drove up to the Bärenkogel in horse-drawn carriages . This was originally only accessible via hiking trails (partly with secured climbing areas, via the Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf- Steig), a road was only built later.

literature

  • H. Strohmeyer:  Schruf Toni (Anton). In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 11, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2803-7 , p. 264 f. (Direct links on p. 264 , p. 265 ).
  • Theodor Hüttenegger: Mürzzuschlag - history of our city . Skilauf, pp. 354–357, City of Mürzzuschlag, 1982.
  • Theodor Hüttenegger: Styrian Ski History . Styrian Ski Association, 1968.
  • Christian Hans Binder: The ski pioneer Toni Schruf as a man of the economy . Diploma thesis, Graz 1994.
  • Franz Preitler , Thorsten Buhl: The biography - his life, his work, his Mürzzuschlag . Steir. Publishing company, Graz 2009.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schruf, Toni
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian skier
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1863
PLACE OF BIRTH Mürzzuschlag
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 1932
Place of death Mürzzuschlag