The Elberfelder Hut (german: Elberfelder Hütte) is a

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization d ...

belonging to the

German Alpine Club The German Alpine Club (german: links=no, Deutscher Alpenverein, DAV for short) is the world's largest climbing association and the eighth-largest sporting association in Germany. It is a member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation and the ...

in the Schober Group within the

Austrian Alps The Central Eastern Alps (german: Zentralalpen or Zentrale Ostalpen), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps (german: Österreichische Zentralalpen) or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent ...

. The mountain hut stands at 2,346 m in the upper

Gößnitz Gößnitz () is a town in the Altenburger Land district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Pleiße, 12 km south of Altenburg, and 20 km northwest of Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), th ...

valley and is managed from mid-June to mid-September. The

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

of the

is responsible for it. The

Siegburg Siegburg (i.e. ''fort on the Sieg river''; Ripuarian: ''Sieburch'') is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the banks of the rivers Sieg and Agger, 10 kilometres from the former seat of ...

and

Recklinghausen Recklinghausen (; Westphalian: ''Riäkelhusen'') is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and indus ...

branches also participate in managing the hut.

History

The Elberfelder Hut was built in 1928. In the years 1982 and 1983, following an avalanche, the hut was renovated and extended. In 2005 repair work was carried out on the façade and roof. The hut has its own

hydropower station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

to provide power and is exclusively supplied by helicopter. The house is named after the Wuppertal quarter of

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a docu ...

Ascents

* From Heiligenblut on the Elberfelder Weg through the Gößnitztal in 4 to 5 hours * From Heiligenblut via the Langtalseen in 6 hours * Via the Lienzer Hut and Gößnitz col (''Gößnitzscharte''): 4 hours All timings refer to the actual journey time without stops and delays.

Tours

Summit tours

Roter Knopf The Rote Knopf () is the second highest mountain in the Schober Group within the High Tauern in the Austrian Alps. It is only two metres short of the Petzeck, the highest summit in the Schober. Nevertheless, this peak is far less well known that ...

, to the second-highest peak in the Schober Group in 3½ hours. * Böses Weibl, along the Vienna Ridgeway (''Wiener Höhenweg'') in 3 hours. * Kreuzkopf, , 2½ hours. * Glödis, , 5½ hours.

Crossings

The Elberfelder Hut is on the Vienna Ridgeway, which runs from the Iselsberg to the Glocknerhaus. Its neighbouring huts are reached as follows: * To the Adolf-Noßberger Hut there is a crossing using the Vienna Ridgeway via the Horn Col (''Hornscharte'') (), which takes 5 hours of journey time. * The shorter crossing to the Noßberger Hut via the Klammer Col (''Klammerscharte'') is only advisable in good snow conditions. From mid-July it is usually dangerous and not recommended due to the high risk of rockfalls and lack of snow. * Also on the Vienna Ridgeway is the Glorer Hut in the Glockner Group which may be reached in 5–6 hours via the Kesselkees Saddle and the Peischlachtörl. * Via the Gößnitz Col (''Gößnitzscharte'', ) ) south of the hut to the Lienzer Hut in 3–4 hours. * Via the Leibniztörl ({{Höhe, 2591, AT) in 7 hours to the Hochschober Hut.

Accident

On 8 September 2016, shortly after take-off, a helicopter on the return leg of a supply flight to the Elberfelder Hut, crashed into the mountainside killing its pilot,

Hannes Arch Hannes Arch (22 September 1967 – 8 September 2016) was an Austrian pilot who competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship from 2007 to 2016. Arch won the World Championship in the 2008 season. Early life Hannes Arch was born in Le ...

. The hut manager, who had spontaneously decided to accompany Arch, was injured but was able to be rescued.''Hannes Arch: Suche nach Absturzursache.''
In: ''

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

'', 9 September 2016.

References

Literature

* ''Alpenvereinskarte 41 Schobergruppe''. Deutscher Alpenverein, Munich, 2005.

External links

Elberfelder Hütte
Mountain huts in Austria Schober Group