Franz Friedrich Wallack (24 August 1887 – 31 October 1966) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

. He mainly designed and built

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

roads, in particular the

Grossglockner High Alpine Road The Grossglockner High Alpine Road (in German ''Großglockner Hochalpenstraße'') is the highest surfaced mountain pass road in Austria. It connects Bruck an der Großglocknerstraße, Bruck in the state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg with Heilige ...

across the

High Tauern The High Tauern ( pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of S ...

range between

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

and

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

Life

Born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Wallack studied engineering sciences and began his career at the building planning authority of the Carinthian state government. In 1924 he was commissioned to draw up a general project for the construction of the Glockner Road. Wallack's technical endeavor - to build this first modern high alpine road - has long counted among the most significant historic events of this century. Construction began in August 1930, in the midst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Wallack laid out the road so that it harmoniously accommodated the landscape, giving the least possible damage to nature. On 22 September 1934 he and the Salzburg governor Franz Rehrl first travelled the Glockner Road driving a

Steyr 100 The Steyr 100 and 200 were a series of medium-sized cars built by the Austrian manufacturer Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG from 1934 to 1940. The four-door streamlined body designed by engineer Karl Jenschke was manufactured in Steyr, a 1933 prototype wa ...

, about one year before the official opening. Franz Wallack joined the board of the Großglockner High Alpine Road stock company. In the 1950s he also designed special

snow thrower A snow blower or snow thrower is a machine for removing snow from an area where it is problematic, such as a driveway, sidewalk, roadway, railroad track, ice rink, or runway. The commonly used term "snow blower" is a misnomer, as the snow is ...

vehicles for the annual snow removal in spring. He became an honorary citizen of

and was awarded the

Karl Renner Prize The Karl Renner Prize, established on the occasion of the Austrian Federal President Karl Renner’s 80th birthday by the city of Vienna, is awarded to individuals or groups in recognition of merits for Vienna and Austria in cultural, social as we ...

in 1952. Up to the completion of his life's work, Wallack crossed the main alpine crest more than 250 times on foot. At the age of 73, Wallack was still able to direct the new building of the Gerlos Alpine Road.

Legacy

The mountain hut

Wallackhaus The Wallackhaus is a mountain hut located on the Grossglockner High Alpine Road in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Immediately to the east is the Großglockner - Heiligenblut ski area. The Wallackhaus was created in 1930 from a canteen for the co ...

is named in his honor.

External links

Official Homepage of the Glockner Road

References

Salzburg Wiki Franz Friedrich Wallack
in German
About the Grossglockner Trophy

Grossglockner High Alpine Road: Franz Wallack
in German {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallack Franz 1887 births 1966 deaths Austrian civil engineers