Grossarl (Großarl) is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in the St. Johann im Pongau district in the

state of Salzburg Salzburg (, ; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) (also known as ''Salzburgerland'') is a state (''Land'') of the modern Republic of Austria. It is officially named ''Land Salzburg'' to distinguish it from its eponymous capital — the city of S ...

in western central

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 ...

. The valley Grossarltal got its name from Grossarl.

Geography

Location

The market town is located in the Grossarl Valley in

Pongau The Bezirk Sankt Johann im Pongau is an administrative district (''Bezirk'') in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria, and congruent with the Pongau region. Area of the district is 1,755.37 km², with a population of 77,872 (May 15, 2001) ...

, south of the city of

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

. It is divided in the districts (north to south) Au ( AMSL), Schied (860 m), Unterberg (), Großarl (895 m) as well as Eben and Bach (900 m).

Politics

Local politics

Mayor is Johann Rohrmoser (

ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...

), Vice Mayor is Johann Ganitzer (

SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...

Coat of arms

Grossarl got its coat of arms in 1965. It is a green uprooted

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

on white ground. The illustration of the alder accords to the old German name of the market town "Arla". In 1339, Grossarl was mentioned as the valley with "merern Arel", what means "many alders". The sign of the alder shows the big tree clearings in the valley from the 11th to the 13th century. It also shows the big meaning of the wood industry in the valley. Some people say that it is also a symbol for the attachment of the inhabitants to the valley and its leaves show many children which were born in Grossarl.

Economy and infrastructure

Grossarl is a very touristic oriented market town. The number of guest beds is at about 4,500 and it has hotels and hostels in all categories. Very impressive is the high density of 4-star hotels. Because of the 40 alpine cottages, Grossarl is also called "the valley of alpine cottages", in German "Das Tal der Almen". Over the years, many small and medium enterprises settled down in the valley and became important employers for citizens of Grossarl (carpenter, bricklayer and earth-moving companies, etc.)

Prominent people

Notable citizens

* Edmund Entacher (* 30. September 1949 in Grossarl) General of the

Austrian Armed Forces The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of nati ...

* Anton Sauter (1800–1881), Botanist and Doctor, brother of Ferdinand Sauter, founder of the corporation of Salzburgs regional and cultural studies * Ignatius Rieder (1858 Grossarl-1934 Salzburg), 1918-1934 archbishop of

* Alois Rohrmoser (1932 Grossarl-2005

Wagrain Wagrain (Austro-Bavarian: ''Wågroã'') is a market town in the St. Johann im Pongau District in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It is located in a high valley stretching from the Salzach at Sankt Johann in the west to the Enns river in the east ...

), founder of the factory

Atomic Skis Atomic (officially Atomic Austria GmbH) is an Austrian company that manufactures and sells skis and other skiing equipment, such as boots, bindings, helmets, ski poles, goggles, bags, apparel and protective equipment. Atomic is a subsidiary o ...

Wolfram Paulus Wolfram Paulus (12 August 1957 – 28 May 2020) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter.Film ...

(*1957), film director and scriptwriter

Personalities with connections to the village

Sepp Forcher Sepp may refer to: *Sepp (given name) *Sepp (surname) *Science & Environmental Policy Project * Sepp (publisher) *Substantially equal periodic payments, US tax-law provision *Single Edge Processor Package *State Enterprise for Pesticide Production ...

(*17. December 1930

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

), Austrian TV presenter, 1955-1959 host on the Berglandhaus in Grossarl

References

External links

* Cities and towns in St. Johann im Pongau District {{Salzburg-geo-stub