The High Tauern (
pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
on the
main chain
A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...
of the
Central Eastern 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 adjacen ...
, comprising the highest peaks east of the
Brenner Pass
The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has ...
. The crest forms the southern border of the
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 ...
n states of
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
East Tyrol
East Tyrol, occasionally East Tirol (german: Osttirol), is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, separated from the main North Tyrol part by the short common border of Salzburg and Italian South Tyrol (''Südtirol'', it, Alto Adige). It i ...
, with a small part in the southwest belongs to the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
province of
South Tyrol
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous province
, image_skyline =
, image_alt ...
. The range includes Austria's highest mountain, the
Grossglockner
The Grossglockner (german: Großglockner ; or just ''Glockner'') is, at 3,798 metres above the Adriatic (12,461 ft), the highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. It is part of the larger Glock ...
at
above the Adriatic.
In the east, the range is adjoined by the
Lower Tauern
The Lower TauernThe New Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 1, 2003, p. 86. or Niedere Tauern () are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, in the Austrian states of Salzburg and Styria.
For the etymology of the name, see Tauern.
Geography ...
. For the
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
of the name, see
Tauern
The word ''Tauern'' () is German and originally meant 'high mountain pass' in the Austrian Central Alps, referring to the many bridleways and passes of the parallel side valleys of the River Salzach that cut into the mountain ranges. From the Mi ...
.
Geography
According to the
Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps, the range is bounded by the
Salzach
The Salzach (Austrian: ˆsaltsax ) is a river in Austria and Germany. It is in length and is a right tributary of the Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limestone and Central E ...
valley to the north (separating it from the
Kitzbühel Alps
The Kitzbühel Alps (german: Kitzbüheler Alpen or ''Kitzbühler Alpen'') are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps surrounding the town of Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Austria. Geologically they are part of the western slate zone (greywacke zone) ...
), the
Mur valley and the Murtörl Pass to the east (separating it from the
Lower Tauern
The Lower TauernThe New Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 1, 2003, p. 86. or Niedere Tauern () are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, in the Austrian states of Salzburg and Styria.
For the etymology of the name, see Tauern.
Geography ...
), the
valley to the south (separating it from the
Southern Limestone Alps
The Southern Limestone Alps ( it, Alpi Sud-orientali, german: Südliche Kalkalpen), also called the Southern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps south of the Central Eastern Alps mainly located in northern Italy and the adjacen ...
), and the
Birnlücke
The Birnlücke () is the border pass at the western end of the Hohe Tauern mountains in Austria, between the Venediger Group and the adjoining Zillertal Alps. The border between Austria and Italy has run over the pass since 1919. The pass forms t ...
Pass to the west (separating it from the
Zillertal Alps
The Zillertal Alps ( it, Alpi Aurine; german: Zillertaler Alpen) are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps on the border of Austria and Italy.
Name
The range is named after the Zillertal (Ziller river valley) on its north.
Geography
The ...
).
Its most important subgroups along the Alpine crest are (from West to East):
*
Venediger Group
The Venediger Group (german: Venedigergruppe) is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. Together with the Granatspitze Group, the Glockner Group, the Goldberg Group, and the Ankogel Group, it forms the main ridge of the High Tauern. The hig ...
(including
Grossvenediger, , and
Lasörling
The Lasörling is a mountain, , and the highest summit in the eponymous range that stretches from the Virgental to the Defereggental valleys opposite the Großvenediger.
Occasionally the mountain is also called the "''Großer'' Lasörling" ("Gr ...
, )
*
Granatspitze Group
The Granatspitze Group (german: Granatspitzgruppe), sometimes also the Granatspitz Group, is a sub-group of the Central Alps within the Eastern Alps. Together with the Ankogel Group, the Goldberg Group, the Glockner Group, the Schober Group, ...
(
Großer Muntanitz, , and
Granatspitze, )
*
Glockner Group
The Glockner Group Reynolds, Kev (2005). ''Walking in the Alps'', 2nd ed., Cicerone, Singapore, p.409, . (german: Glocknergruppe) is a sub-group of the Austrian Central Alps in the Eastern Alps, and is located in the centre section of the High ...
(
Grossglockner
The Grossglockner (german: Großglockner ; or just ''Glockner'') is, at 3,798 metres above the Adriatic (12,461 ft), the highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. It is part of the larger Glock ...
, )
*
Goldberg Group
The Goldberg Group is a sub-group of the Hohe Tauern mountain range within the Central Eastern Alps. It is located in Austria, in the states of Salzburg and Carinthia. Its highest peak is the Hocharn, . Other well known summits are the Hoher Son ...
(
Hoher Sonnblick
The Hoher Sonnblick (also ''Rauriser Sonnblick'') is a glaciated mountain, high, on the main Alpine chain in the Goldberg Group on the border between the Austrian states of Carinthia and Salzburg. At its summit is the Sonnblick Observatory an ...
, )
*
Ankogel Group
The Ankogel Group (german: Ankogelgruppe) is a sub-group of the Central Eastern Alps. Together with the Goldberg Group, the Glockner Group, the Schober Group, the Kreuzeck Group, the Granatspitze Group, the Venediger Group, the Villgraten Mounta ...
(
Hochalmspitze
The Hochalmspitze (3,360 metres above the Adriatic (11,020 ft)) is located east of Mallnitz in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is sometimes called "Tauern Queen" (german: Tauernkönigin) as a counterpart to the "Tauern King", the Grossg ...
, ,
Ankogel
The Ankogel (3,252 m) is a mountain in the Ankogel Group in the eastern High Tauern range in Austria. It is the second highest mountain in the group, the Hochalmspitze being higher at 3,360 m.
A cable car from Mallnitz
Mallnitz is a municipali ...
, ) and
Reisseck Group (
Reisseck, )
The eastern end of the High Tauern is formed by the
Hafner massif of the Ankogel Group, which includes the easternmost
three-thousander
Three-thousanders are mountains with a height of between , but less than above sea level. Similar terms are commonly used for mountains of other height brackets e. g. four-thousanders or eight-thousanders. In Britain, the term may refer to mo ...
peaks in the Alpine chain.
Further parts of the High Tauern south of the main crest of the Alps are (from West to East):
*
Rieserferner Group
The Rieserferner Group ( it, Gruppo delle Vedrette di Ries, german: Rieserfernergruppe) is a mountain range in the Austrian Central Alps. Together with the Ankogel Group, Goldberg Group, Glockner Group, Schober Group, Kreuzeck Group, Granatspitz ...
(
Hochgall, )
*
Villgraten Mountains
The Villgraten Mountains (german: Villgratner Berge) or Deferegg Alps (''Deferegger Alpen''), also called the Defreggen Mountains (''Defreggengebirge'', archaically also with ''"ff"'') are a subgroup of the Austrian Central Alps within the Eastern ...
(
Weiße Spitze, )
*
Schober Group (including the
Petzeck
Petzeck (3,283m) is the highest mountain of the Schober Group in the High Tauern range, Austria. The mountain has a 1,000m high north face but its southern slope is more gentle, with lakes such as Kreuzsee and Wangenitzsee on its slopes. Its so ...
, and
Hochschober
The Hochschober () is the mountain that gives its name to the Schober Group in the High Tauern, although the summit is only the fourth highest in the group. This may have arisen because the north face of the mountain is an impressive sight from ...
, )
*
Kreuzeck Group
The Kreuzeck Group is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. It may be considered either a separate range or part of the larger Hohe Tauern, High Tauern chain. Administratively, the range belongs to the Austrian States of Austria, states of ...
(
Mölltaler Polinik, )
High Tauern National Park
Along of the main chain stretches the High Tauern National Park (''Nationalpark Hohe Tauern''), to which the
Austrian Alpine Club as freeholder and the three states of Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol have contributed territory. With an area of about , it is by far the largest of Austria's seven
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
s as well as the largest nature reserve in the Alps.
''The largest nature reserve of the Alps ...''
at www.hohetauern.at. Accessed on 10 Jul 2011. It is divided into a core zone of including the Grossglockner and Grossvenediger massifs, with complete prohibition of agricultural use, and a fringe zone of used for forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
and alpine-meadow farming. Five special nature sanctuaries are protected from any human disturbance.
The park of the IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
II category comprises the Pasterze and numerous further glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
s, the Krimml Waterfalls
The Krimml Waterfalls (german: Krimmler Wasserfälle), with a total height of 380 metres (1,247 feet), are the highest waterfall in Austria. The falls are on the Krimmler Ache river and are located near the village of Krimml in the High Tauern Na ...
, several glacial valleys and alluvial fan
An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...
s, as well as extended tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...
areas and forests. Among the flora of the Alps, especially Swiss Pine
''Pinus cembra'', also known as Swiss pine, Swiss stone pine or Arolla pine or Austrian stone pine or just stone pine, is a species of a pine tree in the subgenus ''Strobus''.
Description
The Swiss pine is a member of the white pine group ...
s grow along the tree line
The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...
; above subshrub
A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...
, mainly alpenrose
''Rhododendron ferrugineum'', the alpenrose, snow-rose, or rusty-leaved alpenrose is an evergreen shrub that grows just above the tree line in the Alps, Pyrenees, Jura and northern Apennines, on acid soils. It is the type species for the genus ...
but also the endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
'' Saxifraga rudolphiana'', up to nival level at about 2,800 m (9,200 ft). The fauna includes chamois
The chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe, from west to east, including the Alps, the Dinarides, the Tatra and the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the Ril ...
, Alpine ibex
The Alpine ibex (''Capra ibex''), also known as the steinbock, bouquetin, or simply ibex, is a species of wild goat that lives in the mountains of the European Alps. It is a sexually dimorphic species: males are larger and carry longer, curved h ...
and red deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...
, as well as griffon vulture
The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It may also be known as the Griffon vulture, though it may be used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confused with Rü ...
and the golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...
. The formerly extinct bearded vulture
The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey and the only member of the genus ''Gypaetus''. Traditionally considered an Old World vulture, it actually forms a separate mi ...
and the Alpine marmot have been successfully reintroduced.
The park was established according to a 1971 declaration signed by the participating states at Heiligenblut, it nevertheless took until 1981, when the first parts around Großglockner and Hochschober in Carinthia were put under protection. The adjacel finally joined in 1992. Touriut has become less harmful to the environment. A particular emphasis is pution and the maintenance of traditional ways of life in the Alps.
Peaks
The main peaks of the High Tauern are:
Tunnels and passes
The High Tauern are crossed by three tunnels:
*Tauern Railway Tunnel between Bad Gastein and Mallnitz, finished in 1906
*Katschberg Pass, Katschberg Tunnel on ''A10'' Tauern Autobahn (European route E55) leading from Sankt Michael im Lungau and the Tauern Road Tunnel
The Tauern Road Tunnel is located on the Tauern Autobahn (A10) in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg. The use is subject to a toll. With a length of (4.07 miles), the tunnel ranks as one of the longest frequently-travelled road tunnels in Au ...
to Rennweg
*Felbertauerntunnel on ''B108'' Felbertauern Straße highway, between Mittersill
Mittersill ( bar, Mittasü) is a city in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria, in the Pinzgau region of the Alps. It is located on the Salzach River. It has a population of 5,408 as of 2011.
Geography
Mittersill lies approximately 25 km to the ...
and Matrei in Osttirol
Matrei in Osttirol is a market town in the Lienz District in the Austrian state of Tyrol (East Tyrol). It is situated about north of Lienz within the Hohe Tauern mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps. Its municipal area comprises parts of th ...
The best-known mountain pass road of the High Tauern is the scenic 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 ...
inaugurated in 1935, including a tunnel at an elevation of under the Hochtor Pass (). East of it, the Katschberg Pass
Katschberg Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria between Rennweg am Katschberg in the state of Carinthia and Sankt Michael im Lungau in Salzburg.
Geography
It connects the Carinthian Katsch Valley in the s ...
() on ''B 99'' Katschberg Straße highway parallel to the Katschberg Tunnel links Sankt Michael and Rennweg. Another road crosses the Staller Sattel
Staller Saddle (german: Staller Sattel; it, Passo Stalle), at , is a high mountain pass in the High Tauern range of the Central Eastern Alps, connecting the Defereggen Valley in East Tyrol with the Antholz Valley in South Tyrol. The pass forms t ...
between Sankt Jakob in Defereggen
Sankt Jakob in Defereggen (Southern Bavarian: ''St. Jakoub in Dejfreggin'') is a municipality in the district of Lienz in the Austrian state of Tyrol.
Population
Personalities
*Mario Scheiber
Mario Scheiber (born March 6, 1983, in Sankt Ja ...
and Rasen-Antholz
Rasen-Antholz (; it, Rasun-Anterselva ) is a municipality in South Tyrol in northern Italy.
Geography
The municipal area stretches along the Antholz valley, a northern side valley of the larger Puster Valley. In the northeast, the Staller Saddl ...
at .
Beside there are numerous bridle and footpaths, in part used since ancient times:
See also
*
* Lärchwandschrägaufzug
References
External links
*
Hohe Tauern National Park
High Tauern on Hike.uno
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of the Alps
Mountain ranges of Tyrol (state)
Mountain ranges of Salzburg (state)
Mountain ranges of Carinthia (state)
Schober Group
Geography of East Tyrol
Protected areas of the Alps