Umhausen is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

Imst district The Bezirk Imst is an administrative district (''Bezirk'') in Tyrol, Austria. It borders the district Reutte in the north, as well as sharing a small border with Bavaria (Germany). It borders the district Innsbruck-Land in the east, South Tyrol (I ...

of state of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

in western

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 ...

. It and is located 17 km southeast of

Imst Imst (; Southern Bavarian: ''Imscht'') is a town in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. It lies on the River Inn in western Tyrol, some west of Innsbruck and at an altitude of above sea level. With a current population (2013) of 9,552, Imst ...

at the

Ötztaler Ache The Ötztaler Ache is a river in the district of Imst, Tyrol, Austria, a right tributary of the Inn. It flows through the Ötztal valley, a southern branch the Inntal. Including its source rivers and , it is long. The Rofenache is the runoff o ...

in the

Ötztal The Ötztal is an alpine valley located in Tyrol, Austria. The Ötztaler Ache river flows through the valley in a northern direction. The Ötztal separates the Stubai Alps in the east from the Ötztal Alps in the west. The valley is long. The no ...

. It has 3078 inhabitants.

Geography

The municipality consists of six villages: *Umhausen *Tumpen *Köfels *Farst *Niederthai *Östen Umhausen is located at the intersection of the

Stubai Alps The Stubai Alps (in German ''Stubaier Alpen'') is a mountain range in the Central Eastern Alps of Europe. It derives its name from the Stubaital valley to its east and is located southwest of Innsbruck, Austria. Several peaks form the border betwee ...

and the

Ötztal Alps The Ötztal Alps ( it, Alpi Venoste, german: Ötztaler Alpen) are a mountain range in the Central Eastern Alps, in the State of Tyrol in western Austria and the Province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. Geography The Ötztal Alps are arrayed at ...

. The lowest point is in Tumpen (920m), the highest peak of the municipality is the

Strahlkogel The Strahlkogel, at , is the highest peak in the Larstiger Mountains (''Larstiger Berge''), a subgroup of the Stubai Alps in the Austrian state of Tyrol. The Strahlkogel is also the highest mountain in the municipality of Umhausen. Its name comes ...

, at . Its name comes from its great, white, light-reflecting,

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

layers, which allegedly cause the mountain to "radiate" (''strahlen''). It has the shape of a well-proportioned, steep and pointed pyramid. Ascending the Strahlkogel is difficult and it is thus only rarely visited, unlike the neighbouring 3,287-metre-high Breiter Grieskogel.

Climate

Economy

Umhausen was once a centre for cultivation of

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

. Today the main source of income is tourism. In the area of the community lies the tallest

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

of Tyrol at 150 metres of height. The economy in Umhausen is a bit smaller than the economy in Längenfeld. It is supported by local craft enterprises. Moreover, the Vivea Gesundheitshotel Umhausen opened in 2011, which plays a large role in the local economy.

Landslide

The

Köfels landslide Umhausen is a municipality in the Imst district of state of Tyrol in western Austria. It and is located 17 km southeast of Imst at the Ötztaler Ache in the Ötztal. It has 3078 inhabitants. Geography The municipality consists of six vill ...

was a gigantic landslide, known as a

sturzstrom A Sturzstrom (from the German '' Sturz'' (fall) and ''Strom'' (stream, flow)) or ''rock avalanche'' is a large landslide consisting of soil and rock (geology), rock which travels a great horizontal distance (as much as 20 or 30 times) compared to ...

, that occurred in the Ötz valley 9800±100 years ago according to radiocarbon dating of trees buried by the event.Ivy-Ochs S, Heuberger H, Kubik PW, Kerschner H, Bonani G, Frank M, and Schlüchter C. (1998). The age of the Köfels event — relative, ¹⁴C, and cosmogenic isotope dating of an early Holocene landslide in the central Alps (Tyrol, Austria). ''Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie'', (34):57–70. It involved a 2.5 km horizontal displacement and 800 m vertical displacement of 3.2 km³ of rock and mud along the Ötz valley floor, making it the third largest known sturzstrom.Sørensena, SA and Bauer, B (15 August 2003). On the dynamics of the Köfels sturzstrom. ''

Geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

'', 54(1–2):11–19.Prager C, Zangerl C, Patzelt G, and Brandner R (2008). Age distribution of fossil landslides in the Tyrol (Austria) and its surrounding areas. '' Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences'', 8:377–407.

Population

Hedwig von Trapp / The Sound of Music

Hedwig von Trapp The Trapp Family (also known as the von Trapp Family) were a singing group formed from the family of former Austrian naval commander Georg von Trapp. The family achieved fame in their original singing career in their native Austria during the i ...

, member of the Trapp family, lived and worked after the dissolution of the family choir in Farst, above Umhausen. This workplace, located at 1470 meter above sea level was designed to alleviate the asthma-related Hedwig von Trapp. Hedwig von Trapp was known from the film and musical

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

, in this film the experiences of the Trapp family have been filmed. Hedwig von Trapp was portrayed by the character "Brigitta" in the film. The school, Hedwig von Trapp worked, is still in its original condition.

References

External links

Information on Umhausen
{{Authority control

Cities and towns in Imst District