Wörgl () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the Austrian state of Tyrol, in the Kufstein district. It is from the international border with Bavaria, Germany.

Population

Transport

Wörgl is an important railway junction between the line from

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

to Munich, and the inner-Austrian line to Salzburg. Its railway station has been designated as a ''Hauptbahnhof'' (german: main station) since 10 December 2006.

European route E641 European route E 641 is a secondary E-road in Austria and Germany. It starts at Wörgl, Austria, where it is connected with European route E 45 and E 60 ( Austrian autobahn A12). *In Austria, it passes through Sankt Johann in T ...

connects Wörgl with Salzburg, the routes E45 and E60 (Austrian autobahn A12) pass through Wörgl. File:Bahnhof Wörgl alt.jpg, Wörgl railway station in 1900 File:Wörgl Gare 1965.jpg, Wörgl railway station in 1965

History

World War II

Nearby

Itter Castle Itter Castle (german: Schloss Itter) is a 19th-century castle in Itter, a village in Tyrol, Austria. In 1943, during World War II, it was turned into a Nazi prison for French VIPs. The castle was the site of an extraordinary instance of the U.S. ...

was the site of one of the last European and most unusual battles of World War II. The Battle for Itter Castle was fought on 5 May 1945 by surrendered Wehrmacht troops, the United States Army, Austrian Resistance fighters and former

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

political prisoners against the 17th ''Waffen-SS Panzer Grenadier'' Division. The leader of the surrendered Wehrmacht troops, Major Josef Gangl, was killed during the battle and is buried in Wörgl's municipal cemetery. A street in the city is named for Gangl.

Twin towns – sister cities

* Albrechtice nad Orlicí, Czech Republic * Suwa, Japan

The Wörgl Experiment

Wörgl was the site of the "Miracle of Wörgl" during 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 ...

. It was started on July 31, 1932, with the issuing of "Certified Compensation Bills", a form of local currency commonly known as Stamp Scrip, or Freigeld. This was an application of the monetary theories of the economist

Silvio Gesell Johann Silvio Gesell (; 17 March 1862 – 11 March 1930) was a German-Argentine economist, merchant, and the founder of Freiwirtschaft, an economic model for market socialism. In 1900 he founded the magazine ''Geld-und Bodenreform'' (''Monetar ...

by the town's then-mayor, . The experiment resulted in a growth in

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

and meant that local government projects such as new houses, a reservoir, a ski jump and a bridge could all be completed, seeming to defy the depression in the rest of the country. Inflation and deflation are also reputed to have been non-existent for the duration of the experiment. Despite attracting great interest at the time, including from French Premier Edouard Daladier and the economist

Irving Fisher Irving Fisher (February 27, 1867 – April 29, 1947) was an American economist, statistician, inventor, eugenicist and progressive social campaigner. He was one of the earliest American neoclassical economists, though his later work on debt def ...

, the "experiment" was terminated by Austria's central bank

Oesterreichische Nationalbank The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) is the central bank of Austria and, as such, an integral part of both the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Eurozone. It started operations on , replacing the Austro-Hungarian Bank of which ...

on September 1, 1933. In 2006 milestones were placed, beginning from the railroad station through the downtown, to show this history.

Notable people

Reinhard Furrer Prof. Dr. Reinhard Alfred Furrer (25 November 1940 – 9 September 1995) was a German physicist and astronaut. Furrer was born in Wörgl, Ostmark (now Austria). After the end of World War II, his father was expelled from Austria. The family f ...

, a German scientist and

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

, was born in Wörgl. * Gerhard Berger, a former Formula One driver and former co-owner of Scuderia Toro Rosso, was born in Wörgl. *

Stefan Horngacher Stefan Horngacher (born 20 September 1969) is an Austrian ski jumping coach and former ski jumper. Since April 2019 he is coaching the German national team. Career Horngacher won a bronze medal in the team large hill at the Winter Olympics in bo ...

, an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

ski jumper, was born in Wörgl. * Hans Peter Haselsteiner, a building tycoon and former deputy chair of the Liberal Forum, was born in Wörgl. *

Richard Kitzbichler Richard Kitzbichler (born 12 January 1974) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Kitzbichler was born in Wörgl, Tyrol. He started his career in 1992 with FC Wacker Innsbruck in the Austrian ...

, a former Austria national football team player and current assistant manager of Premier League side

Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play in ...

, was born in Wörgl.

Gallery

References

External links

*
Wörgl's attempt in the 1930s to establish a local currencyCommunity Currency Online Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worgl Cities and towns in Kufstein District Freiwirtschaft Kufstein District