Kössen is a municipality in the
Kitzbühel district in the Austrian 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 ...
located 24 km north of
Kitzbühel as well as 15.50 km north of
Sankt Johann in Tirol at the
Kitzbühler Ache near the border to Germany.
Geography
Kössen is located in a broad basin between the
Chiemgauer
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...
in the north and the Kaiser Mountains in the south of the confluence of
Großache
The Großache is a river, long, in the east of the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Bavarian region of Chiemgau.
Names
The river is known by four different names, each applying to a different section of its course: above Kitzbühel it is the Joc ...
river, the ''Kohlenbach'' and the ''Weißenbach''.
Population
Sights
Maria Klobenstein is a pilgrimage church in the community Kössen in Tirol on the border with Bavaria (municipality
Schleching).
Activities
Kössen's topography lends itself to
air sports
The term "air sports" covers a range of aerial activities, including air racing, aerobatics, aeromodelling, hang gliding, human-powered aircraft, parachuting, paragliding and skydiving.
Recognized and regulated air sports
Many air sports ...
in the summer months. The surrounding mountain massifs create great thermals, which are near-perfect for
hang gliding and
paragliding
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched Glider (aircraft), glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a :wikt:harness, harness o ...
flights, whilst the valley-floor makes safe landing-grounds, as it is broad, flat and mostly meadow-land; furthermore, the winter ski-lifts allow equal access to the summits in their off-season, for the new market of air-sports adventurers.
In hang-gliding, Kössen was the inaugural location for both the World Championships, in 1976, and the European Championships, in 1977. The championships were soon coordinated to be run on alternate years, with a European venue on 'even' years and a global venue on 'odd' years. A new venue is chosen each year for both competitions, but it is a mark of the popularity of Kössen as an air-sports venue, that it is the sole centre, to date, that has been used as a return-venue for each competition, in 1980 and in 1985. Para-gliding is also well-established on the Unterberg.
Neighboring towns
Aschau im Chiemgau,
Kirchdorf in Tirol,
Reit im Winkl,
Schleching,
Schwendt,
Unterwössen
Unterwössen is a municipality in the Traunstein (district), district of Traunstein in Bavaria, Germany.
References
Traunstein (district)
{{Traunsteindistrict-geo-stub ...
,
Waidring,
Walchsee
References
External links
Kössen community datafrom Statistik Austria
Cities and towns in Kitzbühel District
Kaiser Mountains
Chiemgau Alps
{{Tyrol-geo-stub