Cultural Guide
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Ötztal. Tirol at its Best. Cultural Guide oetztal.com Lake Piburger See, Village of Oetz Ötztal Valley Index 04 ÖTZTAL VALLEY 06 | The Region 08 | History and Culture 12 ÖTZTAL PECULIARITIES 14 | People 16 | Traditional Dresses 18 | Museums 20 | Architecture 24 | Glacier and Pass Roads 26 | Mountain and Refuge Huts 28 | Pasture Life 30 | Animals 32 | Mysticism and Legends 34 | Theme Trails 36 | Culinary 38 | Farm Markets and Artistic Crafts 40 | Customs and Religious Feasts 42 | Cultural Events 44 ÖTZTAL VILLAGES 46 | Haiming 56 | Sautens 66 | Oetz 76 | Umhausen 86 | Längenfeld 96 | Sölden Ötztal Valley 04 Ötztal Valley Äußerer Hahlkogel (2658 Meter), Längenfeld 05 Ötztal Valley The Region Scenic Ötztal is the longest side valley the Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road of Tirol's Inntal. It covers almost 70 kilo- connects Ötztal's high Alpine glacier meters from its entrance at Ötztal Bah- world with the South Tyrolean Passei- nhof to the Alpine pass of Timmelsjoch. ertal valley and the vineyards of Mer- The villages are lined up between 700 an. Furthermore, Ötztal's varied vege- and 2000 Meter above sea level - ranging tation zones include lush orchards and from dreamy hamlets to sophisticated cornfields at the entrance of the valley, holiday destinations in a high Alpine stretching up to the eternal ice (Tiefen- location. The five Ötztal villages are bach Glacier and Rettenbach Glacier). called Sautens (812 Meter), Oetz (820 Meter), Um- The alluvial forests along the Ache hausen (1036 Meter), Längenfeld (1180 Meter) brook, the Alpine pasturelands and and Sölden (1377 Meter). Additionally, each the idyllic rockslide landscapes, for ex- resort is divided into several hamlets ample around Lake Piburger See, rank and settlements. The most popular win- among the natural treasures in Ötztal. ter sports resorts are located in Sölden- Additionally, Ötztal boasts the highest Hochsölden, Gurgl and Oetz while Vent density of 3000 Meter high summits in the is a quaint little ski and mountaineering entire Alpine area. The unrivaled Ötztal village at 1900 Meter above sea level. Ötztal Nature Park is home to 850 plant species belongs to the District of Imst, its main and nearly 1000 different species of an- Alpine mountain brook is the Ötztaler imals. Covering some 510 square kilom- Ache which is also perfectly suitable for eters, it is Tirol's second largest nature river rafting adventures and separates park in size and the third biggest in all the Stubai Alps in the east from the Austria. It scenically stretches from the Ötztal Alps in the west. At the height of valley floor towards the high Alpine Zwieselstein, the main valley branches terrain shaped by the glaciers, and is off towards Gurgler Tal and Venter Tal. crisscrossed by approximately 100 kilo- High Alpine Timmelstal and Timmels- meters of hiking trails and theme walk- joch Pass join Gurgler Tal. In summer, ing paths. 06 ÖtztalThe Region Valley Erlanger Hütte (2541 Meter), Umhausen 07 History and Culture Ötztal is one of the most exciting cul- an, half Italian from then on. The new tural regions in the Alps. "Ötzi", the Ne- frontier line was an "unjust border" for olithic glacier mummy which was found the Tirolese, a fact that produced fierce in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, confirmed the resistance. It was overcome thanks to early settlement of high Alpine plateaus. great solidarity, the common language There is much evidence of intensive use and culture and, later, also politically by of Alpine grazing land in "Ötzi's envi- founding the European Union. ronment" starting some 5000 or 4000 years ago. More than 6000 years ago, THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM the passes were already used as Alpine Until the 19th century, the cultivation of crossing areas and the first bridle path flax was the most important source of over Timmelsjoch Pass was built in income in Ötztal. In the course of time it 1320. The first settlers of the rear Ötztal lost its great importance and many peo- came from the south, more exactly from ple impoverished. After World War I and Passeier as Vent was populated from World War II, and during the interwar Schnalstal in the south. period, when people also suffered se- verely, the smuggling of goods between For centuries, the natural border was Ötztal and Italy's South Tyrol made an used by the locals until a political fron- important contribution to survival for tier was created. After the end of World many Ötztal families. War I, the southern part of Tirol be- longed to Italy - a border that also went Despite all setbacks, the region's out- right through the hearts of the people. standing economic development owes However, inner-Tirolean mountains much to tourism. In the surroundings such as Brenner and Timmel became of Oetz - just as in Meran - some aristo- border passes and were half Austri- cratic "summer guests" had gathered al- 08 ÖtztalHistory Valley and Culture Piccard Landing, 1931, Gurgl Sölden 09 ready in the 19th century. The rear Ötztal was made accessible thanks to the de- velopment of alpinism. Among the pi- oneers was "glacier priest" Franz Senn. From 1860 to 1872 he was a priest in Vent and one of the Alpine Club founders. The favorable development was also in- creased by the completion of the Arlberg Railway (1884) and the expansion of the "Hotel Vent", Vent main valley road to Sölden (1898-1903). As early as 1889, "Gasthaus Edelweiss" in Gurgl was home to first guests, and from 1920 onwards the Ötztal locals could benefit from a very favorable de- velopment phase in winter tourism. In 1922, the first ski club was founded in Sölden and the Hochsölden ski area was subsequently opened up. A few years later, tourism pioneer Isidor Riml built the Sonnblick hut and the first hotel. On 27 May 1931, Ötztal's tourism was literal- Alpine Skiing, Sölden 10 ÖtztalHistory Valley and Culture ly kicked off by the Swiss stratosphere High Alpine Road up to the pass. In 1968 researcher Auguste Piccard who had to the South Tyrolean part of the road was make an emergency landing on Gurgl's inaugurated. An important boost for Glacier - after reaching almost 16000 Ötztal's tourism was the development altitude meters in his hot-air balloon - of the Hochoetz ski region in the 1990s, and was rescued by the locals on his re- the opening of the Ötzi Village and the cord-beating flight. The small mountain Aqua Dome thermal spa center (Tirol village of Gurgl became world famous Therme Längenfeld), the development almost overnight. of the glacier ski areas at Rettenbach and Tiefenbachferner and ever more This prospering development was powerful mountain lifts in the winter stopped abruptly by the world economic sports destinations of Sölden, Gurgl and crisis. Only many years after World War Hochoetz. II tourism flourished again, promoted mainly by Ötztal pioneers with coura- Vent specialized as a genuine mountain- geous and forward-looking projects. In eering village. The AREA 47 outdoor ad- 1948, the very first ski lifts were built venture park at the entrance to Ötztal in Ötztal. 1959 saw the opening of the with its spectacular sports and adven- North Tirolean side of the Timmelsjoch ture offers caused another sensation. Gaislachkogl Mountain Gondola, Sölden Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet 11 Ötztal Peculiarities 12 Ötztal Valley Ötztal Peculiarities Wildspitze Peak (3774 Meter) 13 Ötztal People Who they are and how they talk UNIQUE CHARACTER UNIQUE DIALECT Ötztal is the longest side valley of Inn- The settlement history of Ötztal from tal and the longest transverse valley the south focuses on early bridle paths in the Eastern Alps. Are Ötztal locals and Alpine ridges. Therefore the dialect sometimes transverse and stubborn of Upper Ötztal is strongly influenced as well? Yes, Ötztal locals are said to be by the South Tyrolean Passeiertal and heartfelt, witty and bullheaded. It's just Schnalstal valleys while Lower Ötztal is the same with the people of adjacent classified a typical Inntal valley dialect Passeiertal in South Tyrol. The two in terms of linguistics. A particularly valleys are closely related and, above original language color can be found all, they had many common customs in in Central Ötztal where still a partly the past, for example: "schuechplattlen / vocal and syllabic variety of the Middle fenschterlen / loaterle schteign / trocht High German language is clearly audi- oonlegn / ploosmusig schpiiln" ... as de- ble. As the Ötztal dialect has remained scribed in a poem by the well-known largely unchanged for about 900 years, Ötztal poet and folklorist Hans Haid. it was even awarded the title of Intan- (Knee-clapping, climbing through your gible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in sweetheart's window at night, climbing 2010 - in the "Oral Traditions" category. a ladder, putting on a traditional dress, Nevertheless, the dialect remains very playing brass music. "Fensterlen" is an creative and adaptable - like the Ötztal old custom: sneaking secretly through locals themselves. "Sall wöll" means for the window into a girl's room with the sure! help of a ladder) 14 ÖtztalÖtztal Valley People Special tips and more details at www.oetztal.com Theme-related reading: www.oetztal.blog 15 Ötztal Traditional Dresses Dressy, cute and colorful The "Tracht" was originally the tradi- and dresses differ from village to vil- tional costume of the farmers, which de- lage, in Tirol alone there are about 200 veloped to festive clothing and later to different costumes. In the past, the Ötz- a fashionable expression of proudness tal women used to make the costumes and home country over the centuries. themselves (some still do): the cardi- The religious life including many cus- gans and coats were made of loden, the toms formed an important background blouses and shirts of Ötztal linen, the of its origins.