A "short story"
An overview of Krimml's history - Historical facts
from Sonja Nothdurfter-Grausgruber 2013
Towards the end of the Neolithic period, settlers ventured from the Alpine foothills into the inner Alpine regions of what is now Salzburg because of the copper ore deposits in the mountains. People had learned to work the easily malleable metal and its alloy, bronze, as a material and to use it to make tools and weapons – the Bronze Age (1900–1250 BC) had dawned.
People were already living in the Krimml area in the early Bronze Age. Close to the course of the Salzach river on the natural rock plateau of the Falkenstein, approx. 2 km east of today's town centre, there was a hilltop settlement from 1600 BC onwards. The village on the Falkenstein consisted of 16 huts and reached its greatest extent in the Middle Bronze Age. Even then, people climbed or crossed the mountains to reach the south. Although there is no concrete evidence of this, they probably chose the route over the Krimmler Tauern, which led them up the steps of the Krimml Waterfalls and on through the Krimml Achental and Windbachtal valleys over the main Alpine ridge and from there down into the Ahrntal valley.
The small plateau at Falkenstein remained inhabited during the Urnfield period (1250–750 BC). During this phase of transition from the Bronze Age to the Hallstatt period, prehistoric copper mining in the Salzburg region lost importance in favour of salt and iron mining, and only a few scattered settlements have been found throughout the entire Upper Pinzgau region. People had left the hilltop settlement on Falkenstein between the present-day municipalities of Krimml and Wald im Pinzgau.
Around 200 BC, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was established in the Eastern Alps. One of the thirteen tribes of Noricum, the Ambisontes, settled in what is now Pinzgau. However, the centre of their tribal territory was relatively far from Krimml. It was located in the fertile upper Saalach Valley near Saalfelden. The mountainous region remained sparsely populated, even after Noricum became a Roman province. While many Roman settlements sprang up in the easily accessible Alpine foothills, the Upper Pinzgau region was home to only a few isolated estates, agricultural settlements and individual farmsteads. The first major phase of Bavarian settlement in what is now the province of Salzburg until the end of the 10th century also mainly covered the Alpine foothills, the Salzburg Basin and the Saalfeld Basin. Nevertheless, the beginnings of settlements from the 9th century have been discovered in Oberpinzgau in the vicinity of Mittersill on the sunny side of the Salzach Valley.
It was only the intensive development at the end of the High Middle Ages, which resulted from population growth, that extended far into the mountains, even into the inner Alpine valleys. In Pinzgau, the Bavarian counts of Mittersill-Lechsgemünd, supported by noble families such as the Felbers, led the large-scale clearing of land. Farms were established on the newly acquired land. The peasant serfs who worked the farms paid taxes to their landlords for the lease of land. The first mention of a property called ‘Chrvmbel’ in Krimml appears in a 1224 deed of sale between the Lechsgemünd ‘Hauskloster’ Kaisheim and the Archbishop of Salzburg. The farm at the end of the Salzach Valley gave its name to the settlement that sprang up there. As early as 1244, there was a church in ‘Khrumbe’, which belonged to the Salzburg domain after the acquisition of the counties of Ober- and Unterpinzgau by the Archbishop of Salzburg, Eberhardt II, in 1228. Around a century later, the archbishop's land register in Krimml already listed 12 houses.
Even though not many people came to Krimml at that time, the small town was located not far from two mountain passes: it was possible to travel to Italy via the Krimml Tauern, albeit not without difficulty due to the comparatively high and steep crossing. The Gerlos Pass led to the Zillertal valley. In the late Middle Ages, the mule track over the Krimml Tauern was used primarily by craftsmen and merchants from the surrounding valleys for wine and livestock trade, and by farmers from the upper Salzach Valley and Ahrntal, who grazed their cattle in the summer on the fertile alpine pastures of the Krimml Achental. The old tavern in Achen, the Krimmler Tauernhaus, which is documented as early as 1389 as a supply post for travellers and muleteers crossing the Krimmler Tauern, served as a stopover at the westernmost Tauern crossing from the Archbishopric of Krimml to Taufers in Tyrol.
Within the Archbishopric of Salzburg, Krimml was the westernmost Kreuztracht (administrative district with a church) of the Mittersill district court, the highest regional administrative authority through which the archbishop exercised his actual sovereignty. The Krimml administrative district consisted of the smaller units of Rotten Oberkrimml and Unterkrimml – a subdivision that has remained unchanged to this day.
The end of ecclesiastical rule in Salzburg at the beginning of the 19th century brought multiple changes of government and profound political change. When Bavarian and French troops occupied parts of the province of Salzburg after Austria declared war on Napoleon in 1809, the local militias of Pongau and Pinzgau, supported by Tyrolean freedom fighters, put up resistance. Among the Salzburg commanders, Anton Wallner, a native of Krimml, distinguished himself through his courageous efforts. Today, the Anton Wallner monument in the centre of Krimml, the historic Anton Wallner rifle company and the Anton Wallner band, as well as his listed birthplace, the Hinterlehengut, and the Anton Wallner Bräu brewery commemorate the origins of the freedom fighter.
Even though conditions in agriculture and trade were difficult, Krimml experienced an economic upswing. A love of the landscape and the development of mountaineering and tourism in the Alps now attracted visitors to Europe's highest waterfalls, the Krimml Waterfalls, and to the Hohe Tauern mountains. The waterfalls had already been made accessible in 1879 by the German and Austrian Alpine Club through a path with bridges and viewing platforms. The Pinzgau Local Railway, which ran to Krimml (Vorderkrimml) in 1898, now opened up the town to many nature lovers. It brought domestic and foreign guests who stayed at the Gasthof zur Post, the Hotel Krimmlerhof, the Gasthof Hofer, the Gasthof Schönangerl or the Krimmler Tauernhaus. In 1899, the DuOeAV finally placed the care of the waterfall trail in the hands of its Warnsdorf section, which had been founded in 1887 by Friedrich E. Berger, a yarn merchant from Zittau. The Alpine Club's activities included the construction of the Warnsdorfer Hütte (2336 m) in the Krimmler Achental valley in 1891, the Zittauer Hütte (2328 m) in the Wildgerlostal valley in 1901, and the Neugersdorf Hut (2568 m) in the South Tyrolean part of the Zillertal Alps in 1901, and whose deputy chairman Anton Richter privately built the Richter Hut (2374 m) in the Rainbach Valley in 1897, lively alpine tourism began in Krimml, which continued until the First World War.
Despite the severe disruption to social and economic life in Krimml, the many casualties, wounded and war refugees during and after the First World War, the popular summer resort recovered in the interwar period because many guests came. It was not until the global economic crisis and the German Reich's thousand-mark blockade that tourism in Krimml almost came to a standstill. After the National Socialists seized power in 1938, the province of Salzburg underwent a wave of modernisation. Industrialisation progressed and the standard of living rose. While the bourgeoisie unconditionally supported the new rulers, enthusiasm for the National Socialist regime was less pronounced in the Christian-social farming circles of Krimml. The farmers rejected the church struggle, the restriction of their property rights by the Erbhofgesetz (inheritance law) and the constant farm inspections by the Nazis. During the Second World War, many Krimml residents had to fight in the German Wehrmacht. They lost their lives or their health, while Nazi leaders enjoyed hunting big game in the Krimml Achental valley. After 1940, agriculture could only be maintained through the use of foreign workers.
After the National Socialists seized power in 1938, the province of Salzburg underwent a wave of modernisation. Industrialisation progressed and living standards rose. While the bourgeoisie unconditionally supported the new rulers, enthusiasm for the National Socialist regime was less pronounced among the Christian Social peasantry of Krimml. The farmers rejected the church struggle, the restriction of their property rights by the Erbhofgesetz (inheritance law) and the constant farm inspections by the National Socialists. During the Second World War, many Krimml residents had to fight in the German Wehrmacht. They lost their lives or their health, while Nazi leaders enjoyed hunting big game in the Krimml Achental valley. After 1940, agriculture could only be maintained through the use of foreign workers.
The end of the war and the entry of American troops into the province of Salzburg in May 1945 were both an act of liberation from a reign of terror and an act of occupation by foreign troops. For the people of Krimml, the difficult post-war years meant streams of refugees, smuggling across the border, denazification, but also the rebuilding of democracy and the economy.
The Brichah, an aid organisation that helped mainly Eastern European Jews who had survived the Holocaust to flee to Eretz Israel via Italy, began in 1947 to bring groups in convoys through the Krimmler Achental valley to the Krimmler Tauernhaus. There, the Tauernhaus landlady Lisl Geisler, who ran the hostel alone after her husband's death, did her utmost to give the elderly, the sick, the children and the weak whatever she could. In the summer of 1947, around 5,000 people crossed the Krimmler Tauern to reach the Italian border. During the Alpine Peace Crossing, the peace hike organised every year by the APC - Alpine Peace Crossing - Association for Refugee Aid, participants commemorate those who undertook this difficult journey and appeal to everyone to help those who are fleeing today and seeking protection and asylum in Austria.
Much has happened in the peaceful decades since the signing of the Austrian State Treaty. Important milestones for Krimml included the construction of the new Gerlosstraße road in 1963, the awarding of the European Nature Conservation Diploma for protected landscapes, reserves and natural monuments in 1967, which is still in place today thanks mainly to the initiative of the OEAV Warnsdorf/Krimml section, and the establishment of the Hohe Tauern National Park in stages since 1981, with the extension to include the Salzburg part of Krimml to Rauris in 1984. Tourism remains the most important sector of the Krimml economy in both summer and winter. As early as 1963, the first drag lifts on the Filzsteinalm and Plattenkogel replaced the old cable cars as a means of transport for skiers. The connection of the Hochkrimml ski area on the Gerlosplatte with the Zillertal Arena in 2003 was another important step towards the continued positive development of the area as a modern winter sports resort. In the warmer months, the Krimml Waterfalls act as a magnet for visitors from all over the world. In addition to the uniqueness of this natural spectacle, there is also the scientifically proven health-promoting effect of the fine spray in the vicinity of the lowest Krimml waterfall, which can alleviate allergic asthma. The village also has a waterfall centre, the WasserWunderWelten, where the Großglockner Hochalpenstraßen AG presents the phenomenon of water to a wide audience.
However, being a highly attractive tourist destination does not necessarily mean a high quality of life for residents. Over the last three decades in particular, well-functioning local structures have been threatened by the gradual closure of grocery stores, butchers and bakers. Initiatives such as the establishment of the SEkO Centre Krimml, a service and local supply centre in the heart of the village, are helping to preserve the municipality at the end of the Salzach Valley, world-famous for its natural beauty, not only as a recreational area but also as a liveable and lovable home.
Literature:
H. Dopsch, H. Spatzenegger (Hg.), Geschichte Salzburgs - Stadt und Land. 2 Bände in 8 Teilen, Salzurg 1981 - 1991.
H. Dopsch, Kleine Geschichte Salzburgs: Stadt und Land, Salzburg 2001.
J. Lahnsteiner, Oberpinzgau von Krimml bis Kaprun, Hollersbach und Salzburg 1956. Salzburger Nationalparkfonds (Hg.), Das Krimmler Tauernhaus und seine Umgebung in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Neukirchen 2000.
S. Nothdurfter-Grausgruber, Eine Geschichte des Pfleggerichtes Mittersill im Spätmittelalter und in der frühen Neuzeit, in: Salzburg Archiv 29 (2004), S. 69-152.
S. Nothdurfter-Grausgruber, 100 Jahre Raiffeisenbank Krimml, Krimml 2010.
S. Nothdurfter-Grausgruber, Getragen von Begeisterung - 125 Jahre OEAV Sektion Warnsdorf-Krimml, Krimml 2012.
Stadtgemeinde Mittersill (Hg.), Vom Markt zur Stadt, Mittersill 2008.