TheGroßglockner (German:Großglockner[ˈɡʁoːsˌɡlɔknɐ]^ⓘ), or justGlockner, is, at 3,798metres above the Adriatic (12,461 ft), the highestmountain inAustria and highest mountain in theAlps east of theBrenner Pass. It is part of the largerGlockner Group of theHohe Tauern range, situated along the main ridge of theCentral Eastern Alps and theAlpine divide. ThePasterze, Austria's most extendedglacier, lies on the Grossglockner's eastern slope.

Grossglockner
Großglockner from behind the glass panorama tower
Highest point
Elevation	3,798 m (12,461 ft)
Prominence	2,423 m (7,949 ft) Ranked 2nd in the Alps
Listing	Country high point Ultra Alpine mountains above 3000 m
Coordinates	47°04′29.52″N12°41′42.9″E / 47.0748667°N 12.695250°E /47.0748667; 12.695250
Naming
Pronunciation	German:[ˌɡʁoːsˈɡlɔknɐ]
Geography
Grossglockner Location of Großglockner in Austria
Location	Carinthia &East Tyrol,Austria
Parent range	Hohe Tauern
Climbing
First ascent	28 July 1800, by Sepp andMartin Klotz (?), Martin Reicher and two others
Easiest route	PD, glacier 35°,UIAA II

The characteristicpyramid-shaped peak actually consists of two pinnacles, theGroßglockner and theKleinglockner (3,770 m or 12,370 ft, from German:groß 'big',klein 'small'), separated by theGlocknerschartecol.

The nameGlocknerer is first documented in a 1561 map designed by theViennese cartographerWolfgang Lazius. The denotationGlogger is mentioned in a 1583 description of the TyroleanKals legal district, then referring to the whole ridge south of the Alpine main chain. In the 1760s, theAtlas Tyrolensis listed aGlockner Berg, the prefixGross- ("great") is not mentioned before the first expedition in 1799.

According to the scholarBelsazar Hacquet (1735–1815),Glockner is possibly derived from German:Glocke ("bell"), referring to the mountain's characteristic shape. It may also be aGermanised version of theAlpine Slavic wordKlek ("mountain"), as maintained in the Slovene nameVeliki Klek.

The Grossglockner lies on the border between the Austrian states ofCarinthia andTyrol (East Tyrol). The peak is part of theGlocknerkammridge in theGlockner Group that branches off the main chain of the Alps atEiskögele, heading in a southeasterly direction and forming the boundary between the East Tyrolean municipality of Kals am Großglockner, about 8 km (5.0 mi) in the southwest at 1,324 m (4,344 ft), and CarinthianHeiligenblut, about 12 km (7.5 mi) in the northeast at 1,291 m (4,236 ft). This boundary is also thewatershed between the Kals Valley and its Teischnitz and Ködnitzside valleys on the Tyrolean side and theMöll Valley with the Pasterze glacier on the Carinthian side.^[1][2] The region around the mountain has formed part of the Grossglockner-Pasterze specialprotected area within the High TauernNational Park since 1986.^[3]

The Glockner is the highest mountain in the Alps east of theOrtler range, about 175 km (109 mi) away, and, afterMont Blanc, has the second greatesttopographic isolation of all mountains in the Alps. Even itstopographic prominence, at 2,424 m (7,953 ft), is the second highest after Mont Blanc in the entire Alps (see thelist of Alpine peaks by prominence). That makes it one of the most independent peaks in the Alps.^[4] The view from the Grossglockner summit is one of the farthest of all mountains in the Eastern Alps. It ranges out to 220 km (140 mi) or, taking account ofatmospheric refraction, almost 240 km (150 mi). Its view over more than 150,000 km² (58,000 sq mi) of the Earth's surface reaches as far as theUpper Swabian Plateau in the northwest, toRegensburg and the peaks of theBohemian Forest in the north, toOrtler in the west, to thePadan Plain in the south, and toTriglav and theTotes Gebirge range in the east.^[5][6]

The Grossglockner rock summit, due to its high Alpine, heavily glaciated appearance, is often compared to the mountains of theWestern Alps. Together with the Kleinglockner to the southeast it forms a distinctivedouble peak. There are differing views in the literature as to whether the Kleinglockner is asubpeak or a separate main summit. Due to its low topographic prominence and isolation as well as its close links in climbing history, it is counted as part of that of the Grossglockner in historic publications; however, in view of its separateclimbing routes it is counted as an independent peak inmountaineering literature.

TheObere Glocknerscharte between the two peaks, at 3,766 m (12,356 ft), is the highest col in Austria, from which acouloir up to 55° in gradient and 600 m (2,000 ft) in altitude descends down to theGlocknerkees glacier, calledPallavicinirinne after the Austrian mountaineer Alfred von Pallavicini (1848–1886). It runs northeastwards and borders on the Northeast and North Faces of the Grossglockner. The latter faces are bounded by the Northwest Ridge, part of the main Glockner crest, which runs over theGrögerschneid, 3,660 m (12,010 ft), and the ridge elevations ofGlocknerhorn, 3,680 m (12,070 ft), andTeufelshorn, 3,677 m (12,064 ft), to theUntere Glocknerscharte, 3,598 m (11,804 ft), which connects to the 3,721 m (12,208 ft) highGlocknerwand.

A prominent ridge, theStüdlgrat, named after thePrague Alpinist Johann Stüdl (1839–1925), runs from the Grossglockner away to the southwest. Together with its extension, theLuisengrat, it separates the West Face and theTeischnitzkees glacier at its foot from the South Face and itsKödnitzkees glacier. A couloir known as thePillwaxrinne crosses the South Face below the Obere Glocknerscharte; most of the South Face lies east of this gully below the Kleinglockner. The east side of the Kleinglockner, theGlocknerleitl, is glaciated to just below the summit and is continued by theKleinglocknerkees andHofmannskees before reaching the Pasterze.

The history of the climbs started with French-born natural scientistBelsazar Hacquet, from 1773 professor ofanatomy at theAcademy of Ljubljana. He travelled theEastern Alps from 1779 to 1781 and published anitinerary in 1783, describing theGlokner mountain and stating that it had not been climbed yet. He estimated the mountain's height with converted 3,793 m (12,444 ft) and left anengraving illustrating Grossglockner and Pasterze, the first known depiction of the mountain.

Inspired by Hacquet's book and thefirst ascent of the Mont Blanc in 1786, theGurk prince-bishop Count Franz Xaver ofSalm (1749–1822) together with his vicar generalSigismund Ernst Hohenwart (1745–1825) and BaronFranz Xaver von Wulfen (1728–1805) started efforts for a Grossglockner expedition. They engaged two peasants from Heiligenblut asmountain guides to do the first explorations for an ascent through the Leitertal valley, which is the side of Grossglockner with the least ice (people feared glaciers in these times). These valiant men, called "Glockners" in the records, did more than they were ordered to do—and probably reached the Kleinglockner summit on 23 July 1799.

One month later the bishop's expedition started: amountain hut (the first Salm Hut) had been built and the path in the Leitertal valley was prepared so that the bishop could use a horse to reach it. 30 people, among them Salm, Hohenwart and Wulfen, were part of the expedition. They suffered with bad weather and a first effort failed, but on 25 August 1799 Hohenwart and at least four other people, including the two "Glockners", reached—again—the Kleinglockner, where they installed one of the firstsummit crosses (one of the main goals of the church expedition). Hohenwart's reports did not tell clearly that they had not touched the highest point but Bishop Salm (who had reached theAdlersruhe rock at 3,454 m (11,332 ft)) was informed. Dissatisfied, he invited another, even bigger expedition the next year.

On 28 July 1800, 62 people, among them the pedagogueFranz Michael Vierthaler and the botanistDavid Heinrich Hoppe, started again into the Leitertal valley. Four peasants and carpenters (the "Glockners" and two others who are not known) did a track in the snow, had installed fixed ropes at some steeper sections up to the end of the Glocknerleitl, and even built a second refuge, called Hohenwarte Hut. The vanguard reached the Kleinglockner peak, however, according to the expedition records by theDellach priest Franz Joseph Horasch (Orasch), only the four guides and Mathias Hautzendorfer, the local priest of theRangersdorf parish, were able to cross theObere Glocknerscharte and climb the Grossglockner summit. Hautzendorfer had to be persuaded to venture the step and administered the last rites in advance.

The two "Glockners" are usually identified as the brothers Joseph (Sepp) andMartin Klotz, however, this surname is not listed in the Heiligenblut parish register. A local peasant named Sepp Hoysen is documented as a member of the second Grossglockner expedition in 1802, and the surveyorUlrich Schiegg mentioned one Martin Reicher as "Glockner" guide. The peasants and several other members of the expedition (among them Schiegg and his young apprenticeValentin Stanič, who climbed Mt.Watzmann for the first time some weeks later) did the ascent again the next day and finally installed the summit cross and abarometer on the Grossglockner summit.

Bishop Salm undertook two more ascents in 1802 (with Hohenwart reaching the summit) and in 1806, however, he himself never climbed beyond theAdlersruhe rock. The climbing of the Grossglockner was also described by the botanistJosef August Schultes, who explored the massif together with CountApponyi in 1802. No further ascents were made during theNapoleonic Wars, the huts decayed and were plundered by locals. In the followingVormärz era, however, the mountain became a popular venue for Alpinists likeHermann andAdolf Schlagintweit, who all followed the route of the first ascent.

By the mid 19th century, the developing Alpinetourism began to alter thetraditional agriculture economy in the Heiligenblut area. Therefore, the people of Kals tried to lay out a straight ascent from the western side, which however was not reached untilJulius von Payer explored the ridge betweenGlöcknerleitl andKödnitzkees in 1863. Johann Stüdl had avia ferrata erected along the southwestern ridge the next year and theStüdlhütte erected at its foot in 1868. Already in 1869, most expeditions to the summit started in Kals. The first winter ascent of the Grossglockner was made on January 2, 1875 byWilliam Adolf Baillie Grohman, a member of theAlpine Club.^[7] In 1876 Count Pallavicini and his guide Hans Tribusser undertook the first expedition up the steep glaciated Northeast Face, chopping 2,500 steps into thePallavicinirinne in anice climbing master stroke not repeated for 23 years.

In 1879 Count Pallavicini dedicated a new iron summit cross on the occasion of thesilver wedding of EmperorFranz Joseph of Austria andEmpress Elisabeth; both had visited Heiligenblut and walked to the present-dayFranz-Josefs-Höhe viewpoint in 1865. The cross was installed on 2 October 1880. Pallavicini also had theArchduke John Hut erected at the formerAdlersruhe resting place of Bishop Salm, today the highest situated mountain hut in Austria. TheAustrian Alpine Club built the newSalmhütte and theGlocknerhaus along thealpine route from Heiligenblut.

A first ascent byskiing was made in 1909 and thecircumnavigation of the massif soon became a popularski mountaineering tour. The Grossglockner became Austria's highest mountain, when theSouth TyroleanOrtler region had to be ceded to theKingdom of Italy according to the 1919Treaty of Saint-Germain, which promoted its reputation as atourist attraction.

Mass tourism was decisively promoted by thescenic High Alpine Road (Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße) running from Heiligenblut toBruck inSalzburg with a branch-off to theFranz-Josefs-Höhe viewpoint. It was built across the historic HochtorPass of the Alpine divide between 1930 and 1935 according to plans designed by engineerFranz Wallack. The pass road, Austria's highest, reaches 2,576 m (8,451 ft), and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country (second afterSchönbrunn Palace) with about 270,000 vehicles and 900,000 visitors every year, about 50 million since its opening.^{[citation needed]}

Also famous for its historicvehicle hill climb races.

• List of the highest mountains in Austria
• Pasterze Glacier

• Alpine Journal Account of First Ascent- AJ 1964 244-248

• Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse
• "Grossglockner".SummitPost.org.
• Topographic maps of the Grossglockner

Computer-generated virtual panoramas

• NorthArchived 2007-03-12 at theWayback Machine
• SouthArchived 2007-03-12 at theWayback Machine
• Index
• Grossglockner webcam with daily time-lapse animations