A Latecoming Pioneer: Austria's Hohe Tauern National Park

Kingfisher and wallcreeper as icons for Verein Naturschutzpark’s ambitions to create nature parks in the “typical German landscapes” of heath (Lüneburger Heide) and Alps (Hohe Tauern)

Kingfisher and wallcreeper as icons for Verein Naturschutzpark’s ambitions to create nature parks in the “typical German landscapes” of heath (Lüneburger Heide) and Alps (Hohe Tauern)

All rights reserved © Illustration from 1913, Verein Naturschutzpark.

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There is no simple explanation, neither for the long delay nor for the eventual establishment of Hohe Tauern National Park. Attempts to establish a park in this region go back to the era of the Austrian monarchy. In 1913 and 1914, the German-Austrian Verein Naturschutzpark [conservation park association] bought several alms in the Salzburg part of the Hohe Tauern, with a total area of approximately 1,000 hectares, to spare these spots from agricultural or industrial use. However, the association’s plans for a larger “nature protection park” faltered with the First World War, which put a damper on conservation efforts across Europe.

In the interwar years, private associations such as the German-Austrian Alpine Association, the Austrian League for Nature Protection, or the socialist Friends of Nature became involved in nature protection in the Hohe Tauern. After the German Reich had annexed Austria in 1938, the National Socialist conservation elite selected Hohe Tauern as a prime site for a future “Greater German National Park.” Authorized by Hermann Göring, Berlin Zoo director Lutz Heck pushed the issue, but with the beginning of the war his plans were shelved.

In the post-war decades of reconstruction and growing prosperity different visions of development clashed. Ideas for strengthening nature protection were both driven and challenged by large infrastructure projects, mainly concerning water power, road construction, and an oil-pipeline, by agricultural intensification, and by tourism. As in the decades before, these issues were not restricted to the region or nation but influenced by international and global developments.

When the Council of Europe declared 1970 the “European Nature Conservation Year,” this provided a strong impetus for the national park idea. In 1971 the first concrete political step was taken when the governors of Carinthia, Salzburg, and Tyrol signed an agreement on a future national park. The idea was finally realized in the 1980s and 1990s at state level, which resulted in the creation of today’s three park administrations.