The largest national park in the Alps
Hohe Tauern National Park
The Hohe Tauern National Park is one of the most magnificent high-mountain landscapes on Earth. The altitudinal zones, ranging from the valleys up to the summit regions of the three-thousand-metre peaks, are home to an extraordinary wealth of species. Many plants and wild animals live here that are native to the cold steppes of Central Asia, the Arctic or even southern Europe. Our role as a national park is to protect and study this unique ecosystem and to pass on this knowledge to future generations. Discover this fascinating wilderness in the heart of Europe.
National Park Development
When the world’s first national park – Yellowstone National Park – was established in the north of the United States back in 1872, no one could have imagined that this would lay the foundation for thousands more national parks across the globe, including the Hohe Tauern National Park. Yellowstone National Park was founded to place outstanding natural landscapes of national importance under state protection and to open them up to the public ‘for their enjoyment and edification’.
Around 100 years ago, in 1913, the first step towards establishing a national park was taken in Austria. When Dr August Prinzinger, a member of the state parliament, took the initiative and the ‘Naturschutzpark’ association purchased around 1,100 hectares of land in the Amertal and Stubachtal valleys for special protection, the idea of the national park in Austria, as we know it today, began to take shape. However, due to wars and economic crises, work on this project was put on hold for a considerable period.
In 1971, the three provincial governors of Salzburg, Carinthia and Tyrol decided to establish a national park by signing the Three-Province Agreement in Heiligenblut. Implementation took varying lengths of time in the individual federal states, and several hurdles had to be overcome. In the 1980s, the Hohe Tauern National Park was established as Austria’s first and largest national park, and work on this project has continued ever since.
The development of national parks has always been characterised by a spirit of partnership, and this approach led to the Hohe Tauern National Park in Salzburg receiving ‘international recognition’ in 2006, in accordance with the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Further information on this topic: International Recognition.
Mittersill National Park Centre
The new exhibition at the Hohe Tauern National Park Worlds is far more than just a facelift. Whilst visitor attractions such as the 360° cinema and the eagle flight panorama remain, they are now integrated into a completely new narrative concept. Visitors explore ‘Marmots & Co’ as well as ‘Peaks Rising from the Seabed’ and ‘Wild Waters’. Emotionally, they follow the path from the highest reaches of the national park down to the alpine pastures and into the valley.
- 10 spectacular worlds
- 1,800 m² of interactive experiences
- 360° panoramic world
- 3D cinema
