History of Hohe Tauern National Park: a case in point of use and protection

Abstract

In Austria, Hohe Tauern National Park occupies a model position. Between 1981 and 1992, the federal states of Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol established the first Austrian national park as Hohe Tauern National Park (NP). If we consider a larger spatial level, however, a completely different picture emerges and the pioneer park turns into a latecomer. All neighbouring countries have considerably older NPs. The Swiss NP, the first NP within the Alpine Arc was established in the 1910s, around 70 years before Hohe Tauern NP. Had the people of Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol and all Austrians overlooked the emergence of NPs for decades? Did they care less about conservation than their neighbours? Or did they simply believe they could do without the internationally acclaimed instrument of a NP? As we will demonstrate below, such assumptions can definitely be refuted. All the same, there is no simple explanation, neither for the long delay nor for the eventual establishment of Hohe Tauern NP. Instead a complex bundle of factors emerges. The analysis is based on research done for our book Geschichte des Nationalparks Hohe Tauern, where you can also find detailed references for the statements made below (Kupper & Wöbse 2013).