Wörgl

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Wörgl
Coat of arms Location
Coat of arms of Wörgl
Map of Austria, position of Wörgl highlighted
Administration
Country  Austria
State Tyrol
District Kufstein
Mayor Arno Abler (ÖVP)
Basic statistics
Area 19.68 km2 (7.6 sq mi)
Elevation 511 m  (1677 ft)
Population 12,043  (1 January 2008)
 - Density 612 /km² (1,585 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate KU
Postal codes 6300-6302
Area codes 043-5332
Website www.woergl.at
Location of Wörgl within Kufstein district
Map

Coordinates: 47°29′0″N 12°04′0″E / 47.483333°N 12.066667°E / 47.483333; 12.066667

Wörgl is a town in Tyrol, Austria, in the Kufstein district. It is 20 km from the state border with Bavaria.

Contents

[edit] Transport

Wörgl is an important railway junction between the line from Innsbruck to Munich, and the inner-Austrian line to Salzburg.

European route E641 connects Wörgl with Salzburg, the routes E45 and E60 (Austrian autobahn A12) pass through Wörgl.

[edit] Twin cities

[edit] The Wörgl Experiment

Worgl was the site of the "Miracle of Worgl" during the Great Depression. It was started on the 31st of July 1932 with the issuing of "Certified Compensation Bills", a form of currency commonly known as Stamp Scrip, or Freigeld. This was an application of the monetary theories of the economist Silvio Gesell by the town's then mayor, Michael Unterguggenberger.

The experiment resulted in a growth in employment and meant that local government projects such as new houses, a reservoir , a ski jump and a bridge could all be completed, seeming to defy the depression in the rest of the country. Inflation and deflation are also reputed to have been non-existent for the duration of the experiment.[2]

Despite attracting great interest at the time, including from French Premier Edouard Daladier and the economist Irving Fisher[3], the "experiment" was terminated by the Austrian National Bank on the 1st September 1933 on the basis of the "Certified Compensation Bills" being a threat to the Bank's monopoly on printing money.[4][5][6][7]

In 2006 milestones were placed, beginning from the railroad station through the downtown, to show this history, on top of questioning the authenticity of never-ending exponential growth triggered by the compound interest.

[edit] Notable citizens

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wörgl's attempt in the 1930s to establish a local currency

[edit] References