Tauern

The word Tauern is German and originally meant "high mountain pass" in the Austrian Central Alps, referring to the many bridleways and passes of the parallel side valleys of the River Salzach that cut into the mountain ranges. From the Middle Ages, when mining reached its heyday, the word "Tauern" was also used to name the corresponding ranges. The name has survived in many local placenames today.

Etymology

The derivation of the name "Tauern" has been variously ascribed.

• The name "Tauern" is an old substrate word (*taur- for "mountain" > ‚"mountain pass, crossing"), which passed directly (less probable) or via the Slavic language (more likely) into German. (The name "Tauern" is probably pre-Slavic, but there is also a common Slavic word, tur- "swelling" > "ridge", "elongated hillock", etc.). 
• Another suggestion is that "Tauern" is the only mountain range that has kept its pre-Slavic name in Carinthia as it was passed down the generations. It is derived from the Indo-Germanic *(s)teur- for "bull, great hill". The Tauern are so-to-speak the "bulls", the old Taurisci of Upper Carinthia, the mountain dwellers, with the old Upper Carinthian town of Teurnia being the corresponding mountain town.

If the name Tauern is pre-Slavic, it could possibly be Celtic, and thus presumably linked to the Taurisci, or it could be Illyrian, a collective term possibly for the pre- and early Celtic population in the Alpine Region. There is no clear link with the name of the municipality of Thaur near Innsbruck, which could be analogous to the Illyrian for "rock", but could also be derived from the Rhaeto-Romance word Tgaura ("goat").

Ranges

The following mountain ranges bear the name Tauern today:

• High Tauern ((German: Hohe Tauern, often just called the Tauern.
• Low Tauern with its subdivisions (from west to east):
  • Radstadt Tauern (German: Radstadter Tauern}}),
  • Schladming Tauern (German:‘‘Schladminger Tauern‘‘]],
  • Rottenmann and Wölz Tauern (German:|Rottenmanner and Wölzer]]
  • Seckau Tauern.
• Ossiach Tauern, ein Bergrücken in the Gurktaler Alpen

The High and Low Tauern together were historically called the Tauern Alps (Tauernalpen) and are still described as such in many mountain range groupings today. They also extend as far as the boundaries of the Brenner Pass–Liesing/Paltental, i.e. including the Zillertal Alps.

Transport links

The following transport links facilitate the crossing of the Tauern from north to south:

• The Felbertauern Road (B108) which passes under the range through the Felbertauern Tunnel in the area of the Felber Tauern.
• The Tauern Railway passes under the mountains through the Tauern Tunnel between the Mallnitz Tauern and the High Tauern. This is the only north-south railway link between the Brenner Pass in the west and the Schober Pass in the east.
• The Großglockner High Alpine Road crosses over the Tauern in the area of the Hochtor mountain.
• The Tauern Autobahn (A10) passes under the Radstadt Tauern.
• The Katschberg Road (B99) crosses the Radstadt Tauern over the Radstadt Tauern Pass.
• The Sölk Pass crosses the Low Tauern and delineates the boundary between the Schladming and the Wölz Tauern.
• The Triebener Straße (B114) crosses the Low Tauern at the village of Hohentauern and delineates the boundary between the Rottenmann and the Triebener (Seckau) Tauern.

Passes

The following passes bear the name Tauern (from west to east):

• in the High Tauern they are all non-drivable mule tracks:
  • The Krimml Tauern (2,634 m) links the Krimmler Achental with the Südtiroler Ahrntal.
  • The Felb Tauern or Windisch-Matrei Tauern (2,481 m) links the Pinzgauer Felbertal with the Osttiroler Tauerntal, in the immediate vicinity of the Alten Tauern (2,498 m).
  • The Kals Tauern (2,518 m) links the Pinzgauer Stubachtal with the Osttiroler Kalser Dorfertal.
  • The Heiligenbluter or Rauris Tauern (2,576 m), commonly called the Hochtor, links the Pinzgau valley of the Fuscher Ache with the Carinthian Möll valley.
  • The Goldberg or Fragant Tauern (2,754 m) links the Pinzgau Rauriser Tal with the Carinthian Fragant Tal.
  • The Low Tauern, also Mallnitz Tauern and the High Tauern (2,459 m), also called the Korntauern, link the Pinzgau valley of Gasteinertal with the Carinthian village of Mallnitz and the Möll valleyl.
• in the Low Tauern:
• * the Radstadt Tauern (1,738 m) links Radstadt in the Pongau with Mauterndorf in the Lungau via the two Taurach valleys.
• * the Trieben Tauern (1.278 m), also called the Rottenmann Tauern, links the Palten valley near Trieben with the Pölstal.
• in the Kitzbühel Alps:
  • Thurntauern, today the Thurn Pass

Entsprechende der Pässe findet sich Tauerntal ebenso wie Tauernbach and auch Taurach mehrmals, letztere teilweise von einem Tauern Pass in beide Richtungen.

Places

The following places also take their names from the term Tauern:

• the Pongau municipality of Untertauern below the Radstadt Tauern Pass,

* the winter sports village of Obertauern on the Radstadt Tauern Pass,

• the cadastral municipality of Untertauern from Ossiach by the Ossiach Tauern

* the hamlet of Tauern in Ossiach

• the village of Tauer in Matrei in Osttirol

Mountains

Several mountains, especially near the passes, bear names derived from the term Tauern:

• Felber Tauernkogel (2,988 m), in the west of the Felber Tauern in the Venediger Group.
  • Tauernkopf (2,704 m), an insignificant foothill on the eastern arête of the Felber Tauernkogel.
• Tauernklammhöhe (2,798 m), an insignificant summit Gipfel between the Hollersbachtal and the Felbertal in the Venediger Group. The ravine of Tauernklamm bisects its eastern flank.
• Kals Tauernkogel (2,683 m), northwest of the Kals Tauern in the Granatspitze Group.
• Tauernkopf (2,626 m),east of the Hochtor in the Goldberg Group.
• Tauernkogel (2,249 m) in the Tennen Mountains, giving its name to the Tauernkogel Group.
• Funtenseetauern and Gotzentauern in the Berchtesgaden Alps.

Other usages

• The Tauern Ridgeway crosses the Ankogel and Goldberg Groups from Murtörl to the Heiligenbluter Hochtor.
• Tauernmoossee in the Stubach valley
• Hohe Tauern National Park
• Tauernkraftwerke AG (Kraftwerk Kaprun)
• Tauernscheckenziege

Literature

• August Prinzinger: Die Tauern. In: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Salzburger Landeskunde (MGSLK) 7, 1867, S. 46-78 (Google eBook, vollständige Ansicht, p. 46, at Google Books)
• Heinrich Wallmann: Was versteht man unter Tauern? Eine alpine Studie. In: Zeitschrift des Deutschen Alpenvereins, Jahrgang 1869–70 (Band I), pp. 442–472. (Online bei ALO).
• Eberhard Kranzmayer: Ortsnamenbuch von Kärnten. Band 1, Die Siedlungsgeschichte Kärntens von der Urzeit bis zur Gegenwart im Spiegel der Namen. Archiv für vaterländische Geschichte und Topographie, Band 50. Verlag des Geschichtsvereines für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1956. 
• Willi End, Hubert Peterka: Glocknergruppe und Granatspitzgruppe – ein Führer für Täler, Hütten und Berge, verfaßt nach den Richtlinien der UIAA. 8., vollständig neu bearbeitete Auflage. Alpenvereinsführer, Zentralalpen. Bergverlag Rother, Munich, 1990, ISBN 3-7633-1258-7.
• Willi End, Hubert Peterka (Begr.): Venedigergruppe – mit nördlichen Deferegger Alpen (Panargenkamm, Lasörlingkamm). Alpenvereinsführer für Täler, Hütten und Berge, verfasst nach den Richtlinien der UIAA für Wanderer, Bergsteiger und Kletterer. 5., aktualisierte und vollständig neu bearbeitete Auflage. Alpenvereinsführer, Ostalpen. Bergverlag Rother, Munich, 2006, ISBN 3-7633-1242-0.
• Heinz-Dieter Pohl: Die Bergnamen der Hohen Tauern. OeAV-Dokumente, Vol. 6. Österreichischer Alpenverein, Fachabteilung Raumplanung-Naturschutz, Innsbruck 2009. 

External links

• Tauern in Austria-Forum (in German) (at AEIOU)