Attractions & Landmarks In Galtür

Located in Tirol, Austria’s Paznaun Valley, lies the little community and ski resort known as Galtür. It is well-known for the Silvretta High Alpine Road, the Alpinarium museum, and its picturesque scenery. Among Galtür’s landmarks and attractions are:

Alpinarium Galtür: The Alpinarium Galtür is a remarkable and unparalleled multi-media museum, information hub, and documentation center devoted to the natural history, culture, and environment of Galtür and its environs.It also has a café with expansive views and a climbing wall.
Pfarrkirche Galtür: This lovely eighteenth-century baroque church was built. Its interior is lavishly furnished with sculptures, paintings, and frescoes.Several well-known local figures, like the painter Anton Falch and poet Johann Pfeifer, are buried there as well.
Bergbahnen Silvretta: The Silvapark ski resort, which provides slopes for all skill levels as well as cross-country routes, winter hiking pathways, and a snow park, is connected to Galtür by the Bergbahnen Silvretta cable car system.The cable car is also open in the summer for mountain bikers and hikers who wish to take in the breathtaking surroundings.
Silvretta High Alpine Road: The 10-kilometer beautiful Silvretta High Alpine Road connects the Paznaun Valley to the Montafon Valley in the adjacent region of Vorarlberg.It ascends to the Bielerhöhe Pass and the Silvretta Reservoir, offering tourists breath-taking views of the Silvretta Range’s peaks and glaciers. The route is well-liked by drivers, bikers, and motorcyclists and is open from June to October.

Alpinarium Galtür

Built as a portion of an avalanche protection wall following a deadly avalanche that struck the town of Galtür in 1999, the Alpinarium Galtür is a unique museum and cultural center. The museum presents Galtür’s and the Paznaun Valley’s history, culture, and natural environment together with the effects of the avalanche on the nearby population. Along with an indoor climbing wall, a library, and a conference room, the museum has a panoramic café.

Nestled in the center of the hamlet, the Alpinarium Galtür is encircled by the magnificent mountains of the Silvretta Range. Integrated inside a 700,000 kilogramme steel barrier wall measuring 345 meters long and 19 meters high is the museum. The wall was built to symbolise the tenacity and optimism of the Galtür people as well as to shield the community from potential avalanche. The wall also acts as a tribute to the thirty-one people who perished in the February 23, 1999, Sonnenberg avalanch.

The connection between Galtür’s residents and their surroundings is examined in the museum’s permanent exhibition, “AT THE TOP – stories about Galtür and the world”. The show includes subjects on the Alps’ creation, climate, erosion, precipitation, avalanches, and human adaption to the alpine environment. A unique and endangered flower that grows exclusively in the region, the Galtür gentian, is also told in the show. To captivate visitors and tell the tales of Galtür and the globe, the exhibition employs multimedia and interactive components.

The 1999 avalanche catastrophe is also commemorated in a particular chamber of the museum. The chamber has testimony from the survivors and rescuers together with pictures, films, and personal items of the victims. In addition to remembering the deaths, the chamber seeks to consider the lessons discovered from the tragedy.

The museum provides its guests with a range of facilities and activities as well. A bite or a drink may be had at the “Frozen Water” panoramic café while taking in the 360-degree view of the Alps. On a 90 square metre area, the indoor climbing wall puts climbers of all abilities to the test. All ages and interests of readers will find a variety of books and publications in the “ZUM LESA” library. In addition, the museum hosts a kids treasure hunt where the younger guests must answer questions about the lives of their forebears and the two marmots, Alpa and Alpu.

Additionally available for hire for meetings, workshops, and gatherings is the seminar room within the museum. It can hold up to fifty people and has contemporary technologies. Two of the tallest peaks in the area, the Ballunspitze and the Gorfenspitze, are also breathtakingly visible from the accommodation.

Year-round operation of the Alpinarium Galtür is pending Monday closures. Adults pay ten euros, pensioners and students pay nine, children and those with disabilities pay six, and children under six go free. Additionally available are family tickets and tickets that include access to the Galtür indoor pool. For an additional charge of 4 euros per person, the museum provides guided tours to groups of at least 5 individuals.

Remarkable museum Alpinarium Galtür blends art, architecture, and environment. There, guests may discover the potential and difficulties of living in an alpine setting in addition to the history, present, and future of Galtür and the Paznaun Valley. It is also a location where tourists may take in the customs and friendliness of the locals in addition to the splendor and variety of the mountain landscape. For anybody visiting Galtür or the Tirol area, the Alpinarium Galtür is an essential sight.

Pfarrkirche Galtür

The Nativity of Mary-focused Pfarrkirche Galtür is a Catholic parish and pilgrimage church. Situated in the Paznaun Valley in Tirol, Austria, on a hill near the westernmost point of the settlement of Galtür. A classified monument, the church is part of the Zams deanery of the Innsbruck diocese.

The church was founded in the fourteenth century when the prince-bishop of Chur dedicated the first church and cemetery on June 24, 1383. The Chur bishop, who at the time had the ecclesiastical authority of the area, gave his approval for the church to be constructed. An supposed previous discovery in the region of a miraculous picture of Mary, the Advocate of the Poor, was also kept in the church.For the locals as well as the German-speaking Walser who arrived in Galtür in 1320, the church functioned as a spiritual focus.

The church was extended in the second part of the 15th century, and in 1483 a new high altar and a right side altar were dedicated. A papal bull issued in 1500 gave the church and the pilgrims particular rights.Galtür split from its home parish of Ardez in the Engadin in 1565 when the Engadin valley turned Protestant and became an autonomous parish in the vicariate of Montafon of the ecclesiastical province of Chur.

The Engadiners destroyed the church and 34 other homes in the community in 1622. The miracle picture of Mary was all that made it through the fire. By 1624 the church had been restored, and between 1777 and 1779 it was baroqueized. Rich rococo stucco work and murals adorn the expanded, vaulted church interior. Galtür was included into the diocese of Brixen in 1816. The church parish was included into the recently established Innsbruck-Feldkirch church province in 1925.

The church was enlarged and restored between 1966 and 1968 under the supervision of well-known Austrian architect Clemens Holzmeister. The nave was enlarged, and both the inside and the outside were totally renovated.Added were a vestibule and a new war memorial chapel.

Plaster window frames and corner pilasters adorn the polygonal apse of the church’s straightforward five-bay nave. Shakes cover the ceiling. With two round-arched windows, the tower is affixed to the eastern bay of the nave and most likely dates from the second part of the 14th century. Built most likely after the 1622 fire, the second bell tower features pointed-arched windows and cornices separating it. Added in the first part of the 19th century were the spire and the curving gable. The two oldest bells in Paznaun valley, which avoided melting during the two world wars, are housed in the tower. The sacristy is attached to the choir on the north. In 1967–1968 the vestibule was linked to the war memorial chapel, a rectangular structure with a half-onion dome and a circular apse facing west.

The late baroque stucco work and 1777 paintings dominate the inside of the church. Originally three bay, the nave was made four bay. High round arched windows broke up the pilastered, level wall framework. In 1968 the vestibule was expanded to include the two-story west gallery. In a stucco cartouche on the triumphal arch, which is rather elongated, is the year 1777. A barrel vault with lunettes vaults the five-sided choir. Johann Wörle (1777) created the ceiling paintings with the lateral cartouches and central medallions. The four evangelists in the choir and historical events from the building of the cathedral in 1383 and the fire in the nave in 1622 are also shown. Wolfram Köberl created the Archangels Michael and Raphael and the Visitation on the west side in 1967. End of the eighteenth-century wrought-iron crosses may be seen in the cemetery.

Rich rococo sculpture dating from about 1770 to 1780 adorns the church’s identical baroque altar apparatus. Johann Lander sculpted the figurines.Andreas Miller completed painting the 1771 high altar in 1778.

Bergbahnen Silvretta

Galtür is linked to Silvapark ski resort by the Bergbahnen Silvretta cable car system, which also provides cross-country routes, winter hiking pathways, and a snow park in addition to slopes suitable for all skill levels of skiers and snowboarders.Summertime brings the cable car back into service for cyclists and hikers wishing to take in the breathtaking mountain vistas.

Comprising four cable cars and two chairlifts, the Bergbahnen Silvretta spans 11.5 kilometers and has a 1,000-meter vertical drop in total. Here are the cable cars:

Alpkogelbahn: The Alpkogel mountain station (2,050 meters) is reached by a 10-person gondola from the Wirl valley station (1,600 meters). Six minutes is the trip duration and it can hold 2,400 passengers every hour. The former two-person chairlift was superseded by this one in 2007.
Birkhahnbahn: This 8-person gondola travels 2,050 meters from the Alpkogel mountain station to 2,300 meters at Birkhahn. It can carry 2,400 passengers in an hour and takes five minutes to travel.It took over for the previous drag lift in 2007.
Breitspitzbahn: Connecting the Birkhahn mountain station (2,300 meters) to the Breitspitz mountain station (2,500 meters), this 6-person chairlift features a bubble and seat heating system. It can carry 2,400 passengers each hour and takes 4 minutes to get there. The former four-person chairlift was superseded by this one in 2010.
Klein-Zeinisbahn: Connecting the Wirl valley station (1,600 metres) to the Klein-Zeinis mountain station (2,100 metres), this 6-person chairlift features a bubble and heated seats. It can carry 2,400 people in an hour and takes seven minutes to get there.Built in 2010, it took the place of the previous drag lift.

Chairlifts include:

Ballunspitzbahn: This four-person chairlift travels from the 2,500-meter Ballunspitze mountain station to the 2,050-meter Alpkogel mountain station. It can carry 1,800 passengers an hour and takes eight minutes to get there.Having been constructed in 1997, it is the tallest chairlift in the Paznaun valley.
Kopseelift: Operating from the Wirl valley station (1,600 meters) to the Kopsee mountain station (1,800 meters), this two-person chairlift. It can carry 1,200 passengers an hour and takes five minutes to get there.Mostly utilized by novices and kids, it was constructed in 1986.

Accessible via the Bergbahnen Silvretta, the Silvapark ski area boasts 43 kilometers of slopes, 6 kilometers of ski routes, and 15 kilometers of cross-country paths. There are six sectors in all, each with a distinct theme and degree of difficulty. Sectors are:

Zwergerlwelt: Here is where kids and novices can pick up the fundamentals of skiing and snowboarding in a safe and enjoyable setting. There’s a playground, a carousel, a rope tow, a magic carpet and a tubing course.
Abenteuerland: Families and intermediate skiers will find a snow park, a boardercross, and a fun slope in addition to a variety of difficult and varied slopes in Abenteuerland.Along with a restaurant, it offers ski rentals, and a ski school.
Actionpark: With steep and mogul slopes, a freeride section, a speed track, and a slalom course, Actionpark is the sector for experienced and expert skiers to test their abilities and adrenaline.Along with a first aid station, lodge, and ski patrol, it also includes.
Heldenreich: Heldenreich is the area where snowboarders and freestylers may showcase their skills and flair on a slopestyle, big air, halfpipe, and amusement park.A bar, sound system, and chill-out space are other included.
Paznauner Thaya: Skiers seeking panoramic and picturesque views of the surrounding mountains and valleys can find them on broad, sunny slopes in this area. Along with a restaurant, it features a photo op and an observation platform.
Nordic: This is the area for winter hikers and cross-country skiers to enjoy the serene and lovely scenery on well maintained and designated routes.A ski school, a lodge, and a biathlon centre are other facilities there.

For the tourists, the Bergbahnen Silvretta provides a range of amenities and activities. Use of the ski bus, which links Galtür with the other ski resorts in the Paznaun valley, including Ischgl, Kappl, and See, is included in the cable car tickets. For those interested in the local environment and culture, the cable car also arranges toboggan runs, snowshoe treks, and guided ski trips.For the convenience of the visitors, the cable car also features a ski shop, a ski depot, and a ski service.

Galtür is linked with the Silvapark ski resort, which has slopes for all skill levels, cross-country routes, winter hiking pathways, and a snow park, via the contemporary and effective Bergbahnen Silvretta cable car system. Summertime brings the cable car back into service for cyclists and hikers wishing to take in the breathtaking mountain vistas.