Kitzbühel

Coordinates: 47°26′47″N 12°23′31″E / 47.44639°N 12.39194°E / 47.44639; 12.39194
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel in mid-August 2008
Kitzbühel in mid-August 2008
Postal code
6370
Area code05356
Vehicle registrationKB
WebsiteKitzbühel

Kitzbühel (German:

high society and has the most expensive real estate in Austria.[3] The proximity to Munich has made it a preferred location for vacation homes among the German elite.[4][5]

Geography

Kitzbühel is situated in the Kitzbühel Alps between

Kitzbüheler Ache
river.

The town is subdivided into the municipalities of Am Horn, Aschbachbichl, Badhaussiedlung, Bichlach, Ecking, Felseneck, Griesenau, Griesenauweg, Gundhabing, Hagstein, Hausstatt, Henntal, Jodlfeld, Kaps, Mühlau, Obernau, Schattberg, Seereith, Siedlung Frieden, Am Sonnberg, Sonnenhoffeld, Staudach, Stockerdörfl and Zephirau.

The neighbouring municipalities are

.

Kitzbühel's historic centre is mainly

restaurants.

Climate

Kitzbühel
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
71
 
 
1
−8
 
 
67
 
 
4
−6
 
 
85
 
 
9
−3
 
 
82
 
 
13
1
 
 
109
 
 
19
6
 
 
157
 
 
21
9
 
 
172
 
 
23
11
 
 
151
 
 
23
11
 
 
103
 
 
19
8
 
 
74
 
 
14
3
 
 
82
 
 
6
−2
 
 
83
 
 
2
−6
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: ZAMG
Imperial conversion
JFMAMJJASOND
 
 
2.8
 
 
34
18
 
 
2.6
 
 
39
21
 
 
3.3
 
 
48
27
 
 
3.2
 
 
55
34
 
 
4.3
 
 
66
43
 
 
6.2
 
 
70
48
 
 
6.8
 
 
73
52
 
 
5.9
 
 
73
52
 
 
4.1
 
 
66
46
 
 
2.9
 
 
57
37
 
 
3.2
 
 
43
28
 
 
3.3
 
 
36
21
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Climate data for Kitzbühel (1971–2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 12.1
(53.8)
16.0
(60.8)
22.5
(72.5)
27.6
(81.7)
30.0
(86.0)
34.6
(94.3)
36.3
(97.3)
34.8
(94.6)
29.9
(85.8)
25.0
(77.0)
20.4
(68.7)
15.6
(60.1)
36.3
(97.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 1.3
(34.3)
4.0
(39.2)
8.7
(47.7)
13.1
(55.6)
18.8
(65.8)
20.7
(69.3)
23.2
(73.8)
23.3
(73.9)
19.4
(66.9)
14.1
(57.4)
6.1
(43.0)
1.8
(35.2)
12.9
(55.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) −4.1
(24.6)
−2.3
(27.9)
1.9
(35.4)
6.3
(43.3)
11.6
(52.9)
14.4
(57.9)
16.4
(61.5)
16.1
(61.0)
12.1
(53.8)
7.1
(44.8)
0.9
(33.6)
−2.8
(27.0)
6.5
(43.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −7.7
(18.1)
−6.3
(20.7)
−2.5
(27.5)
1.3
(34.3)
5.7
(42.3)
9.0
(48.2)
11.1
(52.0)
11.0
(51.8)
7.5
(45.5)
3.0
(37.4)
−2.3
(27.9)
−5.8
(21.6)
2.0
(35.6)
Record low °C (°F) −25.0
(−13.0)
−21.0
(−5.8)
−27.2
(−17.0)
−11.6
(11.1)
−5.8
(21.6)
1.6
(34.9)
1.2
(34.2)
2.0
(35.6)
−3.4
(25.9)
−9.0
(15.8)
−18.0
(−0.4)
−20.6
(−5.1)
−27.2
(−17.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 70.7
(2.78)
66.7
(2.63)
85.2
(3.35)
82.3
(3.24)
109.2
(4.30)
157.2
(6.19)
172.0
(6.77)
150.7
(5.93)
102.8
(4.05)
73.6
(2.90)
81.5
(3.21)
83.2
(3.28)
1,235.1
(48.63)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 43.3
(17.0)
46.7
(18.4)
35.6
(14.0)
8.6
(3.4)
0.2
(0.1)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.5
(0.2)
20.4
(8.0)
50.3
(19.8)
205.6
(80.9)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 9.5 9.2 12.2 12.2 12.8 15.5 15.4 13.8 10.8 9.3 10.6 11.0 142.3
Average
relative humidity
(%) (at 14:00)
70.4 58.9 50.5 46.7 45.0 52.2 50.8 50.1 52.8 56.5 68.2 76.9 56.6
Source:
Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics[6]

History

Earliest people

The first known settlers were Illyrians mining copper in the hills around Kitzbühel between 1100 and 800 BC.

Around 15 BC, the

Bavarii
settled in the Kitzbühel region around 800 and started clearing forests.

Middle Ages

In the 12th century, the name Chizbuhel is mentioned for the first time in a document belonging to the

Vogtei of the Bamberg
monastery in Kicemgespuchel and, in the 1271 document elevating the settlement to the status of a town, the place is called Chizzingenspuehel.

Kitzbühel became part of

town rights
on 6 June 1271, and it was fortified with defensive town walls. During the next centuries the town established itself as a market town, growing steadily and remaining unaffected by war and conflict. The town walls were eventually reduced to the level of a single storey building, and the stone used to build residential housing.

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1869 2,982—    
1880 3,167+6.2%
1890 3,290+3.9%
1900 3,453+5.0%
1910 4,021+16.4%
1923 4,378+8.9%
1934 5,294+20.9%
1939 5,419+2.4%
1951 7,211+33.1%
1961 7,744+7.4%
1971 8,020+3.6%
1981 7,840−2.2%
1991 8,119+3.6%
2001 8,574+5.6%
2008 8,437−1.6%
2011 8,207−2.7%
2017 8,341+1.6%
Source: Statistik Austria

When Countess

Landshut War of Succession
.

However, the law of Louis of Bavaria continued to apply to the three aforementioned places until the 19th century, so that these towns had a special legal status within Tyrol. Maximilian enfeoffed Kitzbühel, with the result that it came under the rule of the Counts of

Lamberg
at the end of the 16th century, until 1 May 1840, when Kitzbühel was ceremonially transferred to the state.

An inscription in the Swedish Chapel dating to the Swedish War states "Bis hierher und nicht weiter kamen die schwedischen Reiter" ("The Swedish knights came as far as here but no further").[7]

18th century to modern day

The wars of the 18th and 19th century bypassed the town, even though its inhabitants participated in the

compromise of 1867), head of the district of the same name, one of the 21 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in the Tyrol province.[8]

When Emperor

Franz Joseph finally resolved the confusing constitutional situation,[clarification needed] and following completion of the Salzburg-Tyrol Railway in 1875, the town's trade and industry flourished. In 1894, Kitzbühel hosted its first ski race, ushering in a new era of tourism and sport.[9]

In 1924 Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis, a British diplomat and spy, with his wife, the novelist Phyllis Bottome, started the Tennerhof school in Kitzbühel. Based on the teaching of languages, the school was intended to be a community and an educational laboratory to determine how psychology (specifically the theories of Alfred Adler) and educational theory could cure the ills of nations. Among the pupils were the future authors Ralph Arnold, Nigel Dennis, Ian Fleming and Cyril Connolly.[10]

Kitzbühel was the town to host the remenants of the

Nazi made Serbian collaborationist government the Government of National Salvation from 1944 to the end of the war. Kitzbühel also had the good fortune to remain undamaged from the ravages of the First and Second World Wars.[11]
Since the year 2000 the town has been a member of the Climate Alliance of Tyrol.

The town's demographic evolution between 1869 and 2017 is shown in the list to the right.

Places of interest

Notable people

In the 1950s, local legends like Ernst Hinterseer, Hias Leitner, Anderl Molterer, Christian Pravda, Fritz Huber Jr. and Toni Sailer wrote skiing history. They put Kitzbühel on the map and their names still resonate today. Now there is a new generation earning the title of Kitzbühel legends: Rosi Schipflinger, Axel Naglich, Kaspar Frauenschuh, and David Kreiner. Along with sporting achievements, fashion, and food, they are part of Kitzbühel's unique culture:

Hansi Hinterseer, 2006
Toni Sailer, 1956
Ireen Sheer, 2018
Haddaway, 2019
  • Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre (1850–1928), Austrian entomologist and botanist
  • Alfons Walde (1891–1958), Austrian expressionist painter and architect
  • Peter Aufschnaiter (1900–1973), an Austrian mountaineer, agricultural scientist, geographer and cartographer.
  • Georg Hochfilzer (born 1937), famous international hotel director of the Hotel Bristol in Vienna
  • Jörg Friedrich (born 1944) German author and historian
  • Roman Strobl (born 1951), Austrian sculptor
  • schlager
    singer, actor, entertainer and former alpine skier.

Sport

Famous inhabitants of Kitzbühel

Sport

Kitzbühel is one of Europe’s best-known

Kitzbühler Horn (1,996 m (6,549 ft)) to the northeast. The Hahnenkamm hosts the annual World Cup ski races, including the circuit's most notable event, the Hahnenkamm Races on the notable Streif slope. Introduced 87 years ago in 1937, the northeast-facing Streif is among the world's toughest downhill courses, if not the most, and is infamous for an abundance of spectacular crashes. In 1959 the Austrian Alpine Ski Championships
took place from 27 February to 1 March.

Each summer Kitzbühel also hosts an

Austrian Open
.

From 2007 to 2011,

ITU Triathlon World Cup races took place at the local Schwarzsee lake.[12]

The Kitzbüheler Alpenrallye is an annual festival of historic automobiles, first held 36 years ago in 1988. The first trip of the United Buddy Bears was 2004 to Kitzbühel, following by the first trip into the "big wide world" – when they went to Hong Kong and many other metropolises on all five continents.

Since 2003, Kitzbühel has been hosting an annual Snow Polo event in January.

Tourism

Winter snow in Kitzbühel

Together with the

Jochberg and by the Thurn Pass
Kitzbühel is one of the largest ski regions in Austria. With around 10,000 hotel and guest house beds, Kitzbühel and its neighbours have an unusually high density of guest accommodation.

Holidaymakers in Kitzbühel have 56 cableway and lift facilities and 168 kilometres of slopes available to them, as well as 40 kilometres of groomed cross-country skiing tracks. Of note is the relatively new

3S Cable Car
, the cable car with the highest above-ground span in the world.

In summer there are 120 km (75 mi) of mountain bike paths and 500 km (311 mi) of hiking trails.

Other attractions include six tennis courts and four golf courses, the Kitzbühel swimming pool, Austria's only curling hall and the bathing lake of Schwarzsee.

Kitzbühel primarily caters for the high end of the tourist market, as many celebrities and the jet set come here, especially during the international races on the Hahnenkamm.

Together with eleven other towns Kitzbühel is a member of the community Best of the Alps.[13] KitzSki, Kitzbühel's main ski lift operator, has managed to defend the title of “World's Best Ski Resort Company” for the seventh time in a row at the 2020 World Ski Awards.[14]

Music

An International Polkafest was held in Kitzbühel in 1978.[15]

Transport

Road:

The Brixental Road, the B170, from Wörgl intersects in Kitzbühel with the Thurn Pass Road, the B161, from Mittersill to St. Johann in Tirol. Kitzbühel station is a major bus stop for buses to Lienz and Wörgl.

Rail:

Kitzbühel Hauptbahnhof, Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm and Kitzbühel Schwarzsee are stops on the Salzburg-Tyrol Railway. Whilst Hahnenkamm and Schwarzsee stations are served by local trains only, long-distance services from Innsbruck and Graz stop at Kitzbühel station. Kitzbühel station has just been rebuilt (2010) and been equipped with new barrier-less platforms with underpasses and a lift. From 2011 there will be no stationmaster at Kitzbühel and it will no longer be possible to buy tickets at the counter.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Kitzbühel is

twinned with:[16]

Gallery

  • The Schwarzsee lake and Wilder Kaiser mountains as the backdrop
    The Schwarzsee lake and Wilder Kaiser mountains as the backdrop
  • The medieval churches of Liebfrauenkirche (l) and St Andrew's (r).
    The medieval churches of Liebfrauenkirche (l) and St Andrew's (r).
  • The Liebfrauenkirche church with its 48 m bell tower.
    The Liebfrauenkirche church with its 48 m bell tower.
  • St Andrew's with its 13th century tower.
    St Andrew's with its 13th century tower.
  • St Catherine's from the north.
    St Catherine's from the north.
  • St Catherine's from the south.
    St Catherine's from the south.
  • Kitzbühel's twin churches, the Liebfrauenkirche and St Andrew's.
    Kitzbühel's twin churches, the Liebfrauenkirche and St Andrew's.
  • The Kitzbüheler Horn seen from the cable car to the Hahnenkamm.
    The Kitzbüheler Horn seen from the cable car to the Hahnenkamm.
  • War memorial in Kitzbühel
    War memorial in Kitzbühel

Panorama

Panorama of Kitzbühel

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Dauersiedlungsraum der Gemeinden Politischen Bezirke und Bundesländer - Gebietsstand 1.1.2018". Statistics Austria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Einwohnerzahl 1.1.2018 nach Gemeinden mit Status, Gebietsstand 1.1.2018". Statistics Austria. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  3. ^ Online, Wiener Zeitung (9 February 2010). "- Kitzbühel housing is most expensive". English News from Austria - Wiener Zeitung Online (in German). Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  4. ^ ""Schauplatz" über reiche Deutsche in Kitzbühel: Städtchen Drumherum". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  5. ^ Dalmann, Johannes (2022-01-26). "Kitzbühel – wo die deutsche Wirtschaftselite wohnt". Business Leaders (in German). Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  6. ^ "Klimadaten von Österreich 1971–2000 – Tirol-Kitzbühel" (in German). Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics. Archived from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  7. ^ The legend of the unknown knight
  8. ^ Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890, Wilhelm KLEIN, 1967
  9. ^ Chizzali. Tyrol: Impressions of Tyrol. (Innsbruck: Alpina Printers and Publishers), p. 46
  10. ^ John Pearson. The Life of Ian Fleming (1966)
  11. ^ History of Tyrol – Kitzbühel
  12. ^ "Kitzbuhel Triathlon". International Triathlon Union. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  13. ^ Best of the Alps
  14. ^ "World Ski Awards 2017". www.kitzski.at. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  15. ^ "Eugene Weisbeck". Bismarck Tribune. May 7, 2014. ... Smithsonian Institute Music Festival [sic] in Washington, D.C. In 1978, he represented the United States at the International Polkafest in Kilzbuhel, Austria.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g "Partnerstädte". Stadtgemeinde Kitzbühel (in German). Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  17. ^ 山形市の友好姉妹都市 [Yamagata City Twin Cities] (in Japanese). Japan: Yamagata City. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  18. ^ "Partnerstädte" (in German). Bad Soden am Taunus. Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2013-12-11.

External links

Media related to Kitzbühel at Wikimedia Commons