The National Park idea

History and future

In order to establish the national park as we know it today, a number of hurdles had to be overcome. When Yellowstone National Park was founded in the Rocky Mountains in 1872, no one could have imagined that this would lay the foundation for a global vision: the NATIONAL PARK idea.

The national park idea means preserving outstanding natural landscapes for us and future generations, and also making them tangible and experienceable for people.

In 1913, 1,100 hectares of land were purchased in the Hohe Tauern - in the Stubachtal and Amertal valleys - with the purpose of establishing a protected area here. The model was the well-known national parks already existing in the USA. The initiator was Dr. August Prinzinger, a member of the Salzburg state parliament, and the buyer was the Stuttgart-Hamburg Nature Conservation Park Association.

Nationalpark Vereinbarung Heiligenblut

Thanks to the initiative of August Prinzinger, the national park idea first gained a foothold in the Hohe Tauern. Due to wars and economic crises, it took several decades until the governors of Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol signed the declaration of intent to establish a Hohe Tauern National Park in 1971 - the Heiligenblut Agreement. Five decades have passed since it was signed, many things have changed and developed further, but the view into the future, in order to preserve the impressive natural landscape and to offer people an impressive experience of nature, has always been maintained.

The development of the National Park has always been based on partnership and this way opened the Hohe Tauern National Park Salzburg the "International Recognition" according to the criteria of the World Conservation Union IUCN in 2006.

More about protection, alpine pastures and real wilderness