Heiligenblut am Großglockner is an Austrian municipality with 997
inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020) in the Spittal an der Drau
district in Carinthia.
Heiligenblut is a high alpine village
and is often visited as a starting point for visiting the Pasterze
and for climbing the Großglockner. Heiligenblut is the starting
point of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road.
According to
legend, the name "Heiligenblut" comes from a vial with the blood of
Christ, which Briccius (also Briktius, Brictius, Latin for
Friedrich), a Danish prince, was buried here by an avalanche on his
way back from Constantinople around 914 , in the calf to protect it
from predators. From the masses of snow under which he was buried,
three ears of wheat grew out, whereby his body and the blood relic
were found. When some farmers tried to bury him, one leg stubbornly
refused to stay underground. When the matter was investigated, the
small bottle was found, which has since been kept in the sacrament
house of the parish church of St. Vincent, which was built between
1460 and 1491. A request from the community of Heiligenblut to
canonize Briccius was never approved for lack of evidence, which did
not prevent the community from building its own crypt and an altar.
In addition to the predominant agriculture and alpine farming,
gold was mined in Heiligenblut until the 20th century.
The
high mountain region around Heiligenblut developed from the end of
the 19th century into a classic summer resort and from the 1930s
into a two-season tourist region. The Großglockner High Alpine Road,
opened in 1935 and whose southern starting point is Heiligenblut,
played a decisive role in this. Around the mountains Schareck (2606
m above sea level) and Gjaidtroghöhe (2988 m above sea level) above
the community a high alpine ski center with modern lifts between
1301 m above sea level was established. A. and 2900 m above sea
level A. erected.
Farbenstein castle ruins
Catholic parish church Heiligenblut
hl. Vinzenz: Located south below the town center on a slope, it is a
steeply rising Gothic building from the 15th century in its current
appearance. A chapel was first mentioned in a document as early as
1271; it was renewed from 1273 and completed in 1301. In the late
14th century, a new building was started, the choir was completed
around 1430. In 1909/11 the church was restored and equipped with
new furnishings and new windows. The high altar from 1520 shows the
coronation of Mariae at a height of 11 meters. He comes from the
Bolzano school, which is the successor to Michael Pacher.
Briccius Chapel near Heiligenblut
Briccius Chapel: The chapel is
located west of Winkl at an altitude of 1629 m. The small
rectangular building was built in 1872. Above the altar is a baroque
painting with 16 depictions from the Briccius legend.
Pockhorn
branch church
Aichhorn Chapel
Grossglockner High Alpine Road,
at 2504 m above sea level. A. one of the highest alpine passes in
the Eastern Alps.
Gold digging village Heiligenblut: The Tauern
area was the most productive gold mining area in Europe from Roman
times until World War II.
Apriacher Stockmühlen
Regional
customs
The Heiligenbluter Sternsingen was included in the
register of intangible cultural heritage in Austria in 2010.
Heiligenblut is located at an average of 1288 m above sea level at the foot of the Großglockner (3798 m) at the top end of the Mölltal in the Hohe Tauern National Park. The Fleiss Valley is near Heiligenblut.
The community is divided into the cadastral communities Apriach,
Rojach and Zlapp and Hof. In addition to the village of the same name,
the municipal area includes the following localities, each qualified as
a village (number of inhabitants in brackets as of January 1, 2023):
Aichhorn (34)
Apriah (124)
diligence (43)
Hadergasse (48)
courtyard (147)
Pockhorn (108)
Royach (136)
(Unter) Schachnern
(63)
Untertauern (68)
Winkl (172)
Cloudersdorf (21)
Zlapp
The main town is the village of Heiligenblut. It is about 55
kilometers northwest of Spittal. It is in the middle of the community,
at around 1290 m above sea level. A. Height left above the Möll, at the
southern foot of the Schareck (2606 m above sea level), the local
mountain, to which a cable car also leads. The Großglocknerstraße (B107)
ends in the village and the Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße begins.
It
belongs to the village of Hof, which therefore represents the nominal
community capital, and to the cadastral community of Zlapp and Hof.
The place is a typical church village and more recent. It only
developed with the rise of tourism, especially after the construction of
the High Alpine Road in the 1930s. As of 2013, there were around 70
buildings, which is almost a seventh of the entire community.
According to legend, the name “Holy Blood” comes from a vial
containing the blood of Christ that Briccius (also Briktius,
Brictius, Latin for Frederick), a Danish prince who was buried by an
avalanche here around 914 on the way back from Constantinople, had
grown into his calf to protect it from robbers. Three ears of corn
grew out of the mass of snow under which he was buried, which is how
his body and the blood relic were found. When some farmers wanted to
bury him, one leg stubbornly refused to stay under the ground. When
they got to the bottom of the matter, they found the bottle, which
has since been kept in the sacrament house of the parish church of
St. Vincent, which was built between 1460 and 1491. A request by the
community of Heiligenblut to canonize Briccius was never approved
due to a lack of evidence, which did not prevent the community from
building Briccius's own crypt and altar.
In addition to the
predominant farming and alpine farming, gold was mined in
Heiligenblut up until the 20th century.
The high mountain
region around Heiligenblut developed from the end of the 19th
century into a classic summer resort and from the 1930s into a
bi-seasonal tourism region. The Grossglockner High Alpine Road,
which opened in 1935 and starts in the south from Heiligenblut,
plays a significant role in this. Around the mountains Schareck
(2606 m above sea level) and Gjaidtroghöhe (2988 m above sea level)
above the community a high alpine ski center with modern lifts
between 1301 m above sea level was built. A. and 2900 m above sea
level. A. erected.
According to the 2001 census, 95.5% of the population were Roman Catholic, 1.8% are Protestant. The proportions of other denominations are each below 1%. 0.7% are not religious.
In 2019, 997 people lived in the municipality. At the time of the 2001 census, Heiligenblut had 1,185 inhabitants. Of these, 97.7% had Austrian and 1.1% German citizenship. Between the 1991 and 2001 censuses, the resident population decreased by 5.9% due to emigration. The emigration could not be offset by a slightly positive birth rate. Before that, the population had already decreased by 5.4% since 1981. Compared to the neighboring communities, Heiligenblut shows the strongest decline in population.
When comparing employment, Heiligenblut shows some peculiarities in
comparison with the neighboring communities of Großkirchheim, Mörtschach
and Winklern, all of which have approximately the same number of
inhabitants: Employment in the “accommodation and gastronomy” sector is
very pronounced and the “transport” sector is also above average. The
Großglockner Hochalpenstrassen AG with 120 employees (at seven
locations) also contributes to this.
Graphics are currently
disabled due to a security issue. Graphics are currently disabled due to
a security issue.
A very important economic factor is tourism, which is particularly
evident in comparison with the neighboring communities. However, the
number of overnight stays has been declining in recent years. This is
mainly due to the reduction in the average length of stay. It fell from
4.0 days in 2008 to 3.0 days in 2019. In contrast to the neighboring
communities, Heiligenblut has two almost equally pronounced seasons with
peaks of around 40,000 overnight stays in February and August.
Graphics are currently disabled due to a security issue. Graphics are
currently disabled due to a security issue.
Compared to the other places in the upper Mölltal, Heiligenblut has
the lowest number of commuters. The breakdown of outbound commuters by
distance in road kilometers shows little commuting below 30 kilometers,
a first peak at 30-39 kilometers and a clear peak in the range over 200
kilometers.
Graphics are currently disabled due to a security
issue. Number of commuters per municipality The display of graphics is
currently deactivated due to a security problem. Percentage of commuters
by distance in kilometers
Road: The Großglockner road (B 107), which runs north from Lienz,
leads to Heiligenblut. The connection to the north in the province of
Salzburg is the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, which is subject to a
toll. Due to the weather, it is only passable from the beginning of May
to the beginning of November, which means that for six months,
Heiligenblut can only be reached from the south. The nearest cities are
Lienz (38 km) and the district capital Spittal (85 km). The state
capital of Klagenfurt is 157 kilometers away.
Railway: Heiligenblut
has no railway connection. The nearest train stations are Lienz,
Mallnitz and Spittal an der Drau.
The Fleißalm tunnel railway, built
in 1986/1987, runs in the winter months with two groups of gondolas
hanging from a ceiling rail (diversion halfway) from Roßbach through a
curved tunnel with windows to the higher-lying Fleißalm ski area. In
summer the tunnel carries water.