Ischgl is a municipality in Tyrol (Austria) with 1604 inhabitants
(as of January 1, 2020). The municipality is located in the judicial
district of Landeck on the border with Switzerland.
Located
at almost 1400 meters above sea level in Paznaun, the place is known
for its Silvretta Arena ski area with 238 kilometers of slopes and
45 lifts, which is connected to the Swiss community of Samnaun. The
former mountain farming village was transformed in the 20th century
into a hotel settlement that caters to mass tourism. In the ski
season, numerous après-ski parties and concerts by various
international pop stars take place there, to which up to 25,000
visitors are expected. In January 2020 there were almost 12,000 beds
for tourists in 390 hotels for every 1,600 inhabitants.
In
March 2020, Ischgl was a focus of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.
According to research by Spiegel, more than 11,000 infections are
said to be due to the location. Since then, the Innsbruck public
prosecutor's office has been investigating whether events in the
holiday resort could have led to the epidemic spreading across
Europe and whether there is a well-founded suspicion of a “risk of
infectious diseases”.
Ischgl is a border town of the Alemannic dialect area in the
Tyrol and Vorarlberg area, on the one hand between Höchst Alemannic
and Bavarian, on the other hand between Höchst Alemannic and
Vallader.
From the settlement to the 19th century
The
former mountain farming village (Yscla, Rhaeto-Romanic for "island")
was settled by Rhaeto-Romans from the Engadine around 1000 years ago
and by the Walsers in the 13th century. There was no navigable
connection to the Tyrolean Oberinntal, so that Ischgl was more
economically connected to the Engadin and Vorarlberg and also traded
with the Vinschgau, Swabia and Bavaria. In addition, there was a
privilege granted by Archduke Siegmund in 1460, which allowed Ischgl
to export duty-free cattle to certain areas and import duty-free
grain. From 1505, the right to collect a road fee was added, with
the condition that the roads from the Engadin via the Zeinisjoch
into the Montafon had to be maintained.
As early as the 17th
century, trade was decreasing because the Engadin broke away from
Tyrol and the relationship became looser. After the Jamtaler Ferner
had grown so much in the middle of the 18th century that the path
could no longer even be crossed with pack horses, trade came to a
standstill. Since the town was sacked by the Engadin in 1622, all
taxes were waived for five years.
Tax registers have been
handed down for the years 1697 (Tyrolean Provincial Archives Cat.
45/1) and 1775. In 1849 Ischgl and Galtür were finally merged with
the Landeck court.
The Ischgl music band was founded in 1852
and was only able to use a rehearsal room in the elementary school
from 1904.
In the nineteenth century there was a strong
emigration with families as far as America. Due to the decline in
trade, the population in the barren valley could no longer be fed.
Many residents left the region and children were sent abroad to work
(see Schwabenkinder).
At the end of the 19th century, tourism
opened up a new source of income. In the 1880s, sections of the
Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV) and the German Alpine Club (DAV) built
several shelters (see also list of ÖAV huts and list of DAV huts).
First half of the 20th century
During the First World War, 23
people from Ischgl fell and 3 were missing; in the Second World War
there were 30 dead and 7 missing. Zm 24./25. In July 1938, numerous
hero commemorations took place in Tyrol, and a report was also
available from Ischgl. From 1943 to 1945 Ischgl and Galtür were
among the destinations of the Kinderlandverschickung, specifically
from Essen-Steele. Apparently, the region was largely spared from
acts of war until 1945. At the end of the Second World War, on May
6, 1945 in Paznaun, American troops met French units near Ischgl who
had come from the Montafon via the Zeinisjoch. At the beginning of
July 1945 the Americans handed the area over to the French troops,
who exercised control here until the Austrian State Treaty in 1955.
Increasing change to a tourist destination
The former image
of a mountain farming village has been completely lost in recent
decades in favor of a hotel complex. With its numerous après-ski
events, Ischgl is now an example of mass and event tourism and is
therefore also known as the “Ibiza of the Alps”.
The
beginnings of the ski school and tourist association go back to
1929. Erwin Aloys (1910–2002) was one of the first ski instructors
in Ischgl and the innkeeper at the Heidelberger Hütte. He built the
Hotel Madlein and was mayor of Ischgl for many years. Elementary
school director Josef Parth (1921–2011) had good relationships with
German tour operators and thus brought many guests to the still
unknown Ischgl in his early years. His contacts with state
politicians were of great importance in the construction of the
cable car. Xaver Zangerl (1927–1997) was the head of the Ischgl ski
school for many years.
Rudolf Wolf and Franz Kurz were one of
the decisive factors behind the departure in the 1960s. The hotelier
Günther Aloys, son of Erwin Aloys, played a role in Ischgl's
international breakthrough as a holiday destination with the
establishment of the first design hotel in Ischgl. Alfons Parth (*
1957) has been the chairman of the tourism association since 1989.
During this time he had a decisive influence on the development of
Ischgl, and during his chairmanship Ischgl has become an
internationally known holiday destination. His successor has been
the hotelier Alexander von der Thannen (* 1971) since December 2019.
By plane
The closest international airports
are Innsbruck Airport (distance approx. 100 km, a good hour's drive)
and north of Munich Munich Airport (also "Franz Josef Strauss",
distance approx. 232 km).
By train
There is no railway
line in Paznaun.
The next train station in the Upper Inn
Valley is Landeck-Zams train station, 30 km away, further by bus or
taxi.
The 4240 bus to Paznaun starts at the station
forecourt.
By street
By car via Bundesstraße 188: from the
east / Inntal motorway A12 (Landeck), from the west via Bludenz and
Galtür;