Zirl is a market town with 8110 inhabitants (as of January 1,
2020) in the Innsbruck-Land district in Tyrol (Austria). The
community is located in the judicial district of Telfs.
Location
Zirl is located at the southwestern end of the Karwendel
Mountains about 10 km west of Innsbruck in the Inn Valley at the
southeastern foot of the Zirler Berg (1057 m). It lies on the north
bank of the Inn on the alluvial cone of Ehnbach and Schloßbach.
Community structure
In addition to the main town of Zirl, the
municipal area also includes the Hochzirl, which is about 300 m
higher, the Martinswand, the Ehnbachklamm and part of the northern
chain with the 2,637 m high Kleiner Solstein. The Zirl Bahnhof
district is the only one south of the Inn. Eigenhofen and
Dirschenbach are two hamlets west of the town center on the old main
road.
By plane
The nearest international airports are in Innsbruck
(distance approx. 12 km) and Munich Airport north of Munich (also "Franz
Josef Strauss", distance approx. 159 km)
By train
The Zirl
train station is located in the south of Zirl on the Arlbergbahn and on
the other side of the Inn. Long-distance trains do not stop in town, get
off in Innsbruck and continue by bus or taxi.
The Hochzirl train
station is in the north of Zirl on the Mittenwaldbahn to Garmisch and
Munich and is a few kilometers away from the village. Eqqr is also
significantly higher on the mountain (920 m).
In the street
Zirl is located on the main artery through the region, the A12 Inntal
motorway, which is subject to a toll.
From the north (Germany) it is
possible to get to Zirl via the Munich - Rosenheim - Kufstein and
Innsbruck motorway route.
Alternatively, a little shorter and also
toll-free, the journey from the north is also possible via the Garmisch
area (A95 from Munich) and further via Mittenwald and on the B177
(Seefelder Bundesstraße) via the Zirlerberg. From Munich, this route is
even a little shorter than the motorway route via Kufstein, but there is
also a lot of commuter traffic, especially on weekdays.
Zirl is integrated into the system of the Verkehrsverbund Tirol and thus has regular and good bus connections to the important places in the city of Innsbruck, e.g. Main train station, bus station city center and other parts of the city (IVB, Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe).
Holy Cross (parish church). the neo-Romanesque church was built
between 1862 and 1874. Inside there are frescoes worth seeing.
Local
history museum (village history and crib collection), Dorfplatz 2, 6170
Zirl. Tel.: +43 (0) 54382. Open: Tue + Wed 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., Saturdays
in Advent 2 p.m. - 5 p.m., in January Sat/Sun 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. Price:
Free admission, donations welcome.
Residential tower on the St.
Martinsberg. The residential tower (palas) from the 13th century has
been preserved.
Question stone castle ruins (Weineck Castle)
Kaiser-Max via ferrata (Martinswand via ferrata, OeAV branch
Innsbruck; in the Martinswand). The via ferrata was the only sport via
ferrata in the Eastern Alps until the turn of the millennium and is
still considered one of the most difficult in the entire Alps: the
extremely demanding route leads as a steel cable in three sections and
mostly almost vertically through the Martinswand:
The first and
easier part leads from the entrance (15 minutes from the parking lot)
extremely steep and exposed to the grotto in the Martinswand around 200
meters above the valley floor and is the easier part (duration: approx.
one hour). It is possible to exit from the grotto (hiking trail via the
Zirl quarry to the car park).
The second part is one step more
difficult and requires a lot more arm work because it is overhanging in
parts and has almost no steps (duration approx. 90 minutes).
The
third part, the descent to the grotto, is also considered to be very
difficult (30 minutes, rope insured).
Via ferrata equipment with
a helmet and climbing harness with a via ferrata set are absolutely
necessary, via ferrata gloves, suitable footwear (climbing shoes) and
sticks for the descent are very helpful. The via ferrata is south-facing
towards the sun and can often be climbed even in winter.
Erlspitze Zirler via ferrata: demanding and exposed alpine via ferrata
on the Erlspitze (2,404 m) with access at the Eppzirler Scharte (2,110
m), the base is the Solsteinhaus (see the Karwendel travel guide).
Settlement on the Martinsbühel has been
proven since the La Tène period. In the 4th / 5th In the 16th
century, the Roman military station Teriolis existed here, which was
expanded into a hunting lodge around 1500 under the Roman-German
king and later Emperor Maximilian I. The Kaiser-Max-Grotte /
Martinswandgrotte is a reminder that Maximilian I is said to have
climbed up here at the end of the 15th century while hunting
chamois.
Zirl was an important traffic junction on the Roman
road Via Raetia to Augsburg. Here the steep ascent to the Seefelder
Saddle began, the course of which can no longer be clearly explained
today. The place was first mentioned on October 28, 799 as "Cyreolu"
or "Cyreola" on the occasion of a transfer of ownership to the
Schlehdorf Monastery.
The current ruin of the castle
inquiries stone was founded before 1209 and blown up in 1703 during
the War of the Spanish Succession (Bayrischer Rummel), whereupon it
has fallen into ruin since then. The area around the ruin is now a
nature reserve.
Since the 17th century, the community, along
with Thaur, was one of the centers for the construction of Christmas
cribs. Zirl had repeatedly been hit by floods and fires, most
recently on June 21, 1908 in a major fire that destroyed most of the
houses.
In 1826, the important Tyrolean church painter Franz
Plattner was born in Zirl. He died in Innsbruck in 1887.
From
1910 to 1912 the Mittenwaldbahn was built with complex structures,
of which the Martinswandtunnel, the Schloßbachviadukt, the
Ehnbachklammviadukt and the Hochzirl station are located in Zirl.
A large population growth in the last decades made Zirl a
residential community.
Since June 1, 1984, Zirl has had the
title of market town.
State Hospital Hochzirl (special hospital for internal medicine and acute neurological treatment; in Hochzirl above the town center). Phone: +43 5238 501-0.
Tourist Information Zirl, Dorfplatz 3, A-6170 Zirl. Phone: +43 5238 52235.
Zirl is located at the south-west end of the Karwendel mountains, about 10 km west of Innsbruck in the Inn Valley at the south-east foot of the Zirler mountain (1057 m). It lies on the north bank of the Inn on the alluvial fan of Ehnbach and Schloßbach.
In addition to the main town of Zirl, the municipal area also includes the Hochzirl, which is about 300 m higher, the Martinswand, the Ehnbachklamm and part of the Nordkette with the 2,637 m high Kleiner Solstein. The district of Zirl Bahnhof is the only one south of the Inn. Eigenhofen and Dirschenbach are two hamlets west of the town center on the old main road.
Zirl is connected to the Inntal autobahn A 12 with the Zirl-West and
Zirl-Ost exits.
The train station of the Arlbergbahn is located
southwest of the town center, on the other side of the Inn, where
several industrial and commercial companies have settled. Due to the
numerous companies, the Zirl train station is one of the largest freight
yards in Tyrol.
The Hochzirl district above with the Hochzirl
state hospital (a special hospital for internal medicine and acute
neurological treatment) has a Mittenwaldbahn stop. Furthermore, Zirl has
connections to Innsbruck and Telfs via regional buses.
The
favorable local climate enables viticulture here, which, like
agriculture, is of little importance (the vineyards are currently not
cultivated). Important companies can be found in the areas of
construction, chemical industry, gravel works and recycling.