Goldberg Group

The Goldberg Group is a sub-group of the Hohe Tauern mountain range within the Central Eastern Alps. It is located in Austria, in the states of Salzburg and Carinthia. Its highest peak is the Hocharn,. Other well-known summits are the Hoher Sonnblick, with its observatory at, and the Schareck at.

Name

The name of the group is related to the rich mineral ores of the area and the associated historic mining. Gold was mined in the Rauris valley as well as in the Gastein valley, and helped those two valleys – and also the Archbishops of Salzburg as feudal lords – in the High Middle Ages to gain enormous wealth.
Not until the 19th century the mines were finally closed due to unprofitability. Even today, gold can be panned in the Rauris. Peaks like the Goldbergspitze and Goldzechkopf recall times long past when gold was mined in the High Tauern. In addition, silver – as indicated by Silberpfennig – and other precious metals were mined, as were precious stones.

Geography

The Goldberg Group lies in the eastern half of the Hohe Tauern range. In the west of the group is the Großglockner High Alpine Road, in the east runs the Tauern Railway.
The boundaries of the Goldberg Group, based on the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps, where they are shown as group no. 42, are formed as follows:

To the north: Salzach River from Taxenbach down to its confluence with the Gasteiner Ache creek
To the east: Gasteiner Ache up to the Nassfeld headwaters – Gasteiner Tauern – Mallnitz Creek as far as its confluence with the Möll River
To the south: Möll Valley
To the west: from the upper course of the Möll to Heiligenblut – along the Großglockner High Alpine Road to Hochtor Pass – down Seidlwinkl Valley to Rauris and Taxenbach.

According to the Mountain Range Classification for the Austrian Cave Directory according to Hubert Trimmel, in which the group is given no. 2580, the boundary is not formed by the Mallnitzer Tauern above Nassfeld, but by the Hoher Tauern Pass and the Anlauf Valley.

Neighbouring ranges

Together with the Ankogel Group, the Glockner Group, the Schober Group, the Kreuzeck Group, the Granatspitz Group, the Venediger Group, the Villgraten Mountains and the Rieserferner Group, the Goldberg Group is among the major mountain groups of the High Tauern.

Subdivision

According to the Mountain Range Classification for the Austrian Cave Directory, the group is further subdivided as follows:

Sadnig Group in the knee of the River Möll
Sonnblick–Böseck Group between the Hüttwinkl and Möll valleys
Gamskarlspitze Group between Gastein and Mallnitz valleys
Edelweißspitze Group between Fusch and Rauris valleys as far as the Salzach
Hocharn Group between Hüttwinkl valley, Seidlwinkel valley and Hochtor
Bernkogel–Türchlwand Group between Rauris and Gastein valleys as far as the Salzach

The Edelweißspitze Group is part of the Ankogel Group according to the Alpine Club classification.

Summits

All the named three-thousanders in the Goldberg Group:

Hocharn
Schareck
Grieswies-Schwarzkogel
Hoher Sonnblick
Baumbachspitze
Krumlkeeskopf
Roter Mann
Sandkopf
Arlthöhe
Goldbergspitze
Schneehorn
Goldzechkopf
Schlapperebenspitzen max.
Weinflaschenkopf
Ritterkopf
Noespitze
Literature
Liselotte Buchenauer, Peter Holl: Alpine Club Guide Ankogel- und Goldberggruppe. Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, Munich, 1986.
Ingeborg Auer, Reinhard Böhm, Martin Leymüller, Wolfgang Schöner: Das Klima des Sonnblicks – Klimaatlas und Klimatographie der GAW-Station Sonnblick einschließlich der umgebenden Gebirgsregion, ZAMG Vienna, 2002, ISSN 1016-6254.
Franz Stelzer: Grundzüge der Landformen der Goldberggruppe. In: Geographischer Jahresbericht aus Österreich 29, pp. 75–94.