Kitzbühel


Kitzbühel is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district. Kitzbühel is one of the most famous and exclusive ski resorts in the world and is frequented by the international high society. The world's hardest ski race Hahnenkamm Races is a yearly event that attracts the attention of ski fans around the world. Kitzbühel real estate continuously ranks among the world's most expensive. The proximity to Munich has made it a preferred location for vacation homes among the German elite.

Geography

Kitzbühel is situated in the Kitzbühel Alps between Zell am See and Innsbruck. It lies in the Leukental valley on the Kitzbüheler Ache river.
The town is subdivided into the municipalities of Am Horn, Aschbachbichl, Badhaussiedlung, Bichlach, Ecking, Felseneck, Griesenau, Griesenauweg, Gundhabing, Hagstein, Hausstatt, Henntal, Jodlfeld, Kaps, Mühlau, Obernau, Schattberg, Seereith, Siedlung Frieden, Am Sonnberg, Sonnenhoffeld, Staudach, Stockerdörfl and Zephirau.
The neighbouring municipalities are Aurach bei Kitzbühel, Jochberg, Kirchberg in Tirol, Oberndorf in Tirol, Reith bei Kitzbühel, St. Johann in Tirol and Fieberbrunn.
Kitzbühel's historic centre is mainly car-free and hosts a large selection of luxury shops, cafés and fine dining restaurants.

Climate

History

Earliest people

The first known settlers were Illyrians mining copper in the hills around Kitzbühel between 1100 and 800 BC.
Around 15 BC, the Romans under Emperor Augustus extended their empire to include the Alps and established the province of Noricum. After the fall of the western Roman Empire, Bavarii settled in the Kitzbühel region around 800 and started clearing forests.

Middle Ages

In the 12th century, the name Chizbuhel is mentioned for the first time in a document belonging to the Chiemsee monastery, whereby Chizzo relates to a Bavarian clan and Bühel refers to the location of a settlement upon a hill. One hundred years later a source refers to the Vogtei of the Bamberg monastery in Kicemgespuchel and, in the 1271 document elevating the settlement to the status of a town, the place is called Chizzingenspuehel.
Kitzbühel became part of Upper Bavaria in 1255 when Bavaria was first partitioned. Duke Ludwig II of Bavaria granted Kitzbühel town rights on 6 June 1271, and it was fortified with defensive town walls. During the next centuries the town established itself as a market town, growing steadily and remaining unaffected by war and conflict. The town walls were eventually reduced to the level of a single storey building, and the stone used to build residential housing.
When Countess Margarete of Tyrol married the Bavarian, Duke Louis V the Brandenburger, in 1342, Kitzbühel was temporarily united with the County of Tyrol. After the Peace of Schärding Kitzbühel was returned to Bavaria. Following the division of Bavaria, Kufstein went to the Landshut line of the House of Wittelsbach. During this time, silver and copper mining in Kitzbühel expanded steadily and comprehensive mining rights were issued to her that, later, were to become significant to the Bavarian dukedom. On 30 June 1504 Kitzbühel became a part of Tyrol permanently: the Emperor Maximilian reserved to himself the hitherto Landshut offices of Kitzbühel, Kufstein and Rattenberg as a part of his Cologne Arbitration, that had ended the Landshut War of Succession.
However, the law of Louis of Bavaria continued to apply to the three aforementioned places until the 19th century, so that these towns had a special legal status within Tyrol. Maximilian enfeoffed Kitzbühel, with the result that it came under the rule of the Counts of Lamberg at the end of the 16th century, until 1 May 1840, when Kitzbühel was ceremonially transferred to the state.
An inscription in the Swedish Chapel dating to the Swedish War states "Bis hierher und nicht weiter kamen die schwedischen Reiter".

18th century to modern day

The wars of the 18th and 19th century bypassed the town, even though its inhabitants participated in the Tyrolean Rebellion against Napoleon. Following the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805, Kitzbühel once more became part of Bavaria; it was reunited with Tyrol after the fall of Napoleon at the Congress of Vienna. Until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy, head of the district of the same name, one of the 21 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in the Tyrol province.
When Emperor Franz Joseph finally resolved the confusing constitutional situation, and following completion of the Salzburg-Tyrol Railway in 1875, the town's trade and industry flourished. In 1894, Kitzbühel hosted its first ski race, ushering in a new era of tourism and sport.
In 1924 Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis, a British diplomat and spy, with his wife, the novelist Phyllis Bottome, started the Tennerhof school in Kitzbühel. Based on the teaching of languages, the school was intended to be a community and an educational laboratory to determine how psychology and educational theory could cure the ills of nations. Among the pupils were the future authors Ralph Arnold, Nigel Dennis, Ian Fleming and Cyril Connolly.
Kitzbühel was the town to host the remnants of the Nazi made Serbian collaborationist government the Government of National Salvation from 1944 to the end of the war. Kitzbühel also had the good fortune to remain undamaged from the ravages of the First and Second World Wars.
Since the year 2000 the town has been a member of the Climate Alliance of Tyrol.
The town's demographic evolution between 1869 and 2017 is shown in the list to the right.

Places of interest

  • St. Catherine's Church: built 1360–1365, High Gothic church in the heart of the town with a coppersmith altar; the high tower with its spire is a striking landmark in the town centre. Its carillon sounds at 11 am and 5 pm.
  • Protestant Christ's Church in Kitzbühel: built in 1962 by Clemens Holzmeister
  • Reisch Dance Cafe: built in 1928 by Lois Welzenbacher ; the Plahl Medical Practice was also designed by him
  • Berghaus Holzmeister, a guesthouse on Kitzbühel's local mountain, the Hahnenkamm; built in 1930 by Clemens Holzmeister
  • Berghaus by Alfons Walde, 100m away
  • Fresco by Max Weiler in Kitzbühel Primary School
  • Newly built tri-cable system by the firm of Doppelmayr, the cable car with the highest elevation above the ground in the world.
  • Museum Kitzbühel - Collection Alfons Walde: the new renovated museum presents the history of the town, from 1000 years ago to the winter sports era; it also includes a larger permanent exhibition of the Tyrolean painter Alfons Walde.

    Notable people

In the 1950s, local legends like Ernst Hinterseer, Hias Leitner, Anderl Molterer, Christian Pravda, Fritz Huber Jr. and Toni Sailer wrote skiing history. They put Kitzbühel on the map and their names still resonate today. Now there is a new generation earning the title of Kitzbühel legends: Rosi Schipflinger, Axel Naglich, Kaspar Frauenschuh, and David Kreiner. Along with sporting achievements, fashion, and food, they are part of Kitzbühel's unique culture:
  • Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre, Austrian entomologist and botanist
  • Alfons Walde, Austrian expressionist painter and architect
  • Peter Aufschnaiter, an Austrian mountaineer, agricultural scientist, geographer and cartographer.
  • Georg Hochfilzer, famous international hotel director of the Hotel Bristol in Vienna
  • Jörg Friedrich German author and historian
  • Roman Strobl, Austrian sculptor
  • Hansi Hinterseer, an Austrian schlager singer, actor, entertainer and former alpine skier.

    Sport

  • Peter Aufschnaiter, mountaineer, agricultural scientist, geographer and cartographer.
  • Anderl Molterer, Austrian alpine skier, silver and bronze medallist at the 1956 Winter Olympics
  • Ernst Hinterseer, Austrian alpine skier, gold and bronze medallist at the 1960 Winter Olympics
  • Toni Sailer, legendary Austrian alpine skier and actor; three gold medals at the 1956 Winter Olympics
  • Hias Leitner, Austrian alpine skier, silver medallist at the 1960 Winter Olympics
  • Christl Haas, Austrian alpine skier, gold and bronze medallist at the 1964 & 1968 Winter Olympics
  • Herbert Huber, Austrian alpine skier and silver medallist at the 1968 Winter Olympics
  • Klaus Sulzenbacher, Nordic skier, 1 x silver and 3 x bronze medals at the 1988 & 1992 Winter Olympics
  • Markus Gandler, Austrian cross-country skier, silver medallist at the 1998 Winter Olympics
  • Manuel Schmid, Austrian footballer who played over 175 games
  • David Kreiner, an Austrian Nordic combined skier and team gold medallist at the 2010 Winter Olympics
  • Andreas Hölzl is an Austrian footballer who has played over 380 games and 9 for Austria
  • Lukas Hinterseer, Austrian footballer who has played over 400 games and 13 for Austria

    Famous inhabitants of Kitzbühel

  • Phyllis Bottome, British novelist, in 1924 she and her husband started a local school
  • Leni Riefenstahl , German filmmaker, photographer and dancer
  • Ian Fleming, British spy novel author; in 1927, he went to the Tennerhof, a small private school
  • Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer, author and geographer; in 1952, he settled down locally
  • , Austrian skier, actress and camerawoman; died locally
  • Uschi Glas, a German actress in film, television, and on stage, and a singer.
  • Werner Baldessarini, fashion designer and businessman, formerly chairman of Hugo Boss; lives locally
  • Franz Beckenbauer, German football player and manager; in 1982, he moved to Austria
  • Ireen Sheer, pop singer, has represented Luxembourg and Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest
  • Susanne Klatten, a German billionaire heiress, in 1990 she married locally
  • Haddaway, Trinidadian-German singer, best-known hit: "What Is Love", lives locally
  • Philipp Kohlschreiber, German tennis player, in 2018 married locally