A history of mining in the Tyrol: The miners' trail through the Hochoetz Alpine Region

The miners‘ trail from Hochoetz – Kühtai – Ochsengarten lures you into a landscape in which miners using nothing more than their sheer physical strength mined yellow copper ore, pyrites and galena around 350 years ago. At 2,500 m. above sea level, up to 400 miners were engaged in breaking up the ore and transporting it down into the valley using mules and horses.

The mountain path leads you from the Hochoetz panoramic restaurant via the Bielefeld Hut to the Wetterkreuz. From there, continue via the Wörgetal (valley) to the restored miner’s house with the crushing mill (a sort of stone mill in which the ore was broken up). From the miners’ house, continue to the Obere Issalm (no longer used), and then to the Balbach Alp, which is still being farmed. The last point on the walk is Kühtaile Alp before the circular tour brings you back again to the panoramic restaurant. The walking time alone is about 6 hours, or 12 km. Other intermediate points, or points where you can join the route, are at Ochsengarten near the "Balbachhof“, the "car park“ at Issbrücke and from Kühtai onwards.

All alternatives to the walk and the points you can join it may be found at: www.knappenweg.at.

Worth visiting: The miners' house in the Hochoetz alpine region

In the front part of the miners‘ house there is information displayed on the life of the miners and the history of the hard life of the time. In the second part of the miners‘ house there is a small museum (can only be visited as part of a guided walk!). Representations of the miners, their various tools, pictures and much more bear testimony to mining history in the Wörgetal.