Großglockner Gletscherbahn At Heiligenblut/Grossglockner In 1867 the then Emperor of Austria, Franz Josef, together with the Kaiseren Elizabeth, visited the Pasterze glacier, the largest in Austria. The journey must have been arduous, but the views were, and still are, exemplary. Twentieth century engineering ensured that many more people could also enjoy the sights. However, the funicular that they built no longer reaches the glacier because of the retreat of the ice, caused in part by global warming. The Großglockner Gletscherbahn was opened by Großglockner Seilbahn GmbH & Co on 15th September 1963 from the Parkplatz Freiwandeck on the Großglockner – Hochalpenstraße. This is a multi-story car park at the summit of the Hochalpenstraße. The funicular station, Franz Josef Höhe, is at an altitude of 2356 metres, and the 212 metre-long line falls 144 metres to the talstation, which is called Pasterze Glacier. When built in 1963 the glacier extended to the base station, which was built to walk out onto the glacier. Today the glacier ends some 150 metres short of the terminus. Indeed the glacier has shrunk enormously, because when Kaiser Franz Josef visited the site, the glacier reached up the mountainside to the area now used for the passing place, and the lower end of the glacier, the tongue, was over a kilometre further down the valley. The average gradient is 84% but where the passing loop is situated, the gradient steepens to 95%. The view forward extends across the two sections of the glacier, for the Pasterze is formed from the meeting of glaciers from two sources, the white ice coming from the Johannisberg, whilst the darker part, the "black" ice, comes from the Grossglockner itself. The colouring in this ice is caused by large amounts of crushed rock, which is caught up in the ice as it flows.
Two three-section cars are used, each holding a maximum of 32 passengers. These cars have transparent roofs and seats which face in both directions. The 80 kW motor in the top station powers the cars at 2 metres / second. The lower station has no shelter, and the trip is best made in fine weather. The Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse is a private toll road, and is only open from May to October each year, the dates of opening and closing depending on snowfall.

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updated 1st May 2006
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