Image: (APA/BDA/GERD PICHLER)
This was announced on Friday by Großglockner Hochalpenstraßen AG (GROHAG), which, as the operator of the well-known panoramic road, initiated its protection by the Federal Monuments Office. The cross from 1880 is the only summit cross in Austria that is under monument protection.
- From the archive: Are summit crosses still contemporary?
On the afternoon of the first ascent of Austria’s highest mountain peak on July 28, 1800, the first summit cross was brought to the mountain and erected by four carpenters the following day. However, due to its exposed location, the wooden cross fell into disrepair after a few years. In 1879, the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAK) secured the grounds to erect a new cross on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the marriage of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth. On October 2, 1880, the three meter high and 300 kilogram iron “Imperial Cross” was erected at the summit by mountain guides from Kals.
- You might also be interested in: How a dentist from Bad Goisern celebrated Christmas at the highest level
Restoration for the 200th anniversary
To mark the 200th anniversary of its first ascent, the Glockner Cross was flown into the valley in 2000 and restored. In August 2010 it was torn from its anchoring in the rock by a lightning strike, threatened to fall and had to be re-fixed in a complex operation. According to the Federal Monuments Office, the condition of the summit cross is excellent despite lightning strikes and the extreme exposure, which is probably also due to the lower oxidation at altitude.
- Quiz on the topic: Do you recognize the summit at the cross?
“Originally we assumed that the summit cross was designed by the architect of the Vienna City Hall, cathedral builder Friedrich von Schmidt, as drawings by his hand have been preserved in the Vienna Museum. However, his ideas were not correct at the time due to the size and weight of the cross “realizable,” said Gerd Pichler from the Federal Monuments Office in a GROHAG broadcast. That’s why a member of the Alpine Club, Hermann Behrendt, designed a special construction for the cross, which was ultimately made from 60 individual iron parts. A component could not be heavier than 16 kilograms in order to be able to carry the summit cross in individual parts to the summit, where it was screwed and plugged together.
The appraiser had to aim high
Pichler climbed the Großglockner himself in September 2023 to examine the summit cross and prepare an expert report. In it he comes to the conclusion that it is worthy of protection because of its historical, artistic and cultural significance. The corresponding decision from the Federal Monuments Office became legally binding on February 8, 2024. The owner of the summit cross is still the ÖAK, which also owns 114 square meters of summit area on the Tyrolean side of the mountain and the Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte (3,454 meters) on the Carinthian side of the mountain.
My themes
For your saved topics were
new articles found.

info By clicking on the icon you can add the keyword to your topics.
info
By clicking on the icon you open your “my topics” page. They have of 15 keywords saved and would have to remove keywords.
info By clicking on the icon you can remove the keyword from your topics.
Add the topic to your topics.
Source: Nachrichten