Nature lovers must also look for real wilderness in the Alps. You will find what you are looking for in the Kalkalpen National Park in Upper Austria. Primeval forest grows here, which has remained completely untouched by humans.
There’s a lot going on in the jungle in the Kalkalpen National Park. At first glance it may seem different, after all, the trees have been growing in some places since time immemorial. They have never been felled because the area cannot be reached with heavy machinery. So nature has always been allowed to do what it wanted. And it does that comparatively quickly.
Hikers see this when they are out and about on the signposted path in the Reichraminger Hintergebirge. In 2002 there was a bad flood that tore away forest roads and thousands of trees. Then you did – nothing. The trees stayed where they were.
Even today, almost two decades later, the path is only partially accessible, with trunks blocking it. New trees have taken root, everything is green. There is not much space left for hiking.
“Nature has brought this area back and that within a very short time,” says Franz Sieghartsleitner, one of the initiators of the only national park in Upper Austria.
Even more impressive are the imposing beech forests of the Limestone Alps with the remains of an old primeval forest and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nobody has removed a tree there for centuries.
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On the trail of the lynx
The wildlife especially likes the solitude in the national park, as Christian Fuxjäger explains. He is responsible for the large animals and keeps an eye on the species. There are six lynx in the national park, as well as golden eagles, capercaillie and otters.
Fuxjäger installed photo traps in the park, into which the lynx in particular toddle again and again. The big cats with the distinctive brushes on their ears did not appear naturally in the national park, they were relocated from Switzerland to Upper Austria – by Fuxjäger himself. “I recognize each of our lynx by its patches of fur,” he says. Because they are unique.
Rutting cries in the twilight
Professional hunter and ranger Michael Kirchweger, who lives in the historic forester’s house in Bodinggraben, reports sleepless nights when the deer woo the ladies in a loud, deep voice. If the deer are rather sluggish, the rangers gently lure them out of the reserve – with a large pipe that mimics the calls.
Apart from such spectacles, the Kalkalpen National Park is above all wilderness. Lime and dolomite are the predominant rocks, underground there are caves, lakes and shafts. The oldest beech in the Alpine region is located here; it is said to have been in the trunk for 568 years. And here is the longest natural brook system in the Northern Limestone Alps with more than 800 springs. The park has 17,000 animal species.
The iron ore and the black counts
The national park also has 30 forest types with different tree species. In addition to the remains of the primeval forest, there are old beech forests, the snow heather-pine forest or the mountain forest.
Wood used to be important for the so-called Black Counts: They needed it to forge iron ore from the region into scythes, sickles, nails, knives and weapons. Lumbermen and raftsmen brought the wood from the seemingly endless stock of today’s national park to Reichraming and Steyr by water.
“The Black Counts were the owners of the scythe factory,” explains ranger Iris Egelseer. They were wealthy and had a good social status. Probably also because they worked on the scythe hammer themselves every day and got dirty in the process.
The open-air museum Schmiedleithen near Leonstein gives an insight into this life of the previous centuries. Today the national park is primarily a place of retreat for humans and animals. And a unique habitat in which nature can expand undisturbed and become a primeval forest again.
Info box: Kalkalpen National Park
How to get there: By car from Munich via Autobahn 94. Coming from the north via Autobahn 3 onto Austrian Autobahn 8, 25 and 1. This leads south past Linz. At the Enns-West exit, turn onto the federal highway 309 to Steyr. Alternatively, trains go to Linz and Steyr.
Entry and Corona situation: There is a travel warning for Austria due to the high number of infections (with the exception of Jungholz and the Kleinwalsertal). On May 19, the corona restrictions in Austria are to be largely lifted. Then the quarantine obligation will also end when entering from Germany. You then need a negative corona test or the green passport as proof of vaccination.
This article was written by Von Verena Wolff, dpa
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