Funding: Tourist Association Wilder Kaiser
Duration: July 2013–May 2015
Project lead: Gebhard Bendler
The Kaisergebirge conservation area - which includes all summits of the Wilder Kaiser (Wild Emperor) and Zahmer Kaiser (Tame Emperor) mountain ranges - covers c. 102 km² and extends from 480 metres altitude to 2.344 metres at the Ellmauer Halt peak. It is part of the Northern Limestone Alps and consists most notably of Wetterstein limestone, which gives it a silvery appearance, and dolomite. For more than 150 years the region has been a destination for alpinists, hikers and tourists. Climbing history has been written in the vertical walls of this mountain range. At the beginning of the 20th century climbers set new benchmarks and developed revolutionary climbing techniques there. In the 1950s tourism in the region grew rapidly in the wake of the economic recovery in the industrial countries and the increase in private car ownership. In recent decades, the construction of a skiing area has boosted tourism in the region. The aim of this project is to examine how tourism in the region has developed in the last 150 years and how it has changed nature and society.