Vorarlberg, Tirol, & Salzburg
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Vorarlberg, Tirol, & Salzburg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost province of Austria—and the second smallest following Vienna—covering an area of 1,004 square miles. The administrative capital of Vorarlberg is Bregenz. Vorarlberg, described as the Land Beyond the Arlberg Pass, stretches from that area to Bodensee and includes the crystalline peaks of the Silvretta Massif. After Vienna, Vorarlberg is the richest, most industrialized province of Austria, a fact belied by its beautiful landscapes. Dornbirn is Austria’s main cotton textile producer. Vorarlberg’s mountain rivers are rich in falls, fed by annual precipitation exceeding 80 inches, and linked to the European grid. Twenty-five percent of Vorarlberg’s revenue comes from tourism around Bodensee and the Rhine Valley, Lech and Zürs in the Arlberg region, and the Oberland. Eighty-eight percent of the land is productive. Vorarlberg is thus the Austrian province that is most like Switzerland, and the predominance of cattle-raising and milk and cheese production in the countryside reflects this. The population, however, is Catholic and entirely German-speaking—a legacy of Vorarlberg’s long history of Habsburg domination since the 14th and 15th centuries, and of Empress Maria Theresa’s 1759 unification of the province into a single administrative district.
Tirol once extended south to Lago di Garda, but after World War I Venezia Tridentina (now the region of Trentino-Alto Adige) was ceded to Italy. This region is also known as Südtirol. The province of Tirol, in the Alps, is traversed by a number of rivers, including the Inn, the Ötztaler Ache, the Ziller, and the Isar. Railway communication in the western section is confined principally to the Arlbergpass and railway tunnel. The capital of the province is Innsbruck. The chief occupations of the inhabitants are lumbering, cattle grazing, dairy farming, and mining for lead and salt. Rye and wheat are grown in the Inntal. The area has many health and winter-sports resorts. At one time Tirol was a part of the Roman Empire.
The province of Salzburg, located in west central Austria, extends from the western border with Tirol to the eastern borders with the provinces of Upper Austria and Styria, and from the southern Hohe Tauern and Niedere Tauern ranges to the city of Salzburg in the north. The Salzach River flows from the mountainous region north and east through the province and along the border of Germany and the province of Upper Austria, providing the area with a major commercial waterway. Salzburg is mostly mountainous, and tourism is the major source of income. The city of Salzburg is the provincial capital, and administrative and commercial center, with important cities lying close by. Hallein, to the southeast of Salzburg, contains a large salt mine that attracts visitors, as does the nearby Golling an der Salzach waterfall, which drops about 200 feet. The popular Salzkammergut region, which extends through the northeastern portion of Salzburg and into Upper Austria, has many lakes and hiking trails that also attract residents and visitors into the mountains near the city of Salzburg. Saalfelden and Zell am See stand out among the towns in the southern area of Salzburg, that congregate along the banks of the Salzach. Salt and copper are the province’s leading mineral resources. Forestry employs many workers in Salzburg, and area farmers in the Salzach valley raise livestock.
