DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS IN DIFFICULT TIMES

In 1924, when few people owned cars, the first plans for a road along the Großglockner mountain were presented. At the time, these plans evoked only sarcasm. Mainly because Austria was struggling with economic and social problems caused by the loss of World War I. In addition, Austria as a country had shrunk by one-seventh of its former, pre-war size.

On October 29, 1929, after the crash of the New York Stock Exchange (known as Black Tuesday) and the subsequent Great Depression, Austria also was faced with an economic crisis. The country therefore needed projects to combat the ever-increasing unemployment.

The Austrian government again reviewed the plans for the “Großglockner Hochalpenstraße” again and decided to continue with the original construction plans from 1924. It also assumed that the width of the road would be 6 meters (originally the road was to be 3 meters wide, with the possibility of widening it to 5 meters).

Tourism was expected to pay off the cost of building the road and provide a steady income from tolls. But not only that. The idea was also to stimulate so-called high-end tourism in Austria. This concerns the consumption of goods and services among the more affluent population. Cars in those days were a luxury that only wealthy citizens could afford.

In 1930 on August 30 at 09:30 the first explosive charge was detonated under the future high mountain road Grossglockner. The road owes its existence to the road engineer Franz Wallack and Franz Rehrl, the governor of Salzburg. They were the first to drive the gravel road in 1934, when it was not yet finished. Thanks to nearly 4,000 workers, the road was completed on August 3, 1935 and officially opened that day.

As the economic situation improved in Austria and Germany after the Second World War, more and more cars appeared on the roads. At that time, the road was further modernized and expanded. The parking were enlarged and new were built to accommodate 4000 cars (previously it was 800 cars) and the road was widened from 6 meters to 7.5 meters. The maximum speed allowed on the road was also raised from 40 km/h to 70 km/h. New catering and accommodation facilities were also built over time.

Below is a video that can be found on YT showing how the work on the Grossglockner road looked in the years 1930-1935.