Karawanks | |
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Karavankas, Karavanks | |
![]() View of the Eastern Karawanks from Hochstuhl/Stol | |
Highest point | |
Peak | Hochstuhl / Veliki Stol |
Elevation | 2,236 m (7,336 ft) |
Coordinates | 46°26′3″N14°10′24″E / 46.43417°N 14.17333°E |
Dimensions | |
Length | 120 km (75 mi) |
Geography | |
![]() The Karawanks (red, left) and Pohorje (red, right) | |
Countries | Slovenia and Austria |
Range coordinates | 46°25′N14°25′E / 46.417°N 14.417°E |
Parent range | Southern Limestone Alps Carinthian-Slovenian Alps |
The Karawanks [1] [2] or Karavankas [3] [4] or Karavanks [5] [6] (Slovene : Karavanke; German : Karawanken, German pronunciation: [kaʁaˈvaŋkŋ̍] ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of 120 kilometres (75 mi) in an east–west direction, the Karawanks chain is one of the longest ranges in Europe. [7] It is traversed by important trade routes and has a great tourist significance. Geographically and geologically, it is divided into the higher Western Karawanks and the lower-lying Eastern Karawanks. It is traversed by the Periadriatic Seam, separating the Apulian tectonic plate from the Eurasian Plate.
Near the summit of the Dreiländereck (1,508 m) is the tripoint of the three countries: Austria, Italy and Slovenia.
The Karawanks form the continuation of the Carnic Alps east of the Slizza stream near the tripoint of Austria, Slovenia and Italy at Arnoldstein. They are confined by the Drava Valley in the north (called Rosental/Rož) and the Sava in the south, separating it from the adjacent Julian Alps. In the east, they border on the Kamnik–Savinja Alps and Pohorje ranges.
A number of mountain passes on important trade routes cross the range, like Wurzen (Koreno), Loibl (Ljubelj) or Seeberg (Jezero), which have been used since prehistory. Nowadays the Austrian Karawanken Autobahn (A11) runs from Villach to the Karavanke motorway tunnel, which traverses the Western Karawanks connecting it with the Slovenian A2 motorway at Jesenice. A parallel railway line crosses the range through the Karawanks railway tunnel.
The Karawanks are a popular mountaineering area with numerous mountain huts. Many of the peaks offer a good view of the Klagenfurt basin on the Austrian side and the Ljubljana basin on the Slovene side. The northern Austrian side is rocky and precipitous while the Slovenian side is less steep, covered with spruce forests and low bushy pine at lower elevations with grass higher up.
The Karawanks were settled already in the Stone Age, as indicated particularly by findings from Potok Cave. In Roman times, they represented the southern border of the Noricum province, and later, of the Slavic principality of Carantania. The ancient geographer Claudius Ptolemy mentioned the Karwankas mountains about 150 AD. The name probably is derived from Celtic karv 'deer', a connection that has survived in the Košuta (Slovene for 'hind') massif. [8]
From the first half of the 11th century, the Karawanks formed the border between the territory of the Duchy of Carinthia and the adjacent March of Carniola in the south. After Carniola had been elevated to a duchy in 1364, both lands became part of Inner Austria and were crown lands of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526 up to World War I. The northern slopes of the Karawanks had been historically settled by Carinthian Slovenes, nevertheless in October 1920, the Carinthian Plebiscite decided that the crest was the border between the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia); only the municipality of Jezersko had already passed from Carinthia to Yugoslavia.
In the final weeks of the Second World War the Karawanks passes witnessed intense fighting. The 24th SS Kampfgruppe (battlegroup) commanded by SS- Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen -SS (Brigadier) Heinz Harmel was ordered to keep the Karawanken passes open between Yugoslavia and Austria. This task was critical in allowing German forces to withdraw from Yugoslavia in order to surrender to British rather than Yugoslav forces. The Kampfgruppe succeeded in its final task, and was one of the last German units to surrender, when it encountered the British 6th Armoured Division on 9 May 1945. [9]
After World War II the Karawanks remained the border between Austria and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and finally the independent Slovenia from 1991. Since the entry of Slovenia to the Schengen Area in 2007, a free movement of people and goods across the Karawanks has been allowed, and the two countries started to aim for an economic integration of their border areas. [10]
The place names have German as well as Slovenian names, and today the peaks along the main chain of the Karawanks are usually displayed in Slovene and German on hiking maps:
Peak | Elevation | |
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Hochstuhl / Veliki Stol | 2,236 m | 7,336 ft |
Wertatscha/Vrtača | 2,180 m | 7,150 ft |
Mittagskogel/Kepa | 2,143 m | 7,031 ft |
Petzen/Peca | 2,125 m | 6,972 ft |
Golica/Kahlkogel | 1,836 m | 6,024 ft |
Wertatscha/Vrtača | 2,181 m | 7,156 ft |
Koschuta/Košuta | 2,133 m | 6,998 ft |
Begunjščica/Begunschitza | 2,060 m | 6,760 ft |
Loibler Baba / Košutica | 1,968 m | 6,457 ft |
Techantinger Mittagskogel / Trupejevo Poldne | 1,931 | 6,335 ft |
Ouschewa/Olševa | 1,929 m | 6,329 ft |
Frauenkogel / Dovška Baba | 1,891 m | 6,204 ft |
Hahnkogel/Klek | 1,753 m | 5,751 ft |
Dreiländereck/Peč | 1,508 m | 4,948 ft |
Kranjska Gora is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. The tripoint between Austria, Italy and Slovenia lies on the mountain of Dreiländereck, known as Peč in Slovenia.
Carinthia is the southernmost and least densely populated Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carinthian Slovene dialects, forms of a South Slavic language that predominated in the southeastern part of the region up to the first half of the 20th century, are now spoken by a small minority in the area.
Carinthia, also Slovene Carinthia or Slovenian Carinthia, is a traditional region in northern Slovenia. The term refers to the small southeasternmost area of the former Duchy of Carinthia, which after World War I was allocated to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs according to the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain. It has no distinct centre, but a local centre in each of the three central river valleys among the heavily forested mountains.
The Carinthian plebiscite was held on 10 October 1920 in the area in southern Carinthia predominantly settled by Carinthian Slovenes. It determined the final border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) after World War I. The predominantly Slovene-speaking plebiscite area voted to remain part of Austria with a 59% majority.
The Kamnik–Savinja Alps are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps. They lie in northern Slovenia, except for the northernmost part, which lies in Austria.
Bleiburg is a small town in the south Austrian state of Carinthia (Koroška), south-east of Klagenfurt, in the district of Völkermarkt, some four kilometres from the border with Slovenia.
Tarvisio is a comune (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine, in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy.
The Duchy of Carniola was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg monarchy, it became a constituent land of the Austrian Empire in 1804 and part of the Kingdom of Illyria until 1849. A separate crown land from 1849, it was incorporated into the Cisleithanian territories of Austria-Hungary from 1867 until the state's dissolution in 1918. Its capital was German: Laibach, today Ljubljana.
The Noric Alps is a collective term denoting various mountain ranges of the Eastern Alps. The name derives from the ancient Noricum province of the Roman Empire on the territory of present-day Austria and the adjacent Bavarian and Slovenian area.
Upper Carniola is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The largest town in the region is Kranj, and other urban centers include Jesenice, Tržič, Škofja Loka, Kamnik, and Domžale. It has around 300,000 inhabitants or 14% of the population of Slovenia.
The Municipality of Jezersko is a municipality in northern Slovenia. In 1995, Jezersko became part of Preddvor and became an independent municipality in 1998. Originally located in the historic region of Carinthia, it became part of the Upper Carniola Statistical Region in 2005. The seat of the municipality is the town of Zgornje Jezersko.
Seeberg Saddle, also just Seeberg (Jezersko) is a high mountain pass connecting Bad Eisenkappel in the Austrian state of Carinthia with Jezersko in the Slovenian region of Carinthia. It is located in the Southern Limestone Alps, between the Karawanks range in the west and the Kamnik–Savinja Alps in the east.
The Loibl Pass or Ljubelj Pass is a high mountain pass in the Karawanks chain of the Southern Limestone Alps, linking Austria with Slovenia. The Loibl Pass road is the shortest connection between the Carinthian town of Ferlach and Tržič in Upper Carniola and part of the European route E652 from Klagenfurt to Naklo.
Eisenkappel-Vellach is a market town in the Völkermarkt District in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The spa town is the southernmost municipality of Austria, close to the border with Slovenia.
The Karawanks Tunnel is a motorway tunnel crossing the Alpine Karawanks mountain range between Austria and Slovenia, with a total length of 7.864 km, 8.019 km enclosure between the portals. Its construction began in 1986 and it opened on 1 June 1991. It connects the Austrian Karawanken Autobahn (A11) from Villach with the A2 motorway leading to Kranj and Ljubljana in Slovenia, decongesting the historic Loibl/Ljubelj and Wurzen/Korensko sedlo mountain passes.
The Wurzen Pass is a mountain pass in a col of the Karawanks mountain range in the Southern Limestone Alps, on the border between Radendorf in the Austrian state of Carinthia and Kranjska Gora in Slovenia. It is named after the nearby village of Podkoren (Wurzen).
The Karawanks Tunnel is the fourth longest railway tunnel in Austria and the longest in Slovenia with a length of 7,976 metres (26,168 ft). It passes under Rožca Saddle between Rosenbach in southern Austria and Jesenice in northern Slovenia.
The Carinthian–Slovenian Alps are a mountain range in the eastern part of the Alps. They are located in Slovenia, Austria and, for a very small area in westernmost part of the range, in Italy.
Angela Piskernik was an Austro-Yugoslav botanist and conservationist.
The Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia was a military engagement that ensued in the aftermath of World War I between forces loyal to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and later the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and forces loyal to the Republic of German-Austria. The main theater of the conflict was the linguistically mixed region in southeastern Carinthia. The conflict was settled by the Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1919, which stipulated that the territorial dispute be resolved by a plebiscite.