Wörgl

Wörgl
Wörgl seen from the east (Grattenbergl)
Coat of arms
Location within Kufstein district
Wörgl Location within Austria
Coordinates: 47°29′N 12°04′E / 47.483°N 12.067°E / 47.483; 12.067Coordinates: 47°29′N 12°04′E / 47.483°N 12.067°E / 47.483; 12.067
Country	Austria
State	Tyrol
District	Kufstein
Government
• Mayor	Hedwig Wechner
Area [1]
• Total	19.74 km2 (7.62 sq mi)
Elevation	511 m (1,677 ft)
Population  (2018-01-01)[2]
• Total	13,811
• Density	700/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	6300-6302
Area code	043-5332
Vehicle registration	KU
Website	www.woergl.at

Wörgl (German pronunciation: [ˈvœrɡəl]) is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol, in the Kufstein district. It is 20 km (12 mi) from the international border with Bavaria, Germany.

Population[]

Transport[]

Wörgl is an important railway junction between the line from Innsbruck to Munich, and the inner-Austrian line to Salzburg. Its railway station has been designated as a Hauptbahnhof (German: main station) since 10 December 2006.

European route E641 connects Wörgl with Salzburg, the routes E45 and E60 (Austrian autobahn A12) pass through Wörgl.

• 

  Wörgl railway station in 1900

• 

  Wörgl railway station in 1965

History[]

World War II[]

Nearby Itter Castle was the site of one of the last European and most unusual battles of World War II. The Battle for Itter Castle was fought on 5 May 1945 by surrendered Wehrmacht troops, the United States Army, Austrian Resistance fighters and former French political prisoners against the 17th Waffen-SS Panzer Grenadier Division. The leader of the surrendered Wehrmacht troops, Major Josef Gangl, was killed during the battle and is buried in Wörgl's municipal cemetery. A street in the city is named for Gangl.

Twin cities[]

• Albrechtice nad Orlicí, a small village of just over 1,000 inhabitants in the Czech Republic.
• Suwa, Nagano, Japan

The Wörgl Experiment[]

One Schilling note with demurrage stamps from Wörgl

Wörgl was the site of the "Miracle of Wörgl" during the Great Depression. It was started on July 31, 1932, with the issuing of "Certified Compensation Bills", a form of local currency commonly known as Stamp Scrip, or Freigeld. This was an application of the monetary theories of the economist Silvio Gesell by the town's then-mayor,  [de].

The experiment resulted in a growth in employment and meant that local government projects such as new houses, a reservoir, a ski jump and a bridge could all be completed, seeming to defy the depression in the rest of the country. Inflation and deflation are also reputed to have been non-existent for the duration of the experiment.^{[citation needed]}

Despite attracting great interest at the time, including from French Premier Edouard Daladier and the economist Irving Fisher,^[3] the "experiment" was terminated by Austria's central bank Oesterreichische Nationalbank on September 1, 1933.^[4][5]

In 2006 milestones were placed, beginning from the railroad station through the downtown, to show this history.^[6]

Notable people[]

• Reinhard Furrer, a German scientist and astronaut, was born in Wörgl.
• Gerhard Berger, a former Formula One driver and former co-owner of Scuderia Toro Rosso, was born in Wörgl.
• Stefan Horngacher, an Olympic ski jumper, was born in Wörgl.
• Hans Peter Haselsteiner, a building tycoon and former deputy chair of the Liberal Forum, was born in Wörgl.

Gallery[]

Wörgl, church

Wörgl, panorama

See also[]

• Local currency
• Ithaca Hours
• Silvio Gesell
• Freigeld

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wörgl.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Wörgl.

• "Municipal data for Wörgl". Statistik Austria.
• Wörgl's attempt in the 1930s to establish a local currency
• Wörgl Gigapixel Panorama (11.000 Megapixel)
• Community Currency Online Magazine
• Website of the Wörgl Tourist Board