Schmittenhohe: The First Cable Car In The Salzburg Region Celebrates 95 Th Anniversary

95 years ago, the Schmittenhöhebahn was officially put into operation as the first cable car in the state of Salzburg and the fifth in Austria. The anniversary was celebrated last weekend with prominent visitors from the state capital.

An occasion that invites you to look back on the Schmitten success story. A story shaped by interesting personalities, curious occurrences, plans, coincidences, great ideas and enthusiastic people.

Governor Dr. Wilfried Haslauer celebrated with the Schmittenhöhebahn said  last weekend: “I would like to congratulate the Schmitten sincerely on its 95th anniversary! The cable cars and in particular the Schmittenhöhebahn are decisive for the tourism industry in Salzburg!”

Back then, the cable car pioneers consisting of Louis Zuegg, Dr. Eduard Bittner, Leo Host, Ludwig Margreiter and Josef Ernst in January 1927 with the governor Dr. Franz Rehrl presented. The approval was given enthusiastically with the words: "We have to drive at Christmas!".

The groundbreaking ceremony for the valley station followed in May 1927 and an unbelievable 227 days later, on December 17, 1927, the cable car was ready for operation! Workers, engineers, architects, master builders and carpenters performed a small miracle: the test operation was able to start before Christmas! However, the technical police check dragged on until the penultimate day of the year. In the evening, at 11 p.m., the permit was finally granted. On the afternoon of December 31, 1927, the first public ascent could be undertaken. A success across the board: the Schmittenhöhe became the historically first technical mountain peak in Salzburg!

dr Erich Egger likes to look back on the past and future years of the Schmitten: "The Schmitten is one of the leading companies in Zell and owes its success not least to the team spirit, hard work and perseverance of the Schmittinger! This year the Schmittenhöhebahn underwent a major overhaul and fortunately received approval for the next 50 years. So we are looking forward to the future and the upcoming Schmitten 100 with optimism and joy!”

A panoramic, natural and adventure mountain was created over time: a continuous further development of the offer around alpine sports, nature and enjoyment experiences is a success story with the unique synergy of "tradition & innovation"!

The innovation did not stop with the gondolas either: The current Porsche gondola is already the 6th gondola generation, which replaced the 5th generation in red design in 2009. Designed by the Porsche Design Studio Zell am See, with a metallic look and lots of glass, aluminum and fiberglass, it appears optically up-to-date. On the occasion of the 95th anniversary, the gondola was modified and adapted to the technical specifications, for example new and much lighter windows were installed.

The Schmitten was and is not just a cable car company, but a driving economic force for the region and an employer for many generations in Pinzgau.

Work on the Schmitten has always been sustainable and resource-saving: The Schmitten is the only cable car company to be EMAS-certified and also plays a pioneering role here. For example, newly erected buildings are equipped with photovoltaic panels and a heat recovery system is also used. Here, the waste heat from the engines is used to heat the rest of the building.

On the last anniversary of the Schmittenhöhebahn, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen visited the anniversary exhibition "90 years of tradition and innovation". dr Erich Egger presented the Federal President with the book "Longing for a View", in which the first nine decades of the company's history can be read.