AUSTRIA

AUSTRIA / ÖSTERREICH.

Scenic Beauties in Austria.
High Tauern National Park.
Stamp issued on 29.03.1996.
Face value: 6 Austrian schilling.
Design: Peter Sinawehl.
Engraving: Gerhart Schmirl.
Printing: Photogravure and recess.
Print: 2,900,000 copies.
Size: 42 x 36 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 2074.
- ANK No. 2214.
- Michel No. 2183.
- Scott No. 1498.
- StampWorld No. 2228.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2422.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2010.

The Austrian Alpine Club and the states of Carinthia, Salzburg and East Tyrol, with part of their territories, have contributed to the formation of the High Tauern National Park (Nationalpark Hohe Tauern). With a total area of 1,834 km² (708 sq mi), it is the largest of Austria's seven national parks, as well as the largest nature reserve in the Alps. It is divided into a central zone of 1,198 km² (463 sq mi) that includes the Großglockner (3,798 m; 12,461 ft) and Großvenediger (3,666 m; 12,028 ft) massifs, with a complete prohibition of agricultural use, and a marginal zone of 638 km² (246 sq mi) used for agriculture. Five special natural sanctuaries are protected from any human disturbance. The park was established with a 1971 declaration signed by the participating states, but only in 1981 the first parts around Großglockner and Hochschober in Carinthia were put under protection. The adjacent area in Salzburg followed two years later, and the Tyrol finally joined in 1992. The Upper Tauern is crossed by three tunnels: the Tauern Railway Tunnel, the Katschberg Tunnel and the Felbertauerntunnel.