25 years ago, 31 people died in an avalanche in Galtür, Tyrol

AFinally, there is silence in the room. Anton Mattle has just described how, as mayor, he sent two women from the Netherlands to the fire station where the bodies were put out after an avalanche accident. “Images like these remain,” he said. “If the responsible person lifts the shroud and the mother has to confirm that it is the child lying in front of her, then . . It still amazes him and the people of Galtür – 780 inhabitants, 3,800 guest places – that no one expected that an avalanche could hit the district right next to the famous Frühmessgut church. The parish church was consecrated in 1383. There is no evidence of an avalanche in the area in the carefully kept church records. The researchers also found no danger there in all their simulations. On February 23, 1999, this green zone was hit by a full force avalanche. 31 people died, six locals and 25 guests.

Anton Mattle, 60 years old, governor of Tyrol for just over a year, was mayor of Galtür in 1999. He asked to visit the village history museum located in the 345-meter-long and 19-meter-high avalanche protection wall and the Alpinarium located in the monument to the victims of the avalanche accident. There he talks about the disaster. Mattle is an articulate man. But in this conversation, he struggles with every word. Every sentence speaks of powerlessness. There is still despair, pain, sadness and suffering.

The winter of 1998/99 went down in history as the winter of avalanches. Devastating accidents occurred throughout the Alpine region. In Montroc, near Chamonix, France, and Evolène, Switzerland, twelve people each died in the area of ​​the settlement. On February 24, 1999, seven people died in the Ischgl district of neighboring Galtüri in Valzuri. The trigger was a special weather situation. The Northwest Pools took place three times in quick succession. Five meters of new snow fell in four weeks. For Galtür, experts calculated that such an extreme situation occurs in the valley only once in 275 years and in the mountains maybe only once in 500 years due to a storm.

Therefore, Galtür was 6.-11. completely cut off from the outside world in February 1999. The access road was impassable. It leads through a steep narrow valley that stretches for nearly 40 kilometers and at the end the valley widens at an altitude of 1,600 meters. Galtür is there. Some guests did not understand why other villages were accessible again, but there was still no escape from Galtür, says Anton Mattle. That's why we invited people to an information event. The mountain guide, the tourist guide and his mayor explained the situation. Afterwards, the mood among the guests was different, understandable.