Spannagelhaus

Spannagelhaus is a mountain restaurant and former Alpine hut located at 2,531 metres in the Tuxer Kamm of the Zillertal Alps, south of Hintertux in Tyrol, Austria. It was opened on 22 August 1885 and originally named after Franz Xaver Wery, who financed the hut from his own means. On 16 August 1908 a new building was inaugurated and the hut was definitively renamed Spannagelhaus, after Rudolf Spannagel, a commercial academy professor who served as the first president of the Austrian Tourist Club (ÖTK) from 1902 to 1904 and died in a climbing accident on the Raxalpe. For many years it was a year-round managed shelter owned by the Vienna headquarters of the ÖTK. Further extensions were completed in 1978 and 2006. In 2013 the ÖTK sold Spannagelhaus to Zillertaler Gletscherbahn, which demolished the old hut and replaced it with a new building opened on 21 November 2013 that functions only as a restaurant. The house is closed entirely in summer. It sits directly next to the entrance to the Spannagelhöhle, the largest cave system of its kind in the Austrian Central Alps, and serves as the starting point for guided tours into the cave. It is also a base for ascents of the 3,231 m Hoher Riffler and the 3,288 m Gefrorene-Wand-Spitzen, and for hut-to-hut routes to Tuxerjochhaus, Friesenberghaus, Olpererhütte and Geraer Hütte. Access is via the Hintertuxer Gletscherbahn cable car (about 15 minutes from the cable-car station) or on foot from Hintertux in roughly 3½ to 4 hours.

Spannagelhaus was opened on 22 August 1885 and was first named after Franz Xaver Wery, who had financed the hut from his own means. On 16 August 1908 the new building of the hut was inaugurated, and during this event the definitive renaming to Spannagelhaus took place. The hut was named after the commercial academy professor Rudolf Spannagel, who was the first president of the Austrian Tourist Club (ÖTK) from 1902 to 1904 and died in a fatal climbing accident on the Raxalpe. For many years the hut was a year-round managed shelter owned by the Vienna headquarters of the ÖTK. A further extension was completed in 1978. For some years the house could also be reached by the Hintertuxer Gletscherbahn. The last extension, with another guest room directly next to the outside entrance, was completed in 2006. Nevertheless, Spannagelhaus still had no connection to the central sewage system and no reliable power supply via the Tuxer Ferner. In 2013 the Spannagelhaus was sold by the ÖTK to the Zillertaler Gletscherbahnen, partly because no new tenant had been found. The old Spannagelhaus was then demolished and replaced by a new building that opened on 21 November 2013. In summer it is however completely closed. Today it is a restaurant of the Zillertaler Gletscherbahn.

• 2013

  Sold by ÖTK to Zillertaler Gletscherbahnen; old hut demolished and new restaurant opened on 21 November.

• 2006

  Last extension with another guest room next to the outside entrance completed.

• 1978

  A further extension was completed.

• 1908

  New building inaugurated on 16 August and definitively renamed Spannagelhaus.

• 1885

  Spannagelhaus opened on 22 August, initially named after Franz Xaver Wery.

High-Alpine restaurant and excursion destination at the Hintertux Glacier, operated by the cable-car company and adjacent to the Spannagelhöhle cave.

• Restaurant service

• Spannagelhöhle cave tours

• Alpine hut accommodation (historical)

1. 1Spannagelhaus – Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Spannagelhaus – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3Spannagelhaus – Zillertaler Gletscherbahnhintertuxergletscher.at