Editing Grossglockner (section)

== History ==
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[[File:Großglockner Hacquet.jpg|thumb|''Klokner'', 1782 engraving by Belsazar Hacquet]]

The history of the climbs started with French-born natural scientist [[Belsazar Hacquet]], from 1773 professor of [[anatomy]] at the [[University of Ljubljana|Academy of Ljubljana]]. He travelled the [[Eastern Alps]] from 1779 to 1781 and published an [[travel literature|itinerary]] in 1783, describing the ''Glokner'' mountain and stating that it had not been climbed yet. He estimated the mountain's height with converted {{convert|3793|m|ft|abbr=on}} and left an [[engraving]] illustrating Grossglockner and Pasterze, the first known depiction of the mountain.

===First ascent===
Inspired by Hacquet's book and the [[first ascent]] of the Mont Blanc in 1786, the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk|Gurk]] prince-bishop Count Franz Xaver of [[House of Salm|Salm]] (1749–1822) together with his vicar general [[Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart]] (1745–1825) and Baron [[Franz Xaver von Wulfen]] (1728–1805) started efforts for a Grossglockner expedition. They engaged two peasants from Heiligenblut as [[mountain guide]]s to do the first explorations for an ascent through the Leitertal valley, which is the side of Grossglockner with the least ice (people feared glaciers in these times). These valiant men, called "Glockners" in the records, did more than they were ordered to do—and probably reached the Kleinglockner summit on 23 July 1799.

One month later the bishop's expedition started: a [[mountain hut]] (the first Salm Hut) had been built and the path in the Leitertal valley was prepared so that the bishop could use a horse to reach it. 30 people, among them Salm, Hohenwart and Wulfen, were part of the expedition. They suffered with bad weather and a first effort failed, but on 25 August 1799 Hohenwart and at least four other people, including the two "Glockners", reached—again—the Kleinglockner, where they installed one of the first [[summit cross]]es (one of the main goals of the church expedition). Hohenwart's reports did not tell clearly that they had not touched the highest point but Bishop Salm (who had reached the ''Adlersruhe'' rock at {{convert|3454|m|ft|abbr=on}}) was informed. Dissatisfied, he invited another, even bigger expedition the next year.

On 28 July 1800, 62 people, among them the pedagogue [[Franz Michael Vierthaler]] and the botanist [[David Heinrich Hoppe]], started again into the Leitertal valley. Four peasants and carpenters (the "Glockners" and two others who are not known) did a track in the snow, had installed fixed ropes at some steeper sections up to the end of the Glocknerleitl, and even built a second refuge, called Hohenwarte Hut. The vanguard reached the Kleinglockner peak, however, according to the expedition records by the [[Dellach im Drautal|Dellach]] priest Franz Joseph Horasch (Orasch), only the four guides and Mathias Hautzendorfer, the local priest of the [[Rangersdorf]] parish, were able to cross the ''Obere Glocknerscharte'' and climb the Grossglockner summit. Hautzendorfer had to be persuaded to venture the step and administered the last rites in advance. 
[[File:Compton Großglockner.jpg|thumb|Grossglockner, 1918 painting by [[Edward Theodore Compton]]]]
The two "Glockners" are usually identified as the brothers Joseph (''Sepp'') and [[Martin Klotz]], however, this surname is not listed in the Heiligenblut parish register. A local peasant named Sepp Hoysen is documented as a member of the second Grossglockner expedition in 1802, and the surveyor [[Ulrich Schiegg]] mentioned one Martin Reicher as "Glockner" guide. The peasants and several other members of the expedition (among them Schiegg and his young apprentice [[Valentin Stanič]], who climbed Mt. [[Watzmann]] for the first time some weeks later) did the ascent again the next day and finally installed the summit cross and a [[barometer]] on the Grossglockner summit.

===Development===
Bishop Salm undertook two more ascents in 1802 (with Hohenwart reaching the summit) and in 1806, however, he himself never climbed beyond the ''Adlersruhe'' rock. The climbing of the Grossglockner was also described by the botanist [[Josef August Schultes]], who explored the massif together with Count [[Apponyi]] in 1802. No further ascents were made during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the huts decayed and were plundered by locals. In the following ''[[Vormärz]]'' era, however, the mountain became a popular venue for Alpinists like [[Hermann Schlagintweit|Hermann]] and [[Adolf Schlagintweit]], who all followed the route of the first ascent.

By the mid 19th century, the developing Alpine [[tourism]] began to alter the [[Transhumance in the Alps|traditional agriculture]] economy in the Heiligenblut area. Therefore, the people of Kals tried to lay out a straight ascent from the western side, which however was not reached until [[Julius von Payer]] explored the ridge between ''Glöcknerleitl'' and ''Ködnitzkees'' in 1863. Johann Stüdl had a [[via ferrata]] erected along the southwestern ridge the next year and the ''Stüdlhütte'' erected at its foot in 1868. Already in 1869, most expeditions to the summit started in Kals. The first winter ascent of the Grossglockner was made on January 2, 1875 by [[William Adolf Baillie Grohman]], a member of the [[Alpine Club]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Ascent of the Gross Glockner|journal=Alpine Journal| last1=Ballie-Grohmann|first1=W.A.|volume=Vii|page=222|date=1875}}</ref> In 1876 Count Pallavicini and his guide Hans Tribusser undertook the first expedition up the steep glaciated Northeast Face, chopping 2,500 steps into the ''Pallavicinirinne'' in an [[ice climbing]] master stroke not repeated for 23 years.
[[File:Gipfelkreuz Großglockner.JPG|thumb|Großglockner summit cross, 2006 condition]]
In 1879 Count Pallavicini dedicated a new iron summit cross on the occasion of the [[Wedding anniversary|silver wedding]] of Emperor [[Franz Joseph of Austria]] and [[Empress Elisabeth of Austria|Empress Elisabeth]]; both had visited Heiligenblut and walked to the present-day ''Franz-Josefs-Höhe'' viewpoint in 1865. The cross was installed on 2 October 1880. Pallavicini also had the [[Archduke John of Austria|Archduke John]] Hut erected at the former ''Adlersruhe'' resting place of Bishop Salm, today the highest situated mountain hut in Austria. The [[Austrian Alpine Club]] built the new ''Salmhütte'' and the ''Glocknerhaus'' along the [[alpine route]] from Heiligenblut.

A first ascent by [[skiing]] was made in 1909 and the [[circumnavigation]] of the massif soon became a popular [[ski mountaineering]] tour. The Grossglockner became Austria's highest mountain, when the [[South Tyrol]]ean [[Ortler]] region had to be ceded to the [[Kingdom of Italy]] according to the 1919 [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)|Treaty of Saint-Germain]], which promoted its reputation as a [[tourist attraction]].