Heiligenblut am Großglockner: High Mountains and Culture

Heiligenblut am Großglockner lies at an altitude of almost 1,300 metres in a mountainous landscape in the heart of Hohe Tauern National Park. The village is also the southern entrance to the Großglockner High Alpine Road. Its high-mountain location and connection to the road give the destination a clear framework; church art, exhibitions, hiking trails and winter sports add further highlights. When choosing a hotel, you can consider whether you want to focus primarily on the landscape, local history, an exhibition, a hike or the ski area.

At an altitude of 2,600 metres, the view reaches as far as the Großglockner and up to 40 other three-thousand-metre peaks in the Hohe Tauern. This panorama complements the view from the village and conveys the scale of the surrounding mountain world.

Church Art and Tradition

The late Gothic high altar in the parish church of Heiligenblut was completed in 1520. The sacrament house in the parish church of St. Vincent was created in 1496. This 13-metre-high work of white sandstone preserves the Holy Blood relic as well as the three ears of grain belonging to Briccius. The Pinzgau pilgrimage takes place each year in June, with a service at St. Vincent's.

Along the “Path of Legends,” visitors encounter Alfred Markgraf von Pallavicini, Josef Schmidl, Franz Wallack, Saint Briccius and Alberth Wirth. The path focuses on these five figures, while the church art—with its altar and sacrament house—offers specific historical details.

Exhibitions and Gold Panning

The Gold Diggers’ Village is an alpine open-air museum designed in the style of a 16th-century gold-mining village. Professional gold prospectors offer tips on panning for gold; the necessary equipment can be rented for a small fee. The museum’s setting is thus combined with an activity that includes expert guidance and equipment rental.

The interactive exhibition at the House of the Ibex leads visitors through seven rooms and three levels, following the tracks of the ibex. Numerous models, interactive games and films present high-alpine habitats and famous mountain formations from an eagle’s-eye view. Unlike gold panning, the focus here is on presenting habitats and mountain formations through models, games and films.

Hiking Trails by Route and Time Required

The Tauern Window Geotrail runs from the mountain station to the Hochtor. The Pasterze Glacier Trail is a hike with an elevation gain of about 400 metres and a duration of approximately four hours. An interactive, educational trail of around 7 km leads from the village centre of Heiligenblut am Großglockner to the summit of Schareck. This means there are different criteria to consider when choosing a route: the start and finish for the geotrail, the approximate duration and elevation gain for the glacier trail, and the route between the village centre and summit for the Schareck trail.

As a long-distance route, the Alpe-Adria Trail begins at the foot of the Großglockner and runs in several stages all the way to the Adriatic coast. Its multi-stage course differs from the hikes described above, which have a named destination or specific information on duration and elevation gain.

Winter Sports as Another Highlight

The Grossglockner/Heiligenblut ski area has 55 kilometres of pistes and 11 lifts. These figures give a specific overview of the ski area; they may change as the resort configuration changes in the future. Be sure to check the information before making specific winter plans.

Discover more destinations: Berg im Drautal, Weinberg, Rangersdorf, Malta, Görtschach, Kremsbrücke, Spittal an der Drau, Weissensee.

Go to the main travel overview: Spittal an der Drau.