Kaprun High Mountain Reservoirs

The Kaprun scheme holds two reservoirs at around two thousand metres in the Hohe Tauern - Wasserfallboden and, above it, Mooserboden, held by the Moosersperre and Drossensperre dams - and it is one of the most consequential engineering projects in Austrian history, for reasons that are not only technical. Work began in 1938 under the Nazi administration using forced labour and prisoners of war, and a considerable number of them died; construction was completed after the war with Marshall Plan funding, and the scheme became a symbol of Austrian reconstruction, a framing that for decades left the earlier phase out. Both parts are now covered in the exhibition at the top. Access is by shuttle bus and the Lärchwand inclined lift, one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

What you actually see

• Two high reservoirs - Wasserfallboden and Mooserboden at around two thousand metres.
• The Lärchwand inclined lift - among the largest open inclined lifts in Europe.
• A dual history - forced labour from 1938, completion with Marshall Plan money.
• Glacier and peak views - the Hohe Tauern above the upper basin.

When to go

June to September; the access closes for winter. A day.

Honest expectations

Access is only by the ticketed bus and lift, running to a timetable, and the season is short. Weather at two thousand metres is cold and often cloudy. The forced-labour history is grim and is now told.

Nearby

Kaprun and the Sigmund Thun gorge are below; Zell am See is north.