General
Name
Brandenburger Haus
Alpine Club
Deutsche Alpen Verein Sektion Berlin
Height
3272m
Accomodation
25 beds
50 matress places
10 emergency places
10 places in the 'Winterraum' (no service)
Access
from Vent over the Vernagthütte 6h.
from Vent over the Hochjochhospiz 6h.
from Gepatschhaus over the Rauhekopfhütte 6h.
Contact
Thomas Pirpamer (Alpine Guide)
A-6458 Vent
+43 (0)664 5402574
www.vent-hotel-post.com
Opened from Juli 1, until +/- September 20.
History
Building the hut
There were two major reasons for the construction of the Brandenburger Haus. First there were scientific reasons, as with a lot of huts, for the construction. But next to research there was a heavy competition between two departments of the German Alpine Club. One called Sektion Mark Brandenburg (founded in 1899) and the other Sektion Berlin (founded in 1869). The deparment in Berlin had already built a lot of huts in the Alps, mostly in the Zillertal Valley. In 1903 the first plans were created for the building of a hut on the Gepatschferner (glacier), in order to open up one of the biggest glacierfields in the East Alps for mountaineers.
They chose a point on a southern slope (because it was relatively secure for avalanches). This slope is part of the Dahmannspitze (3401m) which is named after the designer of the Brandenburger Haus.
Professor Pott from München also wanted the built of the hut as he stated in magazine, number 4, of the D.u.Ö.A.V. (German and Austrian Alpine Clubs) on February 18, 1903.
"Ein Blick auf unsere Ötztaler Karte zeigt uns, wie viele hervorragende Eisgipfel von einem Kesselwandhaus aus mit geringem Aufwand von Zeit und Kraft bestiegen werden könnten, welche großartigen Gletscherwanderungen von dem genannten Punkt nach allen Richtungen, ohne daß man sich anstrengen müßte, ausführbar sind."
(free translation: "One view on our map of the Ötztaler Alps shows us how many prominent ice summits and wonderfull glacier walks in every direction could be made from a Kesselwand hut, this all without using much time or too much strenght.")
The built that started in 1905 could only continue in the summer, because of height and the cold. All the raw materials had to be dragged from the valley up to the buildingplace for which they used animals and human strenght.
In 1909 the built was finished and they had put a lot of effort in it. The costs of the built were about 47.000 Goldmark and creating new paths added another 40.000 Mark. The opening was from 15 to 18 August, first in Vent (1896m) and next in the hut.
The Brandenburger Haus in the 20th century
During the First World War the Brandenburger Haus was used by the army of Austria, to train mountain divisions in skiing (from 1915 to 1918). This period wasn't that good for the hut. The militairy use of it damaged several parts of it and they polluted the surroundings of the hut by throwing their refuse into the glacier crevasses.
The hut was after the war back in the hands of Mark Sektion Brandenburg and it opened its doors again for tourist in 1920. The levels of mountaineers on the hut varied, especially when the German National Socialist party was in power. The nature of the Sektion Brandenburg was also quite anti semetic (jews could not join) and therefore it was banned by the allied forces after the Second World War.
After the Second World War the hut was owned by the province of Tirol under French supervision they decided to sent the famous Martin Busch to the hut.
In 1956 the German Alpine Club got back all their huts in the Alps. The renewed department in Berlin took care of the hut and they had to do a lot of work on the hut, because it had fallen into decay.
In 1997 is the whole hut environmentally reorganized and cleaned. It could now regulate their own water and energy supply. Food and other materials are nowadays transported by helicopter.
Mountain Peaks
Name | Height |
---|
Weißkugel/ Palla Bianca | 3739m |
Area of the Weißkugel, with the big Gepatsch glacier. Innere Bärenbart Kogel | 3557m |
Langtauferer Spitze | 3529m |
Innere Quell Spitze | 3516m |
Weißsee Spitze | 3510m |
Fluchtkogel | 3500m |
Hintere Hintereis Spitze | 3486m |
Mittlere Hintereis Spitze | 3451m |
Vordere Hintereis Spitze | 3437m |
Hoch Vernagl Wand | 3435m |
Kesselwand Spitze | 3414m |
Dahmann Spitze | 3401m |
Cartography & Literature
"Ötztaler Alpen; Alpenvereinsführer, für Wanderer, Bergsteiger und Kletterer." by Walter Klier (Bergverlag Rother, 2006 München(GER))
Alpenvereinskarte 30/2: Ötztaler Alpen/Weisskugel (Wegmarkierung) 1:25.000 (edition 2003 (glaciers displayed as in 1997))
Website German Alpine Club Berlin (GER)
Martin Frey: Hüttenporträt - 100 Jahre Brandenburger Haus, „Berghotel“ im ewigen Eis. In: Panorama - Mitteilungen des Deutschen Alpenvereins Dezember 2009, S.82-85.
DAV-Sektion Berlin (Hrsg.): 100 Jahre Brandenburger Haus. Berlin 2009, (Schriften der DAV Sektion Berlin Heft 4).
Last two indirectly found via
link
(translated parts of it)