Sölden (Ötztal) 6.51

Sölden is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria.GeographyAt c. 467km2, it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 (as of 2003) is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated. With tourist bed nights running at over two million per year, the municipality is third only to Vienna and Salzburg as an Austrian tourist destination. Sölden has lost some of its former small village charm, but other attractions have been enhanced in recent years.The main village of Sölden is at an elevation of 1368m above sea level, and the upper village of Hochsölden at 2090m has 5 four-star hotels. The highest peak is the Wildspitze, at 3768m, the second highest mountain in Austria, after the Großglockner.The Ötztal Glacier Road is the second highest paved road in Europe. It is the access road from Sölden to the Rettenbach glacier and Tiefenbachferner glaciers in the Ötztal Alps.The English spelling of the town is "Soelden". One may come across websites and directions using this spelling of the town.HistoryPopulationSettlementThe oldest tool finds in the region of present-day Sölden, evidence of human settlement are approximately thousends of years old. Most famous in this kind is Ötzi, also called the Iceman, the Similaun Man, the Man from Hauslabjoch, the Tyrolean Iceman, Homo tyrolensis, and the Hauslabjoch mummy) is a nickname given to the well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived around 3,300 BCE. Soelden as we know it today grow out of 20 buildings in the 13th century AD. One of this buildings which still exists today is the Berghof. A building on the site of the Berghof was first mentioned already in 1370. In 1588, the Berghof was listed in the records of St. Petersberg Castle as one of the original farmsteads.