Wörgl

Wörgl is a city of about 13,000 people (2016) in Tyrol, Austria.

History
Wörgl was the site of the "Miracle of Wörgl" during the Great Depression. It was started on July 31, 1932, with the issuing of "Certified Compensation Bills", a form of local currency commonly known as Stamp Scrip, or Freigeld. This was an application of the monetary theories of the economist Silvio Gesell by the town's then-mayor, Michael Unterguggenberger.

The experiment resulted in a growth in employment and meant that local government projects such as new houses, a reservoir, a ski jump and a bridge could all be completed, seeming to defy the depression in the rest of the country. Inflation and deflation are also reputed to have been non-existent for the duration of the experiment.

Despite attracting great interest at the time, including from French Premier Edouard Daladier and the economist Irving Fisher, the "experiment" was terminated by the Austrian National Bank on September 1, 1933. In 2006 milestones were placed, beginning from the railway station through the downtown, to show this history.

Nearby Itter Castle was the site of one of the last European and most unusual battles of World War II. The Battle for Itter Castle was fought on May 5, 1945 by surrendered Wehrmacht troops, the United States Army, Austrian Resistance fighters and former French political prisoners against the 17th Waffen-SS Panzer Grenadier Division. The leader of the surrendered Wehrmacht troops, Major Josef "Sepp" Gangl, was killed during the battle and is buried in Wörgl's municipal cemetery. A street in the city is named for Sepp Gangl.

Get in

 * Wörgl Hauptbahnhof, main station and bus terminal.
 * A12 Inntalautobahn motorway junctions Wörgl Ost and Wörgl West. Note: the 5 km long, once toll-free section of this Autobahn, now collects a toll from the German border at Kiefersfelden to the "Kufstein-Süd" exit.

Get around

 * CityBus
 * VVT (Verkehrsverbund Tirol)

Buy

 * Bahnhofstraße
 * Westend
 * Westend

Go next

 * Hundalm Ice and Stalactite Cave in Angerberg.
 * SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser - Brixental skiing and hiking ressort.