Through the Mountains and to the Old Porsche Factory

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We departed the Salzburg Sheraton and headed south into the alps. We had a full morning of driving. Our principal destination was the The Grossglockner High Alpine Road (Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße). It is a panoramic road in Austria. It ascends Großglockner, Austria's highest mountain. There are a number of hair pin turns on the way to the top – approximately 2500 metres. The pass just recently opened for the season, but there is still plenty of snow on the top. At points the narrow road is lined by up to 10 feet of snow on either side. At the top there is a small visitor centre. We were amazed to see the number of cyclists tackling this gruelling climb. It was truly one of the most exhilarating drives I have ever taken. Josh was delighted to hurl a snowball.

Off the mountain pass road, we drove on to Falleralm, outside Gmund to eat lunch next to a mountain stream. The restaurant is situated right next to the toll booth on the Malta Hochalmstrasse road. We had fresh trout caught from the adjacent stream. I am no fan of fish, but it was very good. Josh managed to get some steak and fries. Our trip leader has been very accomodating.


After lunch we headed into Gmünd to visit the site of the original Porsche factory. In 1944, the Porsche vehicle manufacturing company was moved from stuttgart to Gmünd to avoid Allied bomb raids. It was disguished as a lumber yard. It moved barck to the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart in 1950. Here in a former sawmill Ferry Porsche together with Erwin Komenda designed and built the first Porsche 356 sports cars, including the prototype "No.1" from 1948.

We met up with an older German fellow who saved the last remaining Porsche factory structure and restored it using his own money. He gave us a guided tour of the small building. It housed the board room, the office of Ferry Porsche and his father, a small drafting room and a guard house. We also saw a small Porsche museum operated by the same fellow who restored the old Porsche factory building.

In the evening we took a bus ride into the countryside. We had dinner in an old farmhouse which is now a protected heritage site. The dinner (as always) was first rate. We had pretzels and ham to start. And a great dessert. Throughout we were entertained by Sepp Nußbaumer who sang and played the Zither. Another completely filled and satisfying day.

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Photos

Snowball Fight
Josh finds plenty of snow at the top of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road

Challenging Roads
The narrow roads twist and turn through the mountains.

German Pop
Josh unwinds with a fresh German Pilsner after a hard day navigating.

Pretzels
Pretzels on a stand at our country house dinner.