Flexen Pass is a high mountain pass in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

in the '' Bundesland'' of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

. It is at an elevation of . It connects the upper Lech valley between Warth, Lech, and

Zürs Zürs (1717 meters above sea level) is one of the most renowned winter sports resorts in the Alps. Located in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg, almost directly on the border to North Tyrol, near the Flexenpass, Zürs is part of the Ar ...

with the Klostertal near Stuben. The pass road was built in 1940 and leads to the road over the

Arlberg Arlberg () is a massif between Vorarlberg and Tyrol in Austria. The highest peak is the Valluga at . The name ''Arlberg'' derives from the tradition of the "Arlenburg", who are said to have once established themselves on the Tyrolean side of the A ...

pass. It became a necessity when the Arlberg railroad was opened in 1884. Before that, traffic mostly went over the Tannberg by way of

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

. The first stretch of road was opened in October 1897 up to the pass. At first, the road was shielded from the danger of avalanche by protective covers, but eventually a tunnel was built, and then a bridge over the Hölltobel. The road was only wide. In 1909 the road was finished into the Lech Valley in

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

. Since 1936 the pass has been open in winter. Since 1948, funds from the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

have been utilized to improve the road and make it safer from avalanches. In 2000, plans were unveiled for a tunnel from Stuben to Zürs. However, the plans were tabled for lack of funds.

References

{{Austrian mountain passes Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Vorarlberg

See also

References