The station
One tower, one dome and a few antennas on a summit in the Goldberg Group. Staffed since 2 September 1886.
Raised for measurement
1886 · Hann & RojacherThe climatologist Julius von Hann and the Gastein hotelier Ignaz Rojacher pushed the build; it cost about 5,700 Gulden. The old weather tower and the Zittelhaus, named for the association's first chairman, form the summit compound.
The Sonnblickverein has held the station since 1892. In 1986 it was renewed for air-chemistry research, the role that made a free-air site worth the climb.
What it keeps
40+ programs a yearMountain climate
Temperature, pressure, humidity, wind, sunshine and snow, measured since 1886. The longest uninterrupted mountain series in the world.
Since 1886Electricity & rays
The original set already carried the odder ambitions: atmospheric electricity and cosmic rays, measured from above most of the atmosphere's lower dust.
Original 1886 setClean-air baseline
Trace gases for the environment agency, ozone and UV-B with the BOKU, aerosols with TU Wien. More than 40 measurement programs a year.
UBA · BOKU · TU WienDates on the tower
1886 → 2022Opened
The station begins its record on 2 September, in a building financed by a hotelier's savings and an empire's science.
−37.4 °C
On 1 January the thermometer writes Austria's lowest normally measured temperature, here.
11.9 m
Snowpack measured at nearly twelve metres on 9 May. The record stood with the mountain.
Renewed
Rebuilt for air chemistry just as the free-atmosphere site found its second century of purpose.
Anchored
Permafrost beneath the tower began to thaw. Concrete clamps and rock bolts tied the tower back to the summit.
GAW & Ludewig
Accredited a WMO Global Atmosphere Watch station in May; Elke Ludewig became the first woman to lead the station.
The cable car
A six-person gondola opened on 20 November, rated to 80 km/h of wind. It carries crew and emergency traffic.
ACTRIS
The aerosol record joined Europe's ACTRIS research infrastructure in April.
The masts glow
In winter fogs the antennas discharge into the air: St. Elmo's fire, the blue light sailors know. The station's webcam watched it through 2012–2014 while the instruments kept counting.