Austrian Alpine Club renames peak linked to Nazi official

The Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV) has removed the name and 3,000-meter status of a mountain peak in the Hohe Tauern region. The peak was previously known as Pillewizer, named after Wolfgang Pillewizer (1911–1999), an Austrian cartographer and glacier researcher.

Investigations by the ÖAV revealed that Pillewizer was a member of the Nazi Party as early as 1932 and served as a leader in the SA paramilitary organization. The club stated that Pillewizer was involved in the implementation of the Nazi regime’s “inhumane, racist ideology.”

In addition to removing the nameplate, club representatives removed stones from the summit to lower its elevation. In 1988, supporters of Pillewizer had artificially added rocks to the peak to raise its height from approximately 2,999 meters to over 3,000 meters for official maps and hiking guides. The peak, located north of the Großvenediger, is now unnamed.