Fascinating Stuiben Falls

The Stuiben Falls are a magnet for visitors and one of the most popular photo motifs in Ötztal. This is not new: for over 200 years, its mighty force of nature has inspired people to tame it artistically. Hundreds of works are dedicated to its beauty as pencil drawings, watercolors or oil paintings - and yet no two depictions are alike. Because the waterfall is as variable as it is at different times of the day and year, as are its artistic portraits. The chronicler Walter Falkner from Niederthai is a Stuiben Falls lover and very interested in art. He presents the most beautiful depictions in his book "Der Stuibenfall. Kleine Kulturgeschichte eines Naturdenkmals" (in German).

All pictures copyright Ötztaler Museen

Based on Falkner's book, the Tower Museum in Oetz is currently showing the most outstanding and interesting representations of the Stuiben Falls in its own exhibition. Perspectives and styles have changed over the decades, but what unites these works of art is the great amazement at the imposing natural spectacle.

However, the exhibition goes further and takes up current, burning questions: should and may nature be used without restriction for electricity in the form of hydropower? A man-made steel staircase has made the Stuiben Falls safe and easily accessible for large numbers of visitors since 2016. An accident three years earlier had led to the decision to choose this solid structural measure. But the result caused a lot of criticism right from start: the steel staircase overshadows the waterfall itself, the implementation of the staircase is not aesthetic and destroys the natural monument. Questions about the use of nature have become even more topical: what should be allowed in the context of marketing nature? Where do interventions begin to deform or even destroy the natural monuments? Where are the limits of building and making accessible? All these questions have been discussed intensively in Ötztal for years - not only sing the example of the Stuiben Falls.

Today, more people than ever before make a pilgrimage to the Stuiben Falls and marvel at them - from the steel stairs, but also from the via ferrata that leads past it or from the viewing platform above the waterfall. For most visitors, these facilities are a great way to experience the Stuiben Falls up close. For many people who would otherwise only be able to marvel at the waterfall from a distance, its roaring power is now directly accessible and free of charge. This is also a high value in today's society.