Nationalparkwelten Museum – Mittersill Austria

Imagine if you will a day on your alpine holiday when the weather is truly cold, squally and wet, and your family is less than enthusiastic about being outside at all.

You on the other hand, have stuffed yourself so full of Kaiserschmarnn (fried pancakes in butter with raisins and plum jam or apple sauce!) in a local gasthoff, slightly depressed at the thought of not being able to fully enjoy the beautiful surrounding mountains, and furthermore none of the other members of your family seem that enthusiastic about your idea of heading back to the apartment to relax with an afternoon of German lessons to look forward to (albeit in Kids TV form) whilst you sit quietly (and sadly) reading a book…

Well you could of course do all of the above (we did at least have the Kaiserschmarnn, it was very good!), or you could opt to spend the afternoon at The National Park World Museum in Mittersill.  Luckily, we decided on the latter.    We have passed this futuristic building on many a journey when we lived close by, and hadn’t set a foot inside – up until now…

The Museum is set out over 9 different areas, all focussing on the National Park that surrounds its very building.  This covers a vast area including Austria’s tallest mountain the Grossglockner (all 4,000 metres tall of it!), some 266 peaks (all over 3,000 metres high), over 342 glaciers, and one of the highest water falls in the world…   It is possibly the largest alpine park on the planet, and this museum is dedicated entirely to the different aspects of majestic scenery (both above ground and below it) on its doorstep…

We started off in the shop.   Obviously something you typically save for the end of a visit, but as I had discovered that I had forgotten to pack the toddler’s beloved “dog”, and bedtimes were somewhat harder than usual because of that, such a visit was imperative.   Alpine cuddly toy section investigated, and small brown bunny (“bun bun” which if you are two sounds a bit like “bum bum”) decided upon, we headed straight to the first room of the exhibit “The Eagle’s Eye View” – which must be quite petrifying if you are rabbit shaped…  This room does exactly what it says on the tin, and is a great introduction to the peaks of the National Park.  Through the modern wonders of technology, various interactive displays let you imagine what it’s like to fly high above the mountain tops.   There’s also a live weather station too if you are desperate to find out whether the rest of your trip is going to be a disaster weather-wise.

Leading on from here, you will find the Treasure Chamber, with plenty of impressive exhibits about the 200 odd types of precious stones and minerals that can be found deep beneath the skin of the mountains in these parts, and the various myths and folklore surrounding them.

There are little caves to hide in, plus a 3D film about the origins of the Tauern Window (which I would love to be able to tell you more about, but gather that it’s something to do with tectonic plates and a special geological region of scientific interest in the park!).   The Toddler and Bum bum weren’t particularly into this aspect of this exhibit, having set their sights firmly upon the cows in the High Pastures Life area next door…

The High Pastures Life room was quite possibly my favourite.   What’s not to like about specially designed recliners to lounge about on whilst little films of alpine flora and fauna play above your head, all with alpine sounds (nice ones, not avalanches or children moaning or anything) such as the gentle buzz of bees, and the faint clonking of cow bells piped in the background.  People pay good money for this kind of therapy, I am sure of it.  I could have spent the whole day,  if not week there to be honest.   Please note that despite the contrary indication on the Museum’s promotional video, climbing on the cows is now strictly verboten  (just in case any of the younger members of your family were thinking about attempting such a thing)…

Dragged out of my recliner (and half slumber) by my ten year old excited to show me something in the adjacent Gallery of the Mountain Forest (which in hindsight was probably the inspiration for his particularly selective photographic study later in the holiday when the weather did improve!), here we learned about the huge variety of trees in the National Park, and their various inhabitants.  You can also listen to the odd noises of the tree tenants, and learn about what they eat (and poop!)…

Next it was time to venture downstairs to the Marmot & Co room.    If there’s ever an example that I have no foreign language ability whatsoever, it’s the fact that up until recently, I could only think of the German name for these creatures, and how they often feature in various depictions of the weird and wonderful Wolpertinger from Bavarian folklore that you can find in so many gift shops.     I have never seen a real one in the wild (Marmot not Wolpertinger obviously), but I hold out hope that we might one day.   In this room you can imagine what it’s like deep in their burrows, and learn about their various calls and habits by watching a sweet film about these cuddly looking creatures.   If you are too big to fit in the pretend burrow, don’t feel left out – there’s a great climbing wall that those delighting in the fact that they are small enough to fit into the marmot tunnels probably couldn’t even think about scaling…

There are plenty of other alpine animal facts to learn about here too, as well as some pretty mind blowing plant facts.   For example, did you know that the alps are home to the World’s Smallest Tree?   The trunk of the KrautWieder (or Least Willow) is no thicker than a finger, and grows under the ground – only the tiny leaves and miniature catkins can be seen.      This is now officially my favourite tree, and you know how I feel about them…

On now to perhaps my favourite room of the lot –  NationalPark 360 – a media installation that takes you on a magical journey through time lapse photography, exploring time and seasons in an all encompassing cinema room (360 degrees of it funnily enough!).  The film is both stunningly beautiful, and very moving in a strange kind of way.   It’s also moving in another way in that it makes your brain think that you are actually moving along with it, so it’s quite easy to find yourself swaying unintentionally.  Hold on to the rails, and don’t stand at the top of the stairs (the lumbering up and down of which kept the toddler happy!) for that very reason.   I wanted to apologise to the nice quiet couple for our sudden intrusion, but didn’t want to disturb them anymore than we already had (sorry people).  Then it was back up the stairs to the final few rooms.

The World of Water is actually situated to the left of the High Pastures Life area, but exploring the museum this way around just seems logical.   Here you can imagine what it’s like to be a trout (easier for some than others I imagine!) deep under some crystalline alpine stream, and come face to face with a few stranger looking creatures as well.  This room is quite beautiful, and intrigued the Toddler and Bum Bum for quite some time…

The rest of the gang were by now in the Avalanche room.    Mr R is always being lectured on the dangers of which with his penchant for skiing off piste, so hopefully being able to visualise what it’s like to be in the centre of one in yet another video installation (another beautiful one at that) has well and truly put him off any such nonsense in future…

Afterwards, the path led us out to the final exhibit – Glacier World.   I hadn’t quite appreciated exactly how many glaciers there are in this corner of the planet.

The largest is at the base of the GrossGlockner itself, and you can investigate a slightly stomach churning exhibit, steering the wheel to find out how big the glacier used to be, and how much it’s shrinking year by year.   If this kind of thing doesn’t keep you awake at night yet, believe me it will after studying this.     This room also features an actual glacier that you can touch and feel – and if your parents aren’t watching you closely enough for a split second, have a quick go at doing this to it too…

We all really enjoyed this museum (I will admit to not really knowing what to expect beforehand!).  There’s exactly the right balance of information, interaction, fun and experiences to keep everyone happy when the weather outside is appalling and/or if your legs are killing you after a full day’s skiing/hiking.  Plus it’s always good to learn that little bit extra about a place you are visiting right?… Highly recommended.

Tips:  Entrance – Adults cost €10 euros each, Children from 5-14 cost €5 (under that age go free!).  Family tickets cost €30.   Open daily from 9-6pm (apart from various holidays).   The Alpine themed cafe is well worth investigating, but if you don’t fancy any of the cakes there, I highly recommend the Kaiserschmarnn at the Brauerei Gasthof Braurup up the road…