Natural wonders

Discover the magical world of mountain flowers

(Bild: mauritius images / Alamy Stock Photos / Jacek Jacobi)

Edelweiss, gentian and alpine rose, the three flower beauties of the mountains, enchant us with their uniqueness and can be found high up in the rocks, wind and cold. They are symbols of beauty and courage, but also of love, and the edelweiss in particular is considered the love flower of the Alps.

It doesn't get any more beautiful than this: white like the edelweiss, blue like the gentian and red like the alpine rose - this is the flower tricolor of our Alps. Edelweiss as a star, gentian and alpine roses as colorful companions. All three are much loved and strictly protected. Edelweiss is said to be a star that fell from the sky. Another legend tells of a brave young man who fell because he had fallen in love with the ice maiden and wanted to climb up to her in the eternal ice. Out of sheer compassion, the maiden's ice shell melted. She began to cry and little edelweiss grew wherever her tears fell. This is why the edelweiss is still considered a symbol of love and bravery today.

(Bild: Dieter Meyrl Trenkermhlstrae 8 a 84508 Burgkirchen Germany www.)

Anyone who once brought it to their loved one had shown their courage, as this mountain beauty grows at altitudes of 2000 to 3000 m. The highest place where it is found is above Zermatt at 3140 m. Today, nature conservation regulations prohibit this kind of proof of love. But the magic of the "eternal Bleaml" remains unbroken. It is popularly known as "eternal" because it blooms well into the winter. The actual flower is surrounded by the hairy bracts, which form the distinctive star that bears the name edelweiss, and the dazzling white shimmer on the leaves is caused by thousands of tiny air bubbles reflecting the light between the hairs. Belgian physicists have also discovered another botanical peculiarity: The hairs themselves consist of parallel fibers whose diameter corresponds to the wavelength of the UV radiation. This means that they absorb UV radiation and the remaining light is used for photosynthesis.

Today, edelweiss extract from cultivated plants is considered a luxury cosmetic and UV protection. Naturopathy uses cultivated edelweiss to treat calcification and as a "stomach ache remedy" for digestive problems. As a token of love for his wife Elisabeth, Emperor Franz Josef picked it in 1856 from a difficult-to-access spot on the Grossglockner. Edelweissspitze, Edelweisshütte, Edelweissstraße, all of which can be found on Austria's highest mountain in memory of this. The Emperor gave his Elisabeth 27 edelweiss stars made of diamonds and pearls, known as Sisi stars, on various occasions. 19 of them have been lost. Nature conservation has made it possible for edelweiss to shine unharmed on high mountain meadows today.

The Sisi stars sparkle with diamonds.

(Bild: APA/Bernhaut/DPA)

The author of these lines discovered it on the Gamsgrubenweg (easy footpath on the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, Großglockner) right next to the rest bench.

The Edelweiss song: Austria's anthem for the USA
The cult of the noble white flower began in the mid-19th century with alpinism. Mountaineers wanted to be associated with the attributes of courage and strength. Farmers, on the other hand, used the plant's smoke to keep demons away from their cattle. In the classic "Asterix and the Swiss", Asterix and Obelix are instructed by the druid to find a "silver star", i.e. an edelweiss, for an antidote. The edelweiss song from the 1959 Broadway musical "Sound of Music" is considered the Austrian anthem in the USA.

In terms of beauty and medicinal properties, the gentian can certainly compete with the edelweiss. In the 16th century, Hieronymus Bock noted: "The most common root in Germania is gentian". It is the bitter substances that make gentian so healthy and valuable. The most bitter natural substance in the world is extracted from the root of certain species. It is still perceptible in a dilution of one in 58 million. The above-ground parts of many species also taste bitter. This is why they are spurned by grazing cattle and can thrive on alpine meadows. Picking is forbidden, but harvesting is permitted with a special permit, either for medicines or for gentian schnapps, the legendary bitters.

Blooms in the rare flower color blue

(Bild: Bergauer Rubina)

As the gentian's flowering period coincides with the time when the cuckoo calls from the forest, it is also known as the Guggerschuh in Salzburg and Carinthia. It is called Blitznägele because it was once believed to attract thunderstorms. Under no circumstances were you allowed to have one in the house - apart from the schnapps, of course.

Almrausch wraps the mountains in sparkling red 
The third of the mountain beauties is the alpine rose, the Almrausch. It belongs to the rhododendron family and is therefore generally suspected of being poisonous. However, it was used in folk medicine for a long time without any documented cases of poisoning. Michaele Thöni-Kohler, the Zammer herb witch, recommends it in small quantities for bronchitis and gout. When the alpine roses are in bloom, the slopes glow a lavish red.

Forms the most beautiful cushions in the rocky mountains

(Bild: Christian Handl 2017)

This pleases visitors as much as the bees. In the Wildschönau (Austria's largest alpine rose field), they are busy collecting alpine rose honey. After the Manuka honey from New Zealand, this is considered to be the most valuable, as the alpine roses are not sprayed and bloom far away from the pollutants of civilization. And the visitor's eye soaks up the nectar of beauty as a therapeutic agent for the soul.