Bielerhöhe Pass

Geschichte

The Bielerhöhe connects the Montafon valley in Vorarlberg with the Paznaun valley in Tirol. At 2,037 m above sea level, the Bielerhöhe lies in the Vorarlberg region, due north of the Silvretta Reservoir.The Bielerhöhe is the highest reachable point of the Silvretta high alpine road, a toll road over the Bielerhöhe. Due to its exposed location the road is closed to normal traffic in winter (from November to April) at which time it can be reached only by cable car from Partenen, and then, using a taxi service, through a tunnel owned by the Vorarlberger Illwerke AG, followed by the last stretch along the mountain pass road.GeographyLocation and LandscapeThe Bielerhöhe lies on the watershed between the Rhine and Danube. The valleys on either side of the Bielerhöhe are called Vermunt; the Great Vermunt and the Swiss Vermunt on the Vorarlberg side close to what is known today as the Vermunt reservoir, and the Small Vermunt on the Tirol side. The former give rise to the upper reaches of the Ill on its way to the Rhine, the Vermunt brook flows into the latter on its way to the Trisanna and Inn rivers. The top of the pass lies in Vorarlberg, the state border with Tirol runs a little to the east and over the Zeinisjoch.The lower reaches of the Ochsen valley, which branches off towards the Piz Buin in the south, are submerged in the Silvretta reservoir which dominates the Bierlerhöhe. In order to control the water discharge of the Ill, the reservoir has been extended from the Ochsen valley towards the top of the pass, and is secured with dams in both directions.