Adolf Trientl (1817-1897) ueber Muren und Lawinen

1991

S. 233-239

Unselbständiges Werk

200091006

Adolf Trientl was a Tyrolean priest who tried to raise the living standard of the rural population in the Alps by improving agriculture and forestry. He not only published a lot; knowing that direct contacts and discussions with people are much more effective, he was a wandering teacher all his life. Born and staying most of his life in the mountainous regions of the Inner Alps he often was confronted with debris flows and avalanches and the damages done by them. Trientl's publications on these natural phenomena show that he was able to draw unprejudiced conclusions out of his observations and investigations. Much of his knowledge about debris flows and avalanches therefore is astonishingly up to date. In his efforts to improve mountain forests and their management Trientl used to emphasize not only their economic, but also their protective functions. Nevertheless he pointed out very clearly, that the protective functions have definite limits in case of excessive rain or snowfall. Although ecology and environment didn't exist as slogans at his time, a motto of Adolf Trientl was: "We are only wanderers on earth. We can and shall live of the land, but we must not destroy its fertility."