No other Austrian province is as resonant outside Austria as the Tyrol. Its famous feathered hats are partly responsible for that; so too are its soaring alpine peaks, which captured the world’s imagination during the 1976 Winter Olympics in the provincial capital, Innsbruck. For many those peaks represent the archetypical Austrian landscape, but the Tyrol is far more than that. Steeped in culture, it is Austria’s third largest province and the only one split into two parts, North and East Tyrol. The sixth coin in our educational Austria Piece by Piece series, which was co-designed by the country’s school children, celebrates this enchanting land.
A folkloric dance festival recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage is depicted in intricate detail on the coin’s obverse. Known as the ‘Telfer Schleicherlaufen’, the festival takes place every five years in the town of Telfs and is famous for its distinctive hats. Telfs is shown in the background nestling under a rugged peak, while the alpine theme is continued on the coin’s reverse in the winning collage from the school competition to co-design the coin. In its centre, next to other famous Tyrolean symbols, lies a different kind of headgear – what else but a Tyrolean hat!
Categories: News, New Releases, Numismatics.
