Mobility history is digitized

Several thousand photos with 120 years of mobility history can be found in the archive of the oAMTC salzburg. In order to make these treasures more easily accessible, the photos are now being successively digitized – including rarities from bygone times.

The photos are a journey back to a time when driving was still something special. The archives of the oAMTC in Salzburg contain photo albums from the beginning of motorized traffic up to the present day.

2.500 of the several thousand photos have already been digitized. This has several advantages, says aloisia gurtner from the oAMTC salzburg: "on the one hand, such photos are very precious. Every time you open an album, take out a photo and look at what’s on the back, yes it’s not good for the photo. And on the other hand we have then on a click all information about all our photos. We often receive requests from motoring journalists, but also from students or simply from interested people who are doing research – for example on some racing driver. And then at one click we have the info."

photo gallery with 13 pictures

oAMTC/ORF about 2.500 historical photos are in the collection of the oAMTC salzburg

oAMTC/ORF archivist knut rakus and aloisia gurtner are responsible for digitizing the albums

oAMTC/ORF federal chancellor engelbert dollfub on a horse during a tour of the construction site of the grobglockner high alpine road

salzburger landesarchiv benz motor car in 1895, first car race in the land of salzburg

oAMTC/ORF racing car at historic car race on the grobglockner high alpine road

oAMTC/ORF participants at historical gaisbergrennen race

oAMTC/ORF participants in skijoring, pulled by motorcycle, spectators next to them

oAMTC/ORF a perennial favorite: road damage – shown here in a historic photo of schwarzstrabe in the city of salzburg

oAMTC/ORF historical photo of traffic jam on freeway before border crossing walserberg

oAMTC/ORF participants in ice speedway races on the lake of Zell

oAMTC/ORF alfa after accident at car race in the snow

oAMTC/ORF race management at historical car race

oAMTC/ORF historical photo of motorcycle race

First albums were created in 1907

when the automobile club was founded in 1907, the first photo albums were created – also with special features such as a photograph of a visit by chancellor engelbert dollfub hoch zu ross to the construction site of the grobglockner high alpine road a few days before his assassination.

for many years, salzburg was considered the center of motorsports in austria, says knut rakus, honorary archivist of the automobile clubs: "we in salzburg are in the fortunate position that a state governor (josef) rehrl pushed the gaisberg road back then, then later the glockner road. There were races everywhere. At the first gaisbergrennen were 40.000 spectators."

Photo archive of the oAMTC salzburg is digitized

pictures from estates, cooperation with archives

Again and again, the oAMTC also receives photos from estates. We also cooperate with archives. We also know details about the first car to be driven in salzburg in 1895: "what was interesting was that the ‘salzburger zeitung’ said at the time that this car drove at a hell of a speed without horses – with explosive noises," says archivist rakus. "this benz may have reached 15, 16, 17 kph."

But the archive also contains challenges that have remained the same over the decades: for example, road damage in the schwarzstrabe in the 1930s, and the traffic jam on the walserberg had already existed in the past.

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