Wörgl

Infobox Town AT
name=Wörgl
name_local=
image_coa = Wappen at woergl.png

state = Tyrol
regbzk =
district = Kufstein
Lageplan = Woergl.pngpopulation =12510
population_as_of = 2007-04-25
population_ref =
pop_dens =630
area =19.68
elevation = 511
lat_deg=47
lat_min=29
lat_hem=N
lon_deg=12
lon_min=04
lon_hem=E
postal_code = 6300-6302
area_code =043-5332
licence = KU
mayor = Arno Abler (ÖVP)
website = [http://www.woergl.at/ www.woergl.at]

Wörgl is a town in Tyrol, Austria, in the Kufstein district. It is 20 km from the state border with Bavaria.

Transport

Wörgl is an important railway junction between the line from Innsbruck to Munich, and the inner-Austrian line to Salzburg.

European route E641 connects Wörgl with Salzburg, the routes E45 and E60 (Austrian autobahn A12) pass through Wörgl.

Twin cities

*Albrechtice nad Orlicí, a small village of just over 1,000 inhabitants in the Czech Republic.
*Suwa, Nagano, Japan

"The Worgl Experiment"

Worgl was the site of the "Miracle of Worgl" during the Great Depression. It was started on the 31st of July 1932 with the issuing of "Certified Compensation Bills", a form of currency commonly known as Stamp Scrip, or Freigeld. This was an application of the monetary theories of the economist Silvio Gesell by the town's then mayor, Michael Unterguggenberger.

The experiment resulted in a growth in employment and meant that local government projects such as new houses, a reservoir , a ski jump and a bridge could all be completed, seeming to defy the depression in the rest of the country. Inflation and deflation are also reputed to have been non-existent for the duration of the experiment. [http://alt-money.tribe.net/thread/70e5eb29-853d-44ca-9faa-b789d1757037]

Despite attracting great interest at the time, including from French Premier Edouard Daladier and the economist Irving Fisher [http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj10n3/cj10n3-13.pdf] , the "experiment" was terminated by the Austrian National Bank on the 1st September 1933 on the basis of the "Certified Compensation Bills" being a threat to the Bank's monopoly on printing money. [http://www.sunshinecable.com/~eisehan/woergl.htm] [http://circ2.home.mindspring.com/TGWoerglCommentDistributed.htm] [http://books.google.com/books?id=glqnzC-TLPMC&pg=RA1-PA237&lpg=RA1-PA237&dq=worgl+miracle&source=web&ots=I8CzhgeGUq&sig=TwFQG4bSH6yB06eWRajF3VItF1k&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result] [http://books.google.com/books?id=gJX1buNKHj0C&pg=PA159&lpg=PA159&dq=worgl+miracle&source=web&ots=BBZY1B7-Sf&sig=bOLswzZQZRK6wHyt8Z6DovT1QU4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result]

Notable citizens

*Reinhard Furrer, a German scientist and astronaut, was born in Wörgl.
*Gerhard Berger, a former Formula One driver and current co-owner of Scuderia Toro Rosso, was born in Wörgl.
*Stefan Horngacher, an Olympic ski jumper, was born in Wörgl.
*Hans Hömberg, a German film-director, dramatist and author, lived in Wörgl in his later years.
*Heinz Zak, an extreme climber and photographer, was born in Wörgl.
*Hans Peter Haselsteiner, a building tycoon and former deputy chair of the Liberal Forum, was born in Wörgl.

See also

*Local currency
*Ithaca Hours
*Silvio Gesell
*Freigeld

External links

[http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=904 Wörgl's attempt in the 1930s to establish a local currency]

References