“Ötzi” needs the mountain

By Sigi Heinrich

There it lies now, still supplied with water and occasionally covered in spray mist at always the same temperatures. And he can't do anything. Absolutely nothing. “Ötzi”, the man from the Stone Age, lives his second life as a dead man. He probably would never have liked the fuss surrounding himself. Maybe he was a loner. Ultimately, no one knows that, while it is already clear that he was struck down by an arrow fired from an enemy bow. Afterwards, the glacial ice covered it and it found peace since 3300 BC before it was discovered 30 years ago. Postmortem, they broke a few bones during the rescue. It no longer affected him. He also endured the fact that a jackhammer hit his hip with stoic calm. And it certainly didn't matter to him whether he was an attraction as a mummy in North Tyrol or in South Tyrol. “Ötzi” should look down on us from Virgl When he was alive it didn't make any difference. We are fascinated by him. He is the oldest person we know and has been well preserved thanks to the icy shell over the past centuries. At least that's how scientists see it. And he has become a box office magnet, a worldwide celebrity. He, the man from the mountains. One would wish him a proper, truly final resting place. One that would do justice to its meaning and for me there is only one solution. He should be able to look down on us from Bozen's local mountain, the Virgl. And we go up to him. Tourists, I'm sure, would really enjoy it if they could get on a cable car to float up to "Ötzi". Maybe you could see his mausoleum from below. Illuminated at night.

A fixed point in the South Tyrolean state capital. Of course, it takes courage and vision to favor the Signa Group's project in the final grave choice for him. This is not given to everyone. Resistance always forms intensively when well-worn tracks are left. If you leave “Ötzi” in town, just walk by and take a look at him. If it were up on the Virgl, you would knowingly visit it and maybe even plan an extra day of vacation for it. The hospitality industry would rejoice. Good, brave “Ötzi”. That would be added value for everyone. The population in other places was initially skeptical And it could also be an architectural milestone. When Gustavo Eiffel had his steel monster built for the 1900 World's Fair, the French weren't particularly enthusiastic at first. Quite the opposite. They rejected the tower as an aesthetic disgrace. Today the Eiffel Tower shapes the French metropolis. King Ludwig II also had his vision when he decided to build Neuschwanstein from Hohenschwangau. Right in the middle of the mountains. Although his castle ruined Bavaria's finances at the time, it has long been one of the biggest tourist attractions in Germany and even in the world. The spectacular towers, bridges, museums and skyscrapers of Santiago Calatrava, wherever they stand, are points of attraction and formative monuments of architecture.

In Innsbruck they didn't make a mess when building the new Bergisel ski jump. The Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid has created an impressive work. A viewing platform with a summit restaurant, easily accessible with an inclined elevator. It is an eye-catcher and so now Innsbruck not only has the “Golden Roof”, but another landmark that can be seen from afar. Like a lighthouse by the sea. And it has also been immortalized on Kronplatz for one of the Messner Mountain museums. But it can also be smaller and still impressive. I was able to attend the inauguration of the new suspension bridge in Barbian, which leads spectacularly over the Ganderbach to Saubach, and I could tell in a few conversations that people didn't necessarily love the project at first. But now that it is completed, it is clear that it has created an attraction. A small architectural jewel in the middle of a chestnut forest, for which a few obstacles had to be overcome.

In Bolzano, thanks to “Ötzi”, they now have the extremely rare opportunity to create a building for their city, and indeed for the whole of South Tyrol, that might even take your breath away. Architecture in sensitive places is always an extremely exciting matter. Seizing the opportunity with “Ötzi” would be the order of the day for me. Anything other than the final resting place for our colleague from the Chalcolithic on the Virgl would be boring. I'm sure if you could ask "Ötzi" he would be for the mountain, because he comes from the mountain. The Dolomites are a world heritage site. Every tourist knows the “Schlern”, the “Rosengarten” and the “Drei Zinnen”. A museum for “Ötzi”, as sublime as the wonders of nature, would be a perfect addition. There would be no losers in this battle for the old bones from the Ötztal. There would only be winners. I'm curious to see whether in the end you can say: Yes, the world belongs to the brave. “Ötzi” deserved that. He's waited long enough.

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“Ötzi” needs the mountain

Since he was released from his ice shell on the glacier, “Ötzi” has found no peace. Where is he supposed to stay for the next few centuries? Our columnist Sigi Heinrich has thought about the Stone Age man and also makes a clear commitment to his ultimate final stay.

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