Who Can Enjoy Nature? Alpine Plants Conservation in Interwar Austria

FURUKAWA Takako

In Austria during the interwar period there were some Socialist mountaineers who were eager to promote alpine plants conservation movements. They used at first enlightening methods in order to persuade alpine plants pickers, including some mountaineers, out of flower picking. As mountaineering became popular, however, more people picked alpine plants. Therefore, they changed the way of thinking from persuasion to judging, if alpine plants pickers could be enlightened. Socialist mountaineers accepted the more radical Socialism in the process of political conflicts between their Party and German Nationalists than before. Now for Socialist mountaineers nature became cultural assets rather than economical ones, and they emphasized the importance of enlightenment. As Natural Conservation Laws, in the states level in Austria, were gradually enacted, they regarded alpine plants pickers as “criminals”, because they have violated the law and wrested the precious cultural assets from Socialist mountaineers. Then, they did not think that the pickers should enjoy nature. In this article the processes and reasons are pursued from the texts of the newsletters, “The Friends of Nature”.