Grave of Alexander Mörk von Mörkenstein

A very special location may be called this final resting place of the Austrian officer, painter and speleologist. The location is located at an altitude of about 1700 meters in the caves known as the Eisriesenwelt, (Ice Giant World), a natural cave system in the Tennen Mountains about 40 km south of the city of Salzburg.

After the discovery of this cave system, Alexander Mörk was the most famous speleologist who, together with a group of fellow speleologists, further exposed this cave system during various expeditions in 1912 and 1913. Various rooms have been named after him.

At the start of the 1st World War, Alexander Mörk was added to the k.u.k. after the general mobilization. Infantry regiment "Erzherzog Rainer" No. 59 where he served as an officer. On October 22, 1914 he was seriously wounded during an offensive in Galicia on the banks of the San River. A day later he died of his wounds in a dressing station behind the line.

His testamentary wish was fulfilled and the urn with his remains in the cave system was laid to rest in a niche in one of the spaces he discovered.

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Source

• Text: Bjorn van Marle
• Photos: Bjorn van Marle