Austrian Speleological Association

The Austrian Speleological Association (Verband Österreichischer Höhlenforscher, VÖH) is a national caving organization was founded as an umbrella organization of 26 Austrian caving clubs in 1949.[1]

Association of Austrian Speleologists
"Verband Österreichischer Höhlenforscher"
Abbreviation(VÖH)
Formation1949 (1949)
TypeINGO
PurposeCoordination of Austrian caving clubs
HeadquartersUpper Danube Street 97/1/61 A-1020 Vienna
Region
Austria
Membership (2016)
2,500
Official language
German
President
Dr. Christoph Spötl
Vice-President
DI (FH) Ernest Geyer
Secretary General
Prof.Dr. Johannes Wallner
PublicationDIE HÖHLE (THE CAVE)
AffiliationsInternational Union of Speleology; European Speleological Federation (FSE)
Websitehoehle.org

Activities

The Association coordinates the activities of 26 speleological associations; 25 in Austria and one in Germany.[2] Membership in these associations automatically grants membership in the umbrella organization. Individual memberships are not accepted. The Association maintains:

  • a website featuring the 32 show caves found throughout the country.
  • a list of Austria's longest and deepest caves.
  • a library of 2,800 books and other material (in the Karst and Speleology Working Group Library, Natural History Museum in Vienna).

Awards

  1. The Golden Cave Bear is "a badge of honor for special services to Austrian caving." It was first awarded in 2014.
  2. The Poldi Fuhrich Award, named in honor of the Austrian woman who was a caving and karst pioneer[3] Leopoldine Fuhrich (1898-1926), is presented to young speleologists for "outstanding work in the field of caving, cave documentation and public relations." It was first awarded in 2010.

Publications

Collaborations

The Association works with

  • the Karst and Speleology Working Group of the National History Museum to manage SPELDOK, a database containing data on over 15,500 caves.[4]
  • international karst and speleological organizations on research projects.

Associations

The Association is a member of these international organizations:

Notable members

References

  1. "Welcome - Austrian Speleological Association (in English)".
  2. "Member Associations page". Austrian Speleological Association (in English). Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  3. Shaw, Trevor (2006). "Poldi Fuhrich (1898-1926): Female Pioneer of Severe Cave Exploring". Cave and Karst Science. 33 (3): 119-130. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  4. SPELDOK Verband Österreichischer Höhlenforscher, n.d., retrieved 1 August 2018
  5. Nachrufe Verband Österreichischer Höhlenforscher, n.d., retrieved 1 August 2018
  6. Chronik, Menschen, 9./10. August Salzburger Nachrichten, 8. August 2014, retrieved 1 August 2018
  7. Ives, Mike (July 3, 2018). "5 Cave Rescues That Worked: Thailand Can Find Hope in Past Success". New York Times. Retrieved 1 November 2018.


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