The project is an attempt to explain how skiing in Austria came to acquire its importance. The period around the First World War and the years following form one focus, as it is at this time that skiing evolved from an elite to a popular sport. This is described as a process of collectivization through movement and took place largely under the central aegis of the military and schools. A further focus is the mass media representation of skiing in Austria, post 1945. The biography of the 1970s skiing hero Franz Klammer allows a cursory demonstration of how these narratives create emotionally charged opportunities for identification which have the power to anchor themselves into the collective memory of post war Austria.

Publications

Müllner, R. (2011). Zur Konstituierung des Skilaufs als kollektive Praxis. In A. Klien (Hrsg.), Sicher im Schnee. Fritz Baumrock. Ein praktischer Theoretiker ist Achtzig. (S. 176-182). o.O.: Eigenverlag.

Müllner, R. (2013). Skilauf als "Volksübung" – Die Frühphase der Entwicklung von Schulskikursen in Österreich bis 1930. Spectrum der Sportwissenschaften, 1, 44-63.

Müllner, R. (2013). The Importance of Skiing in Austria. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 30 (6), Taylor & Francis Verlag, S. 659-673.