Naturfreunde Österreichs#
Naturfreunde Oesterreichs (Austrian Nature-Lovers), tourist association "Touristenverein die Naturfreunde" (TVN), section of the ASKOe, close to the Social Democratic Party (SPOe). Founded by workers in Vienna in 1895 with the participation of K. Renner in order to cultivate mountaineering and tourism. The International Naturfreunde Organisation was founded in Austria in 1905, whose first head was L. Happisch, who also founded and edited the periodical "Der Naturfreund". In 1933, the Naturfreunde Oesterreichs association had about 200,000 members in 22 countries, it was forbidden in Austria in 1934 but was re-established in 1945. In 1994 it had more than 150,000 members in 250 local groups with about 250 holiday homes and mountain refuges. The Naturfreunde Oesterreichs association also organises lectures, courses and holiday camps and runs a mountaineering school.
Sections of the association are devoted to photography (founded in
1905), winter sports (1906), alpinism (1919, now Alpinistengilde
extremer Bergsteiger - "alpine guild of extreme mountaineers"),
rowing/canoeing/sailing, etc.