Franz-Josefs-Höhe is a balcony hung at 2,369 metres on the southern flank of the Grossglockner. A short spur from the main high road leads to a vast car park, a visitor centre and a long terrace, and from the rail you look straight across at the Grossglockner itself, the highest mountain in Austria at 3,798 metres, and down onto the Pasterze, the country's longest glacier. The summit is a pyramid of dark rock and ice, the glacier a grey, crevassed river sliding between lateral moraines. It is among the most famous views in the Alps.
The place is named for Emperor Franz Joseph I, who visited the area in 1856 with his wife Elisabeth, and rode up to look at the glacier. A century and a half later, the ice has changed beyond recognition. The Pasterze has shrunk dramatically, retreating several kilometres and thinning by many tens of metres, and the old viewpoints now look down on a lake and rubble rather than ice. Signs along the path show where the surface once stood, and it is hard to avoid a moment of silence. A cable car once brought visitors down to the ice, and a path still runs along the slope.
The detour from the main road is a few kilometres of broad, well-surfaced bends, climbing past meadows and bare rock, and it is as pleasant a ride as any on the route. You will probably share it with tour buses and campervans, so patience helps. Wildlife is better than you might expect: marmots whistle from the rocks near the car park, and ibex sometimes appear on the slopes. The air is thin and cool, and the light can change in minutes as cloud sweeps across the peak.
There is a cafe and restaurant at the terrace, serving hot drinks and Austrian dishes, and a shop, though prices reflect the view. Fuel is not available here, so arrive with enough from the valley, from Heiligenblut or beyond. The best time to come is early in the morning, before cloud builds on the peak and before the crowds arrive, and on a clear day the summit sometimes carries a little banner of snow blown from the ridge. Wear warm gloves, even in summer.