THE “SALZKAMMERGUT”
Historically, the Salzkammergut has been known for thousands of
years. “Hall” being the Celtic word for salt, one can find many
towns and villages who incorporate Hall in their names, as e.g.
Hallstatt or Hallein near Salzburg. Many hundreds of years
before Christ, salt mining was already one of the main reasons
that this area would be settled by people who would take the
risks of a life in the wilderness and mining in the most
primitive form. Archeological finds, however, show yet earlier
settlements dating back to the Stone Age and an entire period is
now known as the “Hallstatt Culture”. The area flourished during
the Bronze Age and salt later brought enormous wealth to the
rulers of the district. With the decline of the Roman rule
Hallstatt was largely forgotten and only revitalized in the 13th
Century AD by Queen Elizabeth, widow of Duke Albert I. of
Austria, leading to serious disputes with the Archbishops of
Salzburg with their already flourishing mines.
Several of these ancient mines have now been converted to
museums and offer interesting tours through the bowels of the
mountains, well worth a visit. Hallstatt is celebrating its 700
year anniversary of having been given the rights of a “Market
Town” on January 21, 1311 by Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth,
widow of Duke Albert I. of Austria, had brought the “Ischlland”
into her marriage as part of her dowry. The events in Hallstatt
in 1311 signified also the birth of the Salzkammergut as such,
even though it was first documented as such only in 1656, and
the area celebrated its 350th anniversary in 2006.
So much for its history - to describe the charms and the
attraction of the Salzkammergut in words is nearly impossible.
One can give it this or that name, in order to rekindle feelings
and memories; everything is so incredibly beautiful to behold!
One could say that “God has created the world in seven
Holidays!”
Towns, lakes, mountains — lovely and delightful vistas versus
stark and dark impressions. The sunny and bright southern part
of the Traunsee vis-a-vis its northern romantic, dark and
serious side towards Gmunden with its many ever hungry swans
floating gracefully in the waters along the promenade; the
bright and happy Mondsee with its fields of water lilies below
the vertical face of the “Drachenwand”; the Wolfgangsee framed
by the incomparable guardians of its mountain panorama, the town
of St. Wolfgang, beautiful at any time of the day, but
especially so at sunset against the mountains. Hallstattersee,
with its thousands of years of history with Hallstatt itself
nestled against the steep mountain wall protective of its
ancient secrets, including its cemetery, everywhere traces of
old traditions, some dating back to prehistoric times, some
adjusted to the new religious customs of Christianity. Across
the lake the enormous glacier of the Dachstein stands guard as
it has for thousands of years.
And then there is Bad Ischl, the Imperial Summer vacation
favourite of the Ha bsburgs, with its beautiful Kaiservilla, and
the “Marmorschlossl”, the Tea Pavilion, Emperor Franz Josef had
had built for his wife, Empress Elisabeth or Sissi, as she was
popularly known. Empress Sissi was said to have been the most
beautiful woman of her time and it was in Bad Ischl that the
young Franz Josef proposed to her and where their engagement was
celebrated.
The Salzkammergut and Bad Ischl specifically were the favourite
summer destination also of the Viennese intelligentsia and
artistic community, composers, musicians, painters and poets
gathered in this gentile town. Many paintings of the lake
sceneries in the vibrant colours of a summer’s day attest to the
sojourn of many an artist.
The famous composer Franz Lehar owned a villa in Bad Ischl as
did his friend Richard Tauber. Richard Tauber represented
Lehar’s fulfillment of a Tenor ideal and became Lehar’s standard
interpreter. Tauber made the Operetta “Land des Lachelns”, a
world-wide success as the main character “Sou Chong”. “Dein ist
mein ganzes Herz” from this Operetta became Tauber’s greatest
success and his leitmotiv, the key-note of this great Tenor. The
two friends would meet at Lehar’s home in Bad Ischl in the
summer and visitors to the spa town would line up along the
garden fence to enjoy Lehar and Tauber making music together.
There were few festivals in those days and Bad Ischl was a prime
example of “the good old times”. Today when visiting Bad Ischl
one is still reminded of those days in the architecture of the
buildings, the old spa hall, and then, of course, there is
everyone’s favourite the “Konditorei Zauner” or as it is still
known colloquially — “Beim Zauner”.
In the Salzkammergut you can choose between the quiet solitude
of centuries-old churches and the natural beauty of the
landscape, gazing down onto the unparalleled loveliness of the
Lake District from the height of a summit, whether you conquered
the mountain on foot or on a mountain railway as e.g. the
cog-wheel railway up the steep inclines of the Schafberg behind
St. Wolfgang. As in Rome one would throw a coin into the Trevi
Fountain, to say farewell to the incomparable beauty of the
Salzkammergut you must take a last stroll along the promenade at
Gmunden, with a final look at its scenery of gracious bourgeois
buildings cheek to cheek with villas and castles in an amicable
neighbourhood, boats gently bobbing on the waves, the swans
floating towards the shore with wings stretched wide, and
Schloss Orth mirrored in the calm waters.
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