SALZKAMMERGUT
On Hallstättersee: The“ plätte” is a traditional type of boat in the Salzkammergut
Roland Girtler
The Salzkammergut- NOBLE PEOPLE AND REBELS
The Salzkammergut in Upper Austria has an exciting history. And that includes people who brought forth a special culture, a culture tied to: water, salt, the mountains, cattle, hunting.
The Salzkammergut in Upper Austria has an exciting history. And that includes people who brought forth a special culture, a culture tied to: water, salt, the mountains, cattle, hunting. The river which runs through the Salzkammergut is the Traun. It flows through the Hallstättersee and alongside the Höllengebirge range, then pours into lake Traunsee, on whose shores it is greeted by the Traunstein. It leaves the lake and mountains at Gmunden, continues into the Alpine Foothills, until the Traun finally joins the Danube. The Traun served as a magnificent waterway for transport of wood and salt from the Salzkammergut. But the Salzkammergut was also home to rebels against authority. When the peasants rose up against their oppressors in 1626, they fought for the right to their Protestant faith, which conflicted with that of their aristocratic overlords, as well as their human rights. The peasants wanted to be free and not serve under the yoke of the nobility. After the peasant revolt was put down, the rebels who had survived, along with their families, were compelled to convert to Catholicism, which gave birth to the phrase heard here“ I’ ll turn you Catholic”. And those who refused to bend had to leave their homes: in 1750, many were forcibly banished from the Salzkammergut to live in Siebenbürgen. In three towns close to Hermannstadt, Neppendorf, Grossau and Grosspold, the banished families were accepted by the local Saxons. For over 20 years, I have been traveling with students to Grosspold to research the rural culture of the descendants of the“ Landler”, as they call themselves, who had been banished from the Salzkammergut. Sadly, this old piece of Austrian culture in Siebenbürgen is in the process of disappearing.