Everything about Hallstatt totally explained
Hallstatt,
Upper Austria is a village in the
Salzkammergut, a region in
Austria. It is located near the
Hallstätter See (a lake). At the
2001 census it had 946 inhabitants. Peter Scheutz has been mayor of Hallstatt since
1993.
The name
Hall is most probably from the old
Celtic name for
salt, the salt mines near the village being an important factor. Salt was a valuable resource, so the region was historically very wealthy. It is possible to tour the world's first salt mine, located above downtown Hallstatt.
The village also gave its name to the early
Iron Age Hallstatt culture and is a
World Heritage Site for Cultural Heritage. Hallstatt is a popular tourist attraction owing to its small-town appeal and can be toured on foot in ten minutes.
Image:Hallstatt-marktplatz_300.jpg|Central Square (Marktplatz).
Image:Bonehouse1.jpg|An ossuary.
Image:Sun Rise in HallStatt.JPG|Beautiful sunrise in Hallstatt
History
Until the late 19th century, it was only possible to reach Hallstatt by boat or via narrow
trails. The land between the lake and mountains was sparse, and the town itself exhausted every free patch of it. Access between houses on the river bank was by boat or over the
upper path, a small corridor passing through attics. The first road to Hallstatt was only built in 1890, along the west shore, partially by rock blasting.
However this secluded and inhospitable landscape nevertheless counts as one of the first places of
human settlement because of the rich sources of natural
salt, which have been mined for thousands of years, originally in the shape of hearts. Some of Hallstatt's oldest archaeological finds, such as a
shoe-last celt, date back to around 5000 BC. In 1846
Johann Georg Ramsauer discovered a large
prehistoric cemetery close by the current location of Hallstatt. Ramsauer's work at the Hallstatt cemeteries continued till 1863, unearthing more than 1000 burials. It is to his credit and to the enormous benefit of archaeology that he proceeded to excavate each one with the same slow, methodical care as the first. His methods included measuring and drawing each find, in an age before color photograph, he produced very detailed watercolors of each assemblage before it was removed from the ground. In the history of Archaeology Ramsauer's work at Hallstatt helped usher in a new more methodic way of doing Archeology. In addition, one of the first
blacksmith sites was excavated there. Active
trade and thus
wealth allowed for the development of a highly developed culture, which, after findings in the Salzberghochtal, was named the
Hallstatt culture. This lasted from approximately 800 to 400 BC, and now the town's name is recognised worldwide.
No notable events took place during
Roman rule or the early
Middle Ages. In 1311, Hallstatt became a
market town, a sign that it hadn't lost its
economic value. Today, apart from salt production, which since
1595 is transported for 40 kilometers from Hallstatt to
Ebensee via a
brine pipeline,
tourism plays a major factor in the town's economic life. Tourists are told that Hallstatt is the site of "the world's oldest pipeline", which was constructed 400 years ago from 13,000 hollowed out trees. There is so little place for cemeteries that every ten years bones used to be exhumed and removed into an
ossuary, to make room for new burials. A collection of elaborately decorated skulls with the owners' names, professions, death dates inscribed on them is on display at the local chapel.
Further Information
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