Oostenrijk - Austria - Österreich

St. Gallenkirch - Montafon - Vorarlberg: snow covered pine trees along a skirun nearby Garfrescha. (picture taken with a Rollei Prego 90 > scanned)

Snow fence on the slopes of Schwarzköpfle, a 2.300 meters high mountain peak in the Silvretta Montafon ski area.

Sankt Gilgen is located - 25 kilometers east of Salzburg - on the northwest bank of the Wolfgangsee . (PiP1) Half of the lake belongs to the village. Sankt Gilgen was first mentioned in 1376. In 1863, shipping began on the Wolfgangsee and that brought attention to the small village. The construction of a railway in 1893 led to another increase in tourism. Rich Viennese started to build summer residences there. In 1957 the Zwölferhorn cable car was opened (see: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/49357046 ). Sankt Gilgen is a quiet, small and charming village with an idyllic atmosphere with typical Austrian houses with flowery balconies (PiP2). The small town centre has a shopping street, a 13th century Catholic parish church and a town hall, which was built in 1914/1915. In front of the town hall is a statue of Mozart playing the violin (main picture). Sankt Wolfgang promotes itself as Mozart-Dorf .The grandfather of the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart worked in Sankt Gilgen, his mother was born there and his sister also lived in the village. The composer himself never visited his mother's house of birth or his sister's house. Nowadays this Mozarthaus houses a museum.

The foundation of the Sankt Wolfgang pilgrimage church goes back to a legend from 976. Bishop Wolfgang von Regensburg lived as a hermit on the Falkenstein and decided to build a first church. The location of the building was inspired by his famous "Axthrow", a divine dispensation. He threw an axe with the vow to build a church where he would find him again. When he found the axe after three days, he built the church at the site, a rocky hill next to the Wolfgangsee. In 1183 the church was first mentioned in a document as Aberseekirche (Abersee was the original name of the Wolfgangsee), which was renamed Capella St. Wolfgangi in 1194. The existence of a stone church is mentioned in 1291. Next to the church founded by Wolfgang von Regensburg, a Romanesque church was built, which met the requirements of the upcoming pilgrimages. That building was destroyed by fire in 1429. Abbot Simon Reuchling commissioned the construction of a new church, which was built as it still largely exists today. The most famous piece in the interior of the church is the “Pacher altar” (PiP2). This winged altarpiece is the only fully preserved altar by Michael Pacher, an important medieval artist from Bruneck. In 1481 it was brought from South Tyrol to Sankt Wolfgang and set up in the presence of Pacher. The altar is one of the most important art monuments in Salzkammergut and Upper Austria and has gained a worldwide reputation through the pilgrimage. Another highlight is the baroque double altar by T. Schwanthaler ( around 1675). Originally - so is said - this altar was to be erected instead of the “Pacher altar”, but Schwanthaler was so enthusiastic about that altar that he decided to erect his own at the present location. The fence around it indicates exactly the place where the first church, built by Bishop Wolfgang stood (main picture and PiP1). The church in Sankt Wolfgang is nowadays still one of the most significant pilgrimage sites in Central Europe.

This is a view of the Wolfgangsee (Lake Wolfgang), taken when we were hiking the so called Pillstein-Panorama-Rundweg . This is a worthwile - and quite easy - walk in wonderful mountain scene high above the Wolfgangsee and other lakes in this part of Austria. Starting point is the mountain station of the Zwölferhorn cable car above the village of St. Gilgen. One is rewarded with awesome panoramic views of the surrounding alpine pasture area, the peaks of the Osterhorn group and the limestone high Alps further away. The circular path goes around the Pillstein and returns to its starting point.

The Hoher Ifen - also called Hochifen - is a 2.230 meters high summit of the Ifen plateau, which is part of the Allgäu Alps. It lies on the border between Austria and Germany and can only be accessed by road from Germany. Hoher Ifen is part of the European Watershed, where water is separated between the North Sea (Rhine River) and the Black Sea (Danube). This Dolomite-like rock formation with its steep walls is the natural landmark of the Kleinwalsertal. In winter the mountain plateau is an impressive backdrop for the Ifen ski area.

The Rohrsee is a water reservoir for the Heuberg ski area. We passed this artificial lake on a hike along the Untere Höhenweg from the mountain station of the Heuberg lift to Mittelberg. From the path/road, we had beautiful views of Kleinwalsertal (see PiPs).

The history of Hl. Mutter Anna (St. Anna parish church) dates back to around 1570, when in Hirschegg a chapel is mentioned, which was then changed and rebuilt several times. The first time the place name was mentioned in the annual diary 1499, where it is recorded in a document: “... located on the hierßegg, dz. picture dar”. As "image" is a shrine or a small chapel to understand. In 1745 Hirschegg was raised to the chaplaincy. The maternal priest Mittelberg originally filed vehement opposition. Ultimately, the bishop of Constance decided that the pastor has to recognize the appointment of a curate. In 1767 the chapel received a new tower. In 1782 the Hirschegger asked for release from the parish of Mittelberg; ten years later the elevation to an independent parish took place. In 1804, the foundation stone was laid for rebuilding the church. In 1806, the present church was inaugurated by the Bishop of Constance.

The parish church Mariä Opferung (also called Meine liebe Frau von Jerusalem ) is dating back to the year 1471, visible in the vestibule of the church. In 1493, a gothic-style church was inaugurated and a cemetery was built. The church was extended in the years1684 and 1720. The tower was raised in 1844 and the pitched roof replaced by a dome. In 1889 the dilapidated church including the tower was demolished and a new, built in the neo-Romanesque style. The ‘new’ church was completed in 1894 and the inauguration took place on June 12 of that year. Martin von Feuerstein, a well-known Munich professor, created the splendid paintings in casein technique in 1903/1904 with his master class. Twenty years later the Mariä Opferung became a new altar.