Easily world's most picturesque village - Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape 806; Regional Centres for Craftsmanship: a strategy for safeguarding the cultural heritage of traditional handicraft 01169
What and Why
The subtitle of the blog says it all: Hallstatt is simply the most beautiful village in the world. Colourful houses, Gothic churches, mirror lake, green mountains, all make this picturesque landscape unsurpassable in beauty. Try googling the most beautiful villages in the world, and you will always see Hallstatt sitting in the top of the list. Hallstatt sits in the core of this UNESCO WHS and makes this also one of the most overly-visited tiny villages in the world.
This again is not the end, similar to Salzkammergut, the place earns the UNESCO accolade not only because of its spectacular beauty, but rather its history.
The region is the epicentre of the Hallstatt culture, which is the predominant Central European culture during the Bronze Age, starting during the 12th century BCE. As one knows, the area is a huge salt mine and this helps prospering the city during the age of subsistence farming. The community of Hallstatt, as a result of the salt deposit and consequential trade, is also culturally different from other agricultural tribes during similar period. The style and decoration of the grave goods found in the cemeteries are very distinctive, and artefacts made in this style are widespread in Europe. The tools, fabrics and debris fround in the mines are also in very good conditions, showing elaborate details of advanced culture and intelligence compared to other cultures of the same period.
While the culture was based on farming, metal-working was very advanced naturally because of salt-mining. Social hierarchy and classes were also very developed in a tribal manner with classes of chieftains and warriors, and perhaps those with other technological skills.
Toponymy
Hallstatt literally means the city of salt. The stem hall- comes probably from the word Proto-Celtic or Welsh word salt in halen. The stem -statt is Old German for city.
See
Town (Stadt)
The gem of the area is simply the town itself. Roaming around will literally bring you to real-life Disneyland. In fact many visitors confuse that the city is the copybook for the movie Frozen and Frozen II, although in actual fact both movies are based in Norway.
Almost everywhere, the town, the lake, the roads, the shops are photospots.
These swans are favourite friends of the town. The lake is Hallstatt See.
Colourful buildings in the town. There are actually 780 residents in Hallstatt and almost all of them work in the in-town tourism industry. The town is barely 2 km long end-to-end and entertains at its peak 30,000 visitors per day.
The town centre. Most of the buildings in Hallstatt are made of wood due to the abundance of good timber in the region.
After around a 10-minute walk, one will reach the world's most famous photospot, which is near the end of the town. Most of the visitors came to this spot, took a picture and left...
Museum Hallstatt
The Museum Hallstatt is a small but interesting museum displaying 7,000 years of Hallstatt history. The exhibits are very well preserved and managed. Many of the artefacts show the advanced civilisation of Hallstatt, as the chariot above.
The earliest discoveries were made in the mid-19th century CE by Johann Ramsauer, who was the Official of the Habsburg Salt Mines. He subsequently developed an entire advanced classification system well ahead of all other museums. These records are known as the ‘Protokoll’.
Hand.Werk.Haus Salzkammergut
The Hand.Werk.Haus Salzkammergut is one of the few centres in Austria run by local, traditional craftspeople who, over the past two decades, have been collaborating with international artists, educational institutions, craft businesses and other entities to help safeguard their art and practices for future generations. The centres have been providing a range of public activities to help maintain the crafts that include woodwork, painting and textile practices, which provide communities with a sense of identity and continuity. Local and international experts help to run the classes, transmitting specialist knowledge and skills associated with the various practices. They also serve as bridges between art and industry, providing platforms for the sharing of ideas and experiences on traditional craft practice and the development of cooperative networks.
The particular centre of Hand.Werk.Haus Salzkammergut is a group of top craftsmen from all over the region of Salzkammergut who have come together to form an association, trying to perpetuate regional art and handicrafts, especially their traditional apparels. The building itself was adopted from a former forester's house and skillfully transformed it into a contemporary building that combines tradition and modernity.
These craft centres are highly regarded in Austria and Europe and is now enlisted as an ICH.
Berchtesgaden Saltmine (Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden)
To visit the area without visiting a salt mine is just blasphemous and ignorant of history and culture. Naturally we did, but we did not visit the one is Hallstatt, instead we went in the following morning to Berchtesgaden Saltmine (Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden) in Germany which is around an hour drive way. The salt mine is almost a huge theme park cum museum about salt mining in the region.
The biggest attractions of salt mine are the slides. Apparently that is the quickest to move salt and humans around the undulating topographies inside the mine. There are two slides in the mine and everyone has to go through it. Here we go, and see everyone's reaction.
The mine is around 1.5 km for exploration including a boat ride across an inner lake. The mine has been in operation since the 13th century CE. Everyone gave a thumbs up to this little trip.
Eat and Drink
We had dinner in the restaurant / hotel Simony. The guesthouse is furnished using Zirbenholz (Swiss stone pine, a local tree now under environmental protection) and constructed in old German traditional style. Food is so-so. The local food is Steckerlfisch, grilled local fish from the lake.
Getting There and Around
The entrance ticket to the salt mine is EUR 18.5€. To reach Hallstatt, one can take a bus from any major cities nearby, the closest being Salzburg which is one hour away. Hallstatt itself is very small and is fully on foot. Please do not come here just for the single photoshot.
UNESCO Inscription
Human activity in the magnificent natural landscape of the Salzkammergut began in prehistoric times, with the salt deposits being exploited as early as the 2nd millennium BC. This resource formed the basis of the area’s prosperity up to the middle of the 20th century, a prosperity that is reflected in the fine architecture of the town of Hallstatt.
The Werkraum Bregenzerwald, Hand.Werk.Haus Salzkammergut, and Textiles Zentrum Haslach are three centres in Austria run by local, traditional craftspeople who, for the past 15 years, have been collaborating with international artists, educational institutions, craft businesses and other entities to help safeguard their practices for future generations. The centres have been providing a range of public activities to help maintain the crafts that include woodwork, painting and textile practices, which provide communities with a sense of identity and continuity. Governed by associations in cooperation with craft businesses, as well as educational and scientific institutions, they offer training on traditional techniques, such as introductory courses for primary school students, weekend and summer schools, apprenticeship programmes, and postgraduate courses. Local and international experts help to run the classes, transmitting specialist knowledge and skills associated with the various practices. The centres on craftsmanship also host exhibitions and competitions to enhance visibility of the traditional crafts, attracting local and international designers and artists. Furthermore, they act as bridges between art and industry, providing platforms for the sharing of ideas and experiences on traditional craft practice and the development of cooperative networks. Partnerships between cultural, educational and economic fields are also created, further strengthening safeguarding efforts.
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