Maria Alm am Steinernen Meer is a municipality and a village in the district of

Zell am See Zell am See is the administrative capital of the Zell am See District in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Located in the Kitzbühel Alps, the town is an important tourist destination due to its Ski resort, ski resorts and shorel ...

, in the state of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Geography

It is situated in the Salzburg ''Pinzgau'' region, in the valley of the Urslau creek, a tributary of the

Saalach The Saalach is a river in Austria and Germany, and a left tributary of the Salzach. Course The river begins, as the stream, in the Austrian state of Tyrol in the Kitzbühel Alps at the lake below the high Gamshag. From there it flows ini ...

river, running between the

Steinernes Meer The Steinernes Meer (literally "Rocky Sea") is a high karst plateau in the Northern Limestone Alps. As one of the nine sub-ranges of the Berchtesgaden Alps the Steinernes Meer belongs partly to Bavaria and partly to Land Salzburg, Salzburg. Loc ...

mountain range with the

Hochkönig The Hochkönig is a mountain group containing the highest mountain (Hochkönig) in the Berchtesgaden Alps, Salzburgerland, Austria. The Berchtesgaden Alps form part of the Northern Limestone Alps. Location It lies to the west of the town of Bis ...

massif (part of the

Berchtesgaden Alps The Berchtesgaden Alps (, ) are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre. It is crossed by the Austria–Germany border: the central part belongs to the Berchtesgadener Lan ...

) in the north and the

Salzburg Slate Alps The Salzburg Slate Alps () are a mountain range of the Eastern Alps, in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Situated within the greywacke zone, they could be regarded either as part of the Northern Limestone Alps or of the Central E ...

in the south. The municipal area is located about east of

Saalfelden Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer is a town in the district of Zell am See in the Austrian state of Salzburg. With approximately 16,000 inhabitants, Saalfelden is the district's largest town and the third of the federal state after Salzburg and Hallein ...

on the road to

Bischofshofen Bischofshofen () is a List of cities and towns in Austria, town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau District, St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. It is an important traffic junction located both on ...

. It comprises the cadastral communities of Aberg, Alm,

Hinterthal Hinterthal ( above sea level) is found approximately to the east of Saalfelden and some 60 minutes southwest of the city of Salzburg, Austria. It is at the foot of the High King Mountain (Hochkönig) as part of Maria Alm, in the Austrian state of ...

, and Winkl.

History

Settled by Bavarian tribes in the 6th and 7th century AD, a knightly dynasty ''von der Almb'' is documented from about 1160 onwards. The parish church of ''Maria in der Almb'' was first mentioned in 1374 when the area was part of the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (; ) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of Salzburg, as distinguished from the much larger Catholic diocese f ...

. Under the rule of Prince-Archbishop

Count Leopold Anton von Firmian Leopold Anton Eleutherius Freiherr von Firmian (11 March 1679 – 22 October 1744) was Bishop of Lavant 1718–24, Bishop of Seckau 1724–27 and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1727 until his death. Early life He was born in Munich, into ...

, it was rebuilt in the present

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style around 1730 and received its characteristic spire. At the same time, numerous

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

subjects were expelled from Salzburg and found a new home in the far away lands around

Gumbinnen Gusev (; ; ; ) is a town and the administrative center of Gusevsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Pissa and Krasnaya Rivers, near the border with Poland and Lithuania, east of Chernyakhovsk. It is p ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

, where they settled at the invitation of King Frederick William I. The village is the starting point of the ''Almer Wallfahrt''

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

across the Steinernes Meer mountain range to St. Bartholomew's Church on the

Königssee The Königssee () is a natural lake in the southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Description Situated within the Bercht ...

lake. Dating back to the 17th century, it is annually held on Bartholomew's Day August 24.

Tourism

Maria Alm, especially known for winter tourism, is part of the

High King Mountain Ski Area High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

, a member of the Ski Amadé network of 28 ski areas that together make up the largest

Alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

region in Europe. Besides downhill skiing, Maria Alm provides facilities for cross-country skiing, golf, mountain biking, climbing, hiking, and tobogganing. Situated at the bottom of the alps, about 400 meters from the center of town, is the Sommerstein Pool with a 40 meter water slide, a current canal, and various swimming and play areas for kids. The grounds around the pool are grassy and open making it a great space for sunbathing. The pool also offers an indoor/outdoor snack bar and lockers with changing rooms.

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') as of 2014 local elections: *''Wählergemeinschaft Pro Maria Alm'' (

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

): 9 *

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(ÖVP): 4 *

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

(SPÖ): 3 *

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...

(FPÖ): 1

Notable people

* Reinhard Spitzy (1912–2010), diplomat, entrepreneur, author * Marcus Schmuck (1925–2005), mountaineer *

Wolf Haas Wolf Haas (born 14 December 1960) is an Austrians, Austrian writer. He is most widely known for his crime fiction novels featuring detective Simon Brenner, four of which were made into films. He has won several prizes for his works, including th ...

(born 1960), writer * Alfred Rainer (1987–2008), skier.

References

External links

Gemeindeverwaltung
(German) {{authority control Cities and towns in Zell am See District Salzburg Slate Alps