Sankt Wolfgang Im Salzkammergut
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St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut is a
market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...
in central
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 ...
, in the
Salzkammergut The Salzkammergut (, ; ) is a resort area in Austria, stretching from the city of Salzburg eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the peaks of the Dachstein Mountains. The main river of the region is the Traun (r ...
region of
Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...
, named after Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg.


Geography

The town is located in central
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 ...
. It is on the northern shore of the
Wolfgangsee Lake Wolfgang () is a lake in Austria that lies mostly within the state of Salzburg and is one of the best known lakes in the Salzkammergut resort region. The municipalities on its shore are Strobl, St. Gilgen with the villages of Abersee and Ri ...
lake (close to the towns of
Strobl Strobl (or Strobl am Wolfgangsee) is a municipality of the Salzburg-Umgebung District (''Flachgau''), in the northeastern portion of the Austrian state of Salzburg, right on the border with Upper Austria. It comprises the Katastralgemeinden of Ai ...
and St. Gilgen, both in the State of Salzburg) at the foot of the Schafberg mountain.


Populated places

The municipality of St. Wolfgang in Salzkammergut consists of the following cadastral communities: St. Wolfgang (2.337,24 ha) and Wolfgangthal (3.319,61 ha); while further subdivided into twelve populated places (with population in brackets as of 1 January 2024). * Aschau (34) * Au (378) * Bürglstein (3) * Graben (183) * Markt (598) * Mönichsreith (95) * Radau (338) * Rußbach (321) * Schwarzenbach (213) * Weinbach (339) * Windhag (214) * Wirling (181)


Culture

St. Wolfgang's tourist attractions include the ''
Schafbergbahn The Schafberg Railway () is a metre gauge cog railway in Upper Austria and Salzburg leading from Sankt Wolfgang im Salzkammergut up to the Schafberg (1,783 m). With a total length of 5.85 km it gains about 1,200 m in height difference. C ...
'' (a
rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...
that runs up the Schafberg), the Hotel Weißes Rössl (the setting of the play ''
The White Horse Inn The White Horse Inn (German: ''Im weißen Rößl'') or White Horse Inn may refer to: *The White Horse Inn (play), ''The White Horse Inn'' (play), a 1897 play by Oscar Blumenthal and Gustav Kadelburg *The White Horse Inn (operetta), ''The White Hors ...
'' and the 1930 operetta based on the play) and a
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 ...
church with a late Gothic
altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...
by
Michael Pacher Michael Pacher ( 1435 – 1498) was a painter and sculptor from Tyrol active during the second half of the fifteenth century. He was one of the earliest artists to introduce the principles of Renaissance painting into Germany. Pacher was a compre ...
. The railway and the church are among the many St. Wolfgang locations featured in
Christmas with Flicka Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chris ...
, a 1987 American-Austrian television film starring the operatic mezzo-soprano
Frederica von Stade Frederica von Stade (born 1 June 1945) is a semi-retired American classical singer. Best known for her work in opera, she was also a recitalist and concert artist, and she recorded more than a hundred albums and videos. She is especially associa ...
, which was shot entirely in the town and its environs. (As well as being shown on America's
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
, the film was released on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD.) A
destination spa A destination spa or health resort is a resort centered on a spa, such as a mineral spa. Historically, many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or mineral springs. In the era before modern biochemistry and pharma ...
, St. Wolfgang is also a popular winter skiing resort.


History

Saint Wolfgang erected the first church at the shore of the Wolfgangsee after he withdrew to the nearby Mondsee Abbey in 976. According to legend he threw an
axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...
down the mountain to find the site and even persuaded the
Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...
to contribute to the building by promising him the soul of the first living being ever to enter the church. However Satan was disappointed as the first creature over the doorstep was a
wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...
. After Wolfgang's
canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...
in 1052, the church became a major pilgrimage site, as it was first mentioned in an 1183 deed by
Pope Lucius III Pope Lucius III ( – 25 November 1185), born Ubaldo Allucingoli, reigned as head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 September 1181 to his death in 1185. Born to an aristocratic family in Lucca, prior to being elected p ...
. In 1481 it was furnished with the famous Pacher
polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Some definitions restrict "polyptych" to works with more than three sections: a diptych is ...
. There had been several places for lodging around the church since
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
times, while the ''Weißes Rössl'' hotel was not built until 1878. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, a subcamp of the
Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...
was located here."Linde, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany - Pages: List of subcamps of Dachau - glosk"
, www.glosk.com, 2010. Schafbergbahn Z13.jpg, Schafbergbahn St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut - Kirche.JPG, Parish church St. Wolfgang Sankt Wolfgang - središte.JPG, Buildings in the town centre


Transportation

St. Wolfgang can be reached via a branch of the ''B 158 Wolfgangsee Straße'' federal highway (
Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...
), running from the city 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 ...
to
Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the river Traun in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden ...
.


See also

*
Schafbergbahn The Schafberg Railway () is a metre gauge cog railway in Upper Austria and Salzburg leading from Sankt Wolfgang im Salzkammergut up to the Schafberg (1,783 m). With a total length of 5.85 km it gains about 1,200 m in height difference. C ...
* Schafberg *
Wolfgangsee Lake Wolfgang () is a lake in Austria that lies mostly within the state of Salzburg and is one of the best known lakes in the Salzkammergut resort region. The municipalities on its shore are Strobl, St. Gilgen with the villages of Abersee and Ri ...
*
Christmas with Flicka Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chris ...


References

Cities and towns in Gmunden District {{UpperAustria-geo-stub