Hinterberger Panorama Trail - Simonywarte

Parish and Parish Church

Until the 14th century, Mitterndorf belonged to the parish of Pürgg. As part of the reorganization of church organizational areas due to settlement and population growth, a separate parish was established in the Hinterberg valley in 1335. The area between Knoppen and the Kulmbach was designated as the ecclesiastical district. Notable is the patroness of the Mitterndorf parish church: Saint Margarethe, a dragon saint. The nobility at the time favored knightly saints as church patrons, such as Saint George, the dragon slayer (the dragon was a symbol of evil in the Middle Ages), after whom the Georgskirche in Pürgg is named. There are also assumptions about Celtic roots in the interpretation of the female saint figures in the Mitterndorf church. Last but not least, it is believed that the church of St. Margaretha was built on a pre-Christian cult site. A predecessor church is presumed, as remnants from the Romanesque period were discovered during construction work. The still existing late Gothic church building dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. A special feature of the Mitterndorf parish church, as with other churches in the area, is the late Baroque furnishings by the sculptor Johann Fortschegger, who lived in Mitterndorf at the end of the 18th century.

The Protestant Church in Mitterndorf

With Joseph II's Toleration Patent in 1781, the persecution of Protestants in Austria came to an end. However, it was not until the late 19th century that official Protestant congregations formed in the Styrian Salzkammergut for the first time since the Reformation. In 1899, an evangelical service was held in Aussee for the first time after 300 years, and members of the newly formed Protestant community also came from Mitterndorf. As their number increased, the then Protestant pastor Ernst Gottfried Mayer decided in the early 1930s to build a church of their own in the Hinterberg valley. A Nordic-style wooden church named “Kreuzkirche” was built in 1934 based on a plan by architect and builder Hans Jelem.

End of the old salt works and a new era

The construction of the railway line through the Salzkammergut in 1877 had immediate consequences for the region. Coal, aided by the railway, replaced wood as a fuel. This marked the end of the regional timber industry in its traditional form as well as the transportation system that had existed for centuries. However, the railway opened new perspectives: on one hand, it enabled the export of wood, and on the other hand, it promoted the tourist development of the region. Mitterndorf was primarily a timber trade area with early signs of tourism before 1914, with imperial forests, sawmills, crafts, and agricultural side incomes. The valley was increasingly “discovered” for summer retreats. In 1888, the physician Heinrich Lobenstock opened a bathing facility. In the 1890s, a bathing house was built at the Heilbrunner spring. In 1896, Mitterndorfer traders founded a beautification association. In 1899, a brewery of the Hinterberger Brewery commenced operations. A shelter was built at Steirersee in 1900, and the first ski descents took place in 1905. New civil buildings and several villas enriched the face of the peasant and craft-dominated town.

Mountains, Snow, and Water – The Path to a Tourism Landscape

Families of citizens in Mitterndorf began to take the first initiatives for summer retreats. The teacher and writer Hans Fraungruber, a friend of Peter Rosegger, also contributed to the town's recognition. The turn of the 20th century was marked in Mitterndorf by a spirit of renewal, which, however, came to a halt due to the two world wars. From the 1960s onwards, a significant development of infrastructure and construction changed the face of Mitterndorf, Tauplitz, and the Tauplitzalm, based on growing prosperity and increasing tourist demand. Key projects during these years included the construction of the Tauplitzalm Alpine Road, the establishment of the Heilbrunn spa, and the development of holiday settlements, such as the “Sonnenalm.” Within a few years, an investment and construction boom transformed Mitterndorf into one of the successful tourist communities in Styria. In the early 1970s, the awarding of the title of “spa resort” and the concession of the title “Bad” crowned this development.

The Pioneer Era of Winter Sports

The beginnings of Austrian winter sports date back to the 1890s. Skiing began not in the Tyrolean mountains but with k.u.k. officers like Matthias Zdarsky in Lilienfeld in Lower Austria and in Mürzzuschlag in Styria. Mitterndorf was one of the pioneer communities of the new white sport during the monarchy. The innkeeper Emmerich Oberascher and other Mitterndorf residents established this new sport in their homeland. The legendary first ascent of the Lawinenstein by Ferdinand Sulzbacher and Hiob Engl in the winter of 1905/06 marked the beginning of winter sports. As the demand for accommodation and supply options increased, the first ski hut was established in 1907 on the Rossalm. Out of necessity for guest care in emergencies, an “Alpine Rescue Station” emerged as a precursor to the later mountain rescue service. The Hinterberg valley and the Tauplitzalm advanced to a significant center for winter sports in the Eastern Alps in the years preceding the outbreak of World War I. The railway connection enabled ski enthusiasts from Graz, Vienna, and Munich to visit. During the interwar period, the enthusiasm for winter sports continued, driven also by notable achievements of residents from Mitterndorf: the winter sportsman Robert Kanzler, born in Krungl, became a master tailor and the inventor of the legendary ski pants. Leo Gasperl was one of the most successful ski racers of his time, making a name for himself in Italy.

Grubegg

In 1572, Andrä Gruber, an influential citizen of Aussee and merchant in the Hinterberg valley, acquired several properties. In his efforts to establish a dominion, he expanded a farm into a castle on a hill in 1591. When Gruber died in 1600, his son took over the newly built castle and received a so-called “freedom letter” in 1606 for himself and his sister Salome. The castle, a mill, as well as other properties and farms were jointly excised from the dominion of Hinterberg and attached to the new dominion. The family was granted permission to name the seat “Grubegg.” Thus, the “Herrschaft Grubegg,” which was separated from the dominion of Hinterberg, was established. This changed hands several times until it was eventually taken over by the Ausseer Hallamt in 1758. At the end of the 18th century, a hammer mill was established in the southern part of the dominion, and the castle became the administrative seat of the saline officials responsible for the mill. From 1850, the castle served as the seat of the k.k. Forest and Domain Administration of Hinterberg, the future federal forests.

Pass Stein

In the course of the economic upturn in the late Middle Ages, a quicker connection from the Ennstal to the Salzkammergut was plausible. It is therefore assumed that a path was constructed through the Pass Stein towards the Ennstal and Sölkpass only during this time. There is no evidence from earlier times. For a long time, the Sölk dominion was responsible for maintaining the Pass Stein and charged a toll for the upkeep of the road. In 1824, the Duchy of Styria upgraded the road to a district road at the initiative of the Styrian Agricultural Society. In 1840, the Pass Stein underwent expansion as a thoroughfare. In the 19th century, bourgeois and noble travel writers and “Alpenwanderer” discovered the touristic appeal of the route through the Stein, leading to historical descriptions of the pass. Today, the Pass Stein is closed.

Heilbrunn

The healing spring of Heilbrunn, located at the foot of the Grimming on the southern edge of the valley, has been attested since Roman times. It was also used in the Middle Ages for the ailments of the population. The more recent history of Heilbrunn began at the end of the 18th century. Hammer mill workers utilized the nearby spring. In 1830, the salt administration had a hut built. The “Bad Heilbrunn von Grubegg” attracted nationwide interest. During the rise of summer retreats in Aussee around 1900, the k.k. Forest administration, but especially the sawmill owner Johann Loitzl, sought further development and commercial use of the spring. Official recognition as a healing spring was granted in 1906. However, commercial success was not forthcoming. The modern Bad Heilbrunn took shape in the early 1960s when the therapeutic bath Heilbrunn opened its doors. This was the decisive factor in the awarding of the title “Bad” to the municipality. Today, Bad Heilbrunn is a spa operation, and in 2009, with the new Grimmingtherme, a second site for the utilization of the healing water was established.