Page 211 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

UPPER A USTRIA  209

Traunsee, Austria’s deepest lake, d St Wolfgang The church of St Wolfgang
with views of the lake’s wild Road map D4. * 2,800. @ n Au also has a lovely Baroque altar-
southern shore and the 140, (06138) 8003. ∑ stwolfgang.at piece by Thomas Schwanthaler,
Traunstein peak on the eastern depic ting the Holy Family on
shore, the high est mountain of On the northern shore of their journey to Jerusalem.
the region, rising to 1,691 m Wolfgangsee lies the popular The three side altarpieces on
(5,548 ft). Above the village town of St Wolfgang. According the north wall and the magnifi-
towers the pretty Johannes- to legend it arose around a cently ornate pulpit are the
bergkapelle. On the northern chapel built by Wolfgang (died works of a Mondsee master,
end of the headland stands the 994), bishop of Regensburg Meinrad Guggenbichler.
Jesuit Pfarrkirche, rebuilt after a in Germany and teacher of St Wolfgang is also popular
fire in 1632. It has an unusual Emperor Henry II. Although he with tourists who come to see
fishermen’s pulpit shaped like a died a hermit, Wolfgang was an the Weisses Rössl hotel, which
fishing boat, with the apostles extremely popular figure in his inspired the operetta, White
drawing nets filled with fish. day, and was later canonized. Horse Inn by Ralph Benatzky.
Since 1632, Traunkirchen has His chapel became a much-
also hosted an annual Corpus visited place of pilgrimage. In
Christi boat procession. the 15th century it was replaced f Bad Ischl
by a church with room for a Road map D4. * 14,000. £ @
a Salzkammergut much larger number of pilgrims. n Auböckplatz 5, (06132) 27 757-0.
Lakes It was around that time that the Kaiservilla: Jainzen 38, (06132) 23241.
abbot of Mondsee commis-
∑ badischl.com
See pp210–11. sioned the famed South
Tyrolean artist, Michael Pacher, Therapeutic saltwater springs
to create an altar for the were discovered in this region as
pilgrimage church. early as the 16th century, but
Pacher’s high altar, combining Bad Ischl did not become a
sculpture, painting and archi- popular health resort until the
tecture, is a late-Gothic early 1800s, when the court
masterpiece. The four scenes doctor ordered saline treat-
visible on the wings of the ments for the infertile Arch-
altarpiece when they are closed duchess Sophie. Soon, she
(on weekdays) depict events started producing babies.
from the life of St Wolfgang. The The most famous of these
saint is shown holding a model was Franz Joseph I, the future
of the church and is flanked by emperor, who spent all his
the figures of the saints George summer holidays with his wife
The steam mountain railway leading to the and Florian. On Sundays, the Elizabeth at the Kaiservilla, now
top of Schafberg wings of the altar are opened a museum, which can be visited
to reveal eight painted scenes on a guided tour. It was also
s Schafberg from the life of Christ. They are here that he signed the
striking in their coloration, the declaration of war with Serbia,
Road map D4. Scharfbergbahn: n
(6138) 223 20. ∑ scharfbergbahn.at dynamics of their life-like figures on 1 August 1914, signalling
and, above all, in the architec- the start of World War I.
One of the most picturesque tural perspective employed by Many aristocrats and artists
peaks in the area, Schafberg the artist. The brightly gilded, have been attracted to the spa,
(Sheep Mountain) rises to sculpted centrepiece depicts among them the composer
1,783 m (5,850 ft) between the Coronation of the Virgin Franz Lehár, who lived at No. 8
Attersee and Wolfgangsee. Mary attended by Christ, Franz-Lehár-Kai, which is now a
Austria’s steepest cog railway St Benedict and St Wolfgang. museum devoted to him.
runs old steam trains up to a
station only 50 m (164 ft) from
the summit for unforgettable
views of the most beautiful
lakes of the Salzkammergut:
Mondsee, Attersee and
Wolfgangsee (see pp210–11).
Visible in the background are
the towering mountain ranges
running to the Dachstein
massif in the south, and,
beyond Salzburg, you can
see the Bavarian Alps on the
German-Austrian border. The imposing Spa House in the popular resort of Bad Ischl
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp296–7 and pp320–21

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