Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
The Hallstatt-Dachstein alpine landscape, part of the Salzkammergut,
and thus of the Eastern Alps, is one of visual drama with huge mountains
rising abruptly form narrow valleys. Its prosperity since mediaeval
times has been based on salt mining, focused on the town of Hallstatt, a
name meaning salt settlement that testifies to its primary function.
Systematic salt production was being carried out in the region as
early as the Middle Bronze Age, (the late 2nd millennium BC), when
natural brine was captured in vessels and evaporated. Underground mining
for salt began at the end of the late Bronze Age and resumed in the 8th
century BC when archaeological evidence shows a flourishing, stratified
and highly organised Iron Age society with wide trade links across
Europe and now known as the Hallstatt Culture. Salt mining continued in
Roman times and was then revived in the 14th century. The large amounts
of timber needed for the mines and for evaporating the salt where
extracted from the extensive upland forests, which since the 16th
century were controlled and managed directly by the Austrian Crown. The
Town of Hallstatt was re-built in late Baroque style after a fire in
1750 destroyed the timber buildings.
The beauty of the alpine landscape, with its higher pastures used for
the summer grazing of sheep and cattle since prehistoric times as part
of the process of transhumance, which still today gives the valley
communities rights of access to specific grazing areas, was 'discovered'
in the early 19th century by writers, such as Adalbert Stifler,
novelist, and the dramatic poet Franz Grillparzer, and most of the
leading paintings of the Biedermeier school. They were in turn followed
by tourists and this led to the development of hotels and brine baths
for visitors.
The landscape is exceptional as a complex of great scientific
interest and immense natural power that has played a vital role in human
history reflected in the impact of farmer-miners over millennia, in the
way mining has transformed the interior of the mountain and through the
artists and writers that conveyed its harmony and beauty.
Criterion (iii): Humankind has inhabited the valleys
between huge mountains for over three millennia. It is the mining and
processing of salt, a natural resource essential to human and animal
life, which has given this area its prosperity and individuality as a
result of a profound association between intensive human activity in the
midst of a largely untamed landscape.
Criterion (iv): The
Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut alpine region is an outstanding
example of a natural landscape of great beauty and scientific interest
which also contains evidence of fundamental human economic activity. The
cultural landscape of the region boasts a continuing evolution covering
2500 years. Its history from the very beginning is linked primarily
with the economic history of salt extraction. Salt mining has always
determined all aspects of life as well as the architectural and artistic
material evidence. Salt production on a major scale can be traced back
in Hallstatt to the Middle Bronze Age.
Integrity
The property appropriately retains all the elements linked to
evidence of salt mining and processing, associated timber production,
transhumance and dairy farming, and still retains the harmony that
attracted the 19th century artists and writers.
It has not, and does not, suffer from the adverse effects of modern development.
Authenticity
Because of its special historical evolution, this cultural landscape
has retained a degree of authenticity in nature and society that is
outstanding in the alpine region. Resulting from a harmonious
interaction between man and environment it has preserved its spatial and
material structure to an exceptionally high degree. This quality and
context has been further endorsed by a large number of visiting artists
whose many canvases and representations are additional fitting testimony
to its value.
Protection and management requirements
Due to different needs, both Federal and Provincial levels of
protection are in force. Combined, these cover monuments and ensembles,
newly erected buildings, woods, water and ground water, and general
aspects of nature, including specific items, larger areas, caves and
cultivated areas. There are also provisions regarding regional planning.
In recent times there has been an increasing collective awareness
concerning the heritage value of the urban fabric. The Communes and the
owners carry out day-to-day management. This approach is based on
direction provided by experts of the Provinces and the Federal Office
for Protection of Monuments. Funds are made available from the Federal
State of Austria, the Federal Provinces Salzburg and Styria and,
especially, from the Province of Upper Austria.
Long Description
The Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut Alpine region is an
outstanding example of a natural landscape of great beauty. It also has
great scientific interest because it contains evidence of a fundamental
human economic activity, the production of salt.
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. The name of the medieval
town, derived from the West German hal (salt) and the Old High German stat
(settlement), first recorded in a deed of 1305, testifies to its
primary function. This resource formed the basis of the area's
prosperity until the mid-20th century, a prosperity that is reflected in
the fine architecture of the town of Hallstatt.
The town grew up along the narrow strip between the steep
mountainside of the Salzberg and the lake, and on the Mühlbach, an
artificial promontory out into the lake resulting from the dumping of
mining debris over the centuries. Here in the inner market town the
houses, largely late Gothic, are ranged round a triangular market
square. The typical Hallstatt house is tall and narrow, making maximum
use of the restricted space and the steep topography. The lower storeys
are constructed in stone with barrel vaulting supporting timber-framed
upper storeys, as is customary in the Alpine region. Only a few preserve
the original flat saddleback roofs covered with wooden planks or
shingles. The southern part of the town, known as In der Lahn, located
at the mouth of the Echterntal, is largely of 18th-century date, much of
it built after the 1750 fire.
Among the more notable buildings are the St Mary's Roman Catholic
Parish Church built in the late 15th century to replace an earlier
Romanesque structure, parts of which survive. Having suffered only
slight damage during the 1750 fire its only Baroque features are the
roof and the multi-tiered spire. It contains a number of outstanding
works of art, including a late Gothic altarpiece from the Astl workshop.
The small St Michael Chapel and Charnel House is a Gothic structure
in the tiny graveyard immediately north of the parish church. Its
basement, viewable at ground level, contains a neatly arranged
assemblage of human skulls and long bones, the skulIs being marked with
names and other details of the deceased.
The property also includes the Dachstein Mountains, rising to some
3,000 m, which form the highest of the karst massifs in the northern
limestone Alps. They are notable for the large number of caves they
contain, the longest being the Hillatzhöhle (81 km). Each cave is
speleologically different, but the fact that they enjoy single
management allows a range of information and experience to be made
available in a coherent programme of conservation, accessibility and
interpretation. The Dachstein-Rieseneishöhle is the most impressive ice
cave in Austria. Some parts of the mine are now accessible to visitors,
including areas made safe for displays arising from the continuing
programme of archaeological investigation.
The Dachstein massif is exceptional among Alpine karstic areas for
retaining its glaciation. Its landscape takes eight distinct forms: each
of these zones has its own distinct climate and hence a characteristic
flora and fauna.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Historical Description
Recent research deep within the Salzberg has demonstrated that
systematic salt production was being carried out in the region as early
as the Middle Bronze Age (later 2nd millennium BC). Natural brine was
captured in deep basins and evaporated in special ceramic vessels. Of
great interest in itself in the history of salt extraction, this
development is of considerable significance in illuminating the origins
of the Iron Age Hallstatt Culture and in emphasizing the importance of
the area as a "scientific reservoir" for further research and increased
understanding.
Underground mining for salt began at the end of the Late Bronze Age, using a shaft technique adopted from copper mining. This production was halted for a relatively short time, possibly because political events caused an interruption in trade. It resumed in the 8th century BC, this time using a system of drift mining with horizontal galleries. Evidence of both techniques has been found in the Salzbergtal.
The prehistoric cemetery associated with these industrial operations, discovered in the 1840s, is the type-site for the first phase of the Early Iron Age in Europe, known to archaeologists as the Hallstatt Culture. It was in use in two periods: the 8th and 7th centuries BC and again in the 6th century BC. The rich grave goods, both local products and imported luxury materials, testify to a stratified and highly organized society, trading widely into central Europe, the Baltic, and the Adriatic.
Salt extraction continued in the region well into the Roman period, and a Roman industrial settlement has been identified in the Echterntal. Thereafter there is no evidence of the salt being exploited until the early 14th century. However, the name of the medieval town, derived from the West German hal (salt) and the Old High German stat (settlement), first recorded in a deed of 1305, testifies to its primary function. Title to the salt mines passed from the Trauenkirchen monastery to the Austrian Crown, and the town received the right to hold markets. A unique status was accorded to certain citizens of Hallstatt, known as Salzfertiger, who were responsible for drying, packing, and selling cart-loads of salt, which were assigned to them. Their high status is demonstrated by the quality and special nature of their houses, the Salzfertigerhiiuser, to be found in Hallstatt and Bad Ischl.
Salt production required large quantities of timber, for shoring the mines and fuel for evaporation, and so forestry operations were also regulated by the Crown officials. Until the early 16th century salt-mining licences were generally leased to independent burghers, but these were systematically eliminated and in 1524 mining and forestry operations came under direct Crown management. This resulted in the construction of a number of important engineering features, such as the wooden brine pipeline begun in 1595.
During the Reformation, Protestantism acquired many adherents among the min ers and foresters of the Hallstatt region, but they were not permitted to exercise their faith publicly until the Edict of Toleration of 1781.
A disastrous tire in 1750 destroyed most of the medieval core of Hallstatt. This was followed by massive rebuilding in Late Baroque style, which distinguished the town centre up to the present day. There was a boom in salt production at the beginning of the 19th century, to finance the war against France, but the return of peace saw an abrupt slump. Despite technical innovations, such as the introduction of electric power and the construction of a rail link, which permitted the import of coal (1877), the salterns finally closed down in 1965. Salt production, however, remains as high as ever, though the brine is now piped down the valley to a modern treatment plant at Ebersee; only sorne sixty men are now employed in a very efficient mining operation which has become highly mechanized and computerized. Sorne parts of the mine are now accessible to visitors, including areas made safe for displays arising from the continuing programme of archaeological investigation.
However, the decline of this industrial base coincided with the rise of a new factor, the recognition of the aesthetic, culturaL and natural qualities of the region by writers such as Adalbert Stifter, novelist and fust Conservator for Upper Austria, and the dramatic poet Franz Grillparzer, and most of the leading painters of the Biedermeier school. The first hotel to serve the growing number of tourists was built in 1855, followed by the first public brine baths in the 1860s. Since that time the region has steadily increased its popularity as a major tourist resort.
Source: Advisory Body Evaluation
