“Salz” = salt. There has been salt mining in this area, specifically near Hallstatt, for 7000 years. Highly desired in earlier times and brought wealth to the area. Salt is a preservative, and archaeologists have found and examined traces of very old life and work in the area. Yesterday I went to Hallstatt. (There are a couple of other places offering similar experiences.)
Well organised and informative tours of the old mine, utilising a couple of levels of the mine. Salt mining still continues in other levels of the mine. Miners used to go down levels on wooden slides so we had to do that. Twice. The second 65m long. A bit scary. We all had to wear protective outer clothing with leather seat/legs. And exiting the mine on ‘wooden-form carriages towed by a small engine through a tunnel just big enough for seated miners. 60 people per tour group. And 30 minutes later, another group.
in the olden days, the men and boys dug the salt. Women and girls filled back packs with the stone and carried them out of the mine. Younger children carried the flaming torches to provide light. Since the 18th century, the salt has been dissolved in water and the highly salty solution travels by pipeline 40 km to the processing works at Ebensee.
Old Hallstatt is a pretty village on the lake shore squashed between the lake and the steep hill behind. I got there early before it got too busy. By the time I left mid afternoon, cars were waiting for others to leave to get into the car parks. Many arrived by coach or ferry.
travellingkathy 