In the midst of Hohe Tauern National Park and in the heart of Austrian state of Salzburg lies at elevation of 1,000 meters Bad Gastein. Its distinctive townscape, which includes beautiful "Belle Époque" buildings, blends harmoniously into its natural setting.
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The Gastein valley /Germ. Gasteiner Tal/ was settled by Bavarian peasants in the 9th century. Field names in the highest-lying southern parts also denote a Carantanian (Slavic) colonization. Gastein is first mentioned as Gastuna in a 963 deed, when the area belonged to the German stem duchy of Bavaria. It was originally an alpine farming and gold mining area and the site of an ancient trade route crossing the main ridge of the Central Eastern Alps. In 1297 Duke Otto III and his brother Stephen I, both highly indebted, sold it to the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg. Already about 1230, the minnesinger Neidhart von Reuental had referred to the hot springs in his Middle High German poem Die Graserin in der Gastein; the spas were visited by the Habsburg emperor Frederick III as well as by the Renaissance physician Paracelsus.
Gastein valley
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In the 19th century the waters of Bad Gastein became a fashionable resort, visited by European monarchs as well as the rich and famous. Some notable guests of the past included Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi) and the German Emperor Wilhelm I with his chancellor Otto von Bismarck as well as Subhas Chandra Bose, a leading Indian nationalist, Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, King Faisal I of Iraq, King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia and Iran's last king Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, industrialists like Wilhelm von Opel and artists like Heinrich Mann, Robert Stolz and W. Somerset Maugham.
Bad Gastein, Austria
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Mass tourism was pushed by the opening of the Tauern Railway station in 1905. The name "Bad" means "spa", reflecting the town's history as a health resort. The local Heilstollen (literally 'healing tunnel') thermal spring water earned the town its early fame. Theophrastus Parcelsus (1493–1541) had studied the spring water to discover its secrets. Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist Marie Curie (1867–1934) and Austrian physicist Heinrich Mache (1876–1954) helped to discover that it contained radon and as a result radon therapy began in the town.
Gatz Mountain Club in Bad Gastein, Austria
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Beside its water treatments, the town is popular for winter sports. Bad Gastein hosted the 1958 World Championships in alpine skiing and regularly is a scene of the snowboarding and boardercross worldcup.
Source: Wikipedia /shortcut/.
Images: Images: Public Domain and gatz-club.com, salzburgerhof.com
The Gastein valley /Germ. Gasteiner Tal/ was settled by Bavarian peasants in the 9th century. Field names in the highest-lying southern parts also denote a Carantanian (Slavic) colonization. Gastein is first mentioned as Gastuna in a 963 deed, when the area belonged to the German stem duchy of Bavaria. It was originally an alpine farming and gold mining area and the site of an ancient trade route crossing the main ridge of the Central Eastern Alps. In 1297 Duke Otto III and his brother Stephen I, both highly indebted, sold it to the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg. Already about 1230, the minnesinger Neidhart von Reuental had referred to the hot springs in his Middle High German poem Die Graserin in der Gastein; the spas were visited by the Habsburg emperor Frederick III as well as by the Renaissance physician Paracelsus.
Gastein valley
Bad Gastein, Austria
On 14 August 1865 Bismarck had signed the Gastein Convention with Austria concerning the joint administration of the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein after the Second Schleswig War. The composer Franz Schubert was once believed to have sketched a Gmunden-Gastein Symphony (D. 849) during his stay in August and September 1825. Though no score appears to have survived, it is often identified with the Symphony No. 9 in C major (D. 944).
Hotel Weismayr in Bad Gastein, Austria
Gatz Mountain Club in Bad Gastein, Austria
Source: Wikipedia /shortcut/.
Images: Images: Public Domain and gatz-club.com, salzburgerhof.com