Hallstatt -- District Lahn

Hallstatt -- District Lahn

Development of Construction History

Roman Period

A Roman settlement in the Lahn can be documented from the mid-1st century to the beginning of the 5th century AD. The settlement extended over a length of 550 meters at the foot of the Hallberg and the Echernwand.

Modern Era

The area was predominantly used for agriculture. Only the area of the Waldbach mouth served with the "Rechen" (a type of wooden raft) for timber rafting. The provision of Hall wood as fuel remained a critical factor for energy-intensive salt production until the second half of the 19th century. The enormous demand for wood by the saltworks prompted an early rationalization of both forestry and transportation systems. The rafting system proved suitable and economically viable for transporting timber in the water-rich mountain regions. Only with the introduction of coal firing in the boiling houses from 1870 and the associated sharply declining demand for firewood did the rafting system lose its importance.

Before 1750, only a few individual objects were built in the Lahn. The representative character of today's Beneficiatenhaus dates back to an expansion of the building and the enclosure of the garden in the late 17th century.

The destruction of the market's industrial facilities by the fire disaster of 1750 was the initiator for the development of the Lahn. After the reconstruction of the furnace house in the market proved to be uneconomical, the general cessation of the boiling operation and its relocation to Ebensee were considered. However, "Ex ratione publica" (by public reason), the reconstruction of the furnace house in the Lahn was carried out in 1751. Considering the special importance of Catholic religious practice at that time and the need to replace the burned-down court chapel, the choice of the building site was significantly influenced by the Calvary hill complex and its large chapel, which had been built west of the office building between 1700 and 1710. Apart from a few objects in the market, whose core survived the fire of 1750, the production and administrative center completed around 1770 in the Lahn, along with the hospital, can be regarded as the oldest architectural ensemble of the place.

The saltworks buildings were subsequently enlarged, expanded, and supplemented. In the 19th century, for example, the Waldbach sawmill and the grain store by the lake were built. Many salt workers settled in the vicinity of the industrial facilities. As a result, a primarily irregular parceling and development of the Lahn emerged. By the end of the 19th century, large areas used for timber manipulation became redundant due to the switch from wood to coal firing. The saltworks administration built residential buildings in the form of multi-family houses on these areas.

With the establishment of the specialized forestry school in 1905 and its expansion in 1941, the Lahn gained another significant building feature.

With the construction of the heritage shaft in 1952, the mining operations and administration were relocated from the Salzberg to the Lahn. The former saltworks hospital was adapted into an administrative building by adding floors.

In 1961, a new elementary school was built on Waldbach.

From 1968, the demolition of the boiling house and a gradual repurposing of the industrial site took place. In this way, the Lahn experienced between 1751 and 1968 the same cycle observed in the market between 1305 and 1750: rise, flourishing, decline, and the disappearance of an industrial structure. What remains visible and readable are building patterns that revolve around the respective phantom of the production site, and only become understandable with the historical knowledge of these sites.