Summer
With the Dachstein in the background, Hallstatt and Bad Goisern to one side and the Traun in the middle, Lake Hallstatt is not just one of the most remarkable natural features of the Inner Salzkammergut, but it also has a "personality" all of its own.
The 8.2 kilometre long, maximum 2.1 kilometre wide and up to 125m deep Lake Hallstatt has always attracted lots of visitors. The travel writer Christoph Wagner enthuses:"The lake appears upon first glance like the big sister of a sub-terranean mountain lake which Hades accidentally set free. The dark waters are of a bizarre beauty which bring forth the powers of the deep underground."
The lake has been referred to as the "melancholic lake", the "still fjord" and the "vision of a perfect mountain lake". Also "It's beauty is exceeded only by Lake Gosau." The fourth neighbourhood which makes up this World Heritage Region has been named Gosau. Lake Hallstatt is a classic relic of the Ice Age and it has a total area of 858 square metres lying between the steep Obertraun and Hallstatt mountains and Bad Goisern. Lake Hallstatt is the fifth largest of the Salzkammergut lakes.
For early settlers at the Hallstatt Mines the natural beauty of Lake Hallstatt was not so signifcant. Instead the lake was a means of transporting the most valuable commodity from the mountains:salt.
The lake also carried wood from the Gosau Valley, and then later on saline from Hallstatt to Ebensee. Today the lake is more important for Lake Hallstatt lake cruises business,operated by the Hemetsberger Family. The boats also transport passangers backwards and forwards across the lake to the railway station. Indeed, many people get their first glimpses of the picturesque World Heritage Resort from the lake having arrived by train and boat. The road to Hallstatt is relatively new.
You can also take a stroll along the a
Lakeside bathing areas and swimming opportunities are plentiful between Obertraun and Bad Goisern and they are all free of charge. It is a sheer pleasure to swim with views of the mountains in this World Cultural Heritage Region.
There are also numerous concerts held on the shores of the lake, and brass bands sometimes perform on the lake itself. But some things never change. Lake Hallstatt found its own special "rhythm" tens of thousands of years ago and will hold on to this for ever.
Ferienregion Dachstein-Salzkammergut
Tourismusverband Inneres Salzkammergut
Kirchengasse 4, 4822 Bad Goisern am Hallstättersee
Tel.: +43 (0)6135 8329
Fax: +43 (0)6135 8329-74
e-Mail: info@dachstein-salzkammergut.at
Web: http://www.dachstein-salzkammergut.at
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