Abtenau is an Austrian market town in the district of Hallein (state of Salzburg) with 5894 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2022).
Parish Church of St. Blasius
In the eastern part of Abtenau is
the parish church of St. Blasius, which is the main attraction of
this village. It arose on the site where the chapel of St. Anne was
previously located. Today the Abtenau parish numbers 5,200 Catholics
living directly in Abtenau, as well as in Weitenau, Wallengwinkel
and Scheffau am Tennengebirge.
The first written mention of
the church in Abtenau dates back to 1191. In 1313, the building was
rebuilt and acquired its modern shape. As a result of one of the
many peasant wars that raged here at the beginning of the 16th
century, the church of St. Blasius fell victim to a fire in 1525 -
according to eyewitnesses, the building “became black as a hearth”.
By a great accident, the fire spared the organ, installed just 7
years earlier, in 1518. Almost immediately, work began to restore
the church, and already in 1540 it regained its former appearance.
The architectural style of the Abtenau temple is usually
attributed to the late Gothic period, although some parts of the
building were rebuilt during the Baroque period. The main altar is
decorated with sculptures by master Simeon Friz. In the center is
the figure of the Virgin Mary with the Child, surrounded by Saints
Ruppert, Blasius and Maximilian.
The left altar is considered
a symbol of brotherhood and is decorated with a painting by Simon
Stock, painted in 1684, depicting a vision of Saint Teresa in which
the Virgin Mary appeared to her. And the right one, also called the
family one, is decorated with the image of the Holy Family at the
moment when the angel persuades Joseph to heed the danger and run
away with his wife and child.
The walls of the central tower
in 1939 were decorated with frescoes on the theme of the Solomon's
court, painted in 1540, and in the right wing of the church, a stone
with an imprint of the Hand of God was embedded in the wall.
The location is mentioned for the first time in 1124 in a
document from the St. Peter monastery in Salzburg, Appanouwa (to
'Aue') as a clearing in the until then largely uninhabited valley of
the Lamara (already known as around 800). Archbishop Konrad I gave
it to the abbots of St. Peter. As early as 1191 a church with a
pastorate and full parish rights was documented (today's Blasius
Church).
In 1507 Abtenau was raised to market by the
sovereign Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach. In 1816 the place came
with Salzburg to Austria. The liberation of the peasants in 1848 was
followed by the formation of the local community in 1850.
In
1939, the districts of Wallingwinkl and Weitenau were separated from
the market town of Abtenau and added to the community of Scheffau.
An intensive development into a two-season vacation spot began
after the Second World War.
The municipality
is located in the Lammertal in the Tennengau of the Salzburg region,
about 45 km south of
Salzburg.
The
community includes the entire middle valley of the Lammer, from the
narrow point at Wallingwinkl (above the Lammeröfen), with the lower
Aubach as the border, to the narrow point at the Stümmelleitgraben
between the Schober (1791 m above sea level) of the Tennengebirge
and the Zwieselalm of the Dachstein massif. The main settlement area
is the Abtenau basin, the actual Abtenau area is on the Klausgraben,
to the left south of the Lammer, on a plateau 100 meters above the
Lammer.
In the north, the municipal area extends to the main
ridge of the Osterhorn group of the Salzburg Prealps and
Salzkammergut mountains, from the Gruberhorn (1,732 m above sea
level) to the Braunedlkogel (1,894 m above sea level), including
part of the Postalm region. In the southwest, the entire
north-eastern Tennengebirge is part of it, up to the Scheiblingkogel
(2289 m above sea level) and Bleikogel (2411 m above sea level). In
the south-east, the Gosaukamm, the north-west foothills of the
Dachstein massif, forms the border with Upper Austria, with the
Törleck (1618 m above sea level) at the Gablonzer Hütte forming the
corner. On the Rußbach in the direction of Pass Gschütt, the border
is on the Walchenbach–Knablbach line before the Rußbach valley
widens.
congregational structure
The community consists of
the nine cadastral communities of Abtenau Dorf, Abtenau Markt,
Fischbach, Leitenhaus, Rigaus, Schorn, Seetratten, Seidegg and
Unterberg.
The municipal area includes the following 23
localities (number of inhabitants in brackets as of January 1,
2022):
Abtenau (1205)
Au (531)
Dollerhof (440)
Erlfeld
(157)
Fischbach (435)
Gseng (23)
Reverb Sides (46)
Kehlhof (493)
Leitenhaus (158)
Lindenthal (500)
Moselberg
(101)
Pich (475)
Rigau (216)
Salfelden (77)
Schorn (289)
Schrats (128)
Sea Rats (101)
Seydegg (23)
Sticker (136)
Unterberg (49)
Wagner (109)
Waldhof (171)
Wegscheid (42)
Economic sectors
Of the 321 farms in 2010, 133 were run as a main
occupation, 164 as a sideline and 24 by legal entities. These 24 farmed
ninety percent of the land. In the production sector, almost two-thirds
of those employed worked in the manufacture of goods, and almost thirty
percent worked in construction. The largest employers in the service
sector were trade and social and public services, each with 330
employees (as of 2011).
commuter
Of the almost 3,000 employed
people who lived in Abtenau in 2011, around 60 percent worked in the
community and 40 percent commuted out. More than 700 people from the
surrounding area came to work in Abtenau.
tourism
In the years
2010 to 2019, Abtenau counted around 220,000 overnight stays per year.
The winter season peaks in February with 34,000 overnight stays. The
months of July and August each have over 32,000 overnight stays (as of
2019).
Education
elementary school market
Elementary school
in Radochsberg
Voglau elementary school
New middle school in
Abtenau
Polytechnic School
Special Education Center Abtenau