Crafts in the Salzkammergut Lake Region

Love at first sight: anyone visiting the Salzkammergut is fascinated by its bewitching scenic beauty. Lush pastures, dense forests, and crystal-clear lakes alternate before an imposing mountain backdrop. And in between are placid towns and villages with traditional handcrafts.

Barbara Kern loves and lives culture. Her small home town of Bad Goisern, on the Hallstättersee, is also the location of her Hand.Werk.Haus, which allows the historian to combine her profession with her passion for handcrafts and tradition. Every morning she rides her bicycle through the winding streets to Neuwildenstein Palace, her workplace. Built in the 18th century as an administration building for a local prince, the palace today presents the master craftspeople of the region. Barbara Kern provides a tour of the current exhibition.

Experiencing handcrafts first-hand

At the far end of the handcrafts shop, visitors climb a short flight of wooden steps to reach the upper level of the Hand.Werk.Haus. Through the windows in the old walls, light falls on the tools and other objects on exhibit. Shoemakers, wood turners, carpenters, upholsterers and decorators, hat makers and clock makers share the exhibition space. A master optician is represented as well, who makes his eyeglass frames out of genuine stag horn, a special material you rarely find in good quality. Also on display are depictions of working conditions of the past and products of the present day – like the so-called “Tracht”, the traditional costume that was originally work garb.

Eight facts about handcrafts in Austria

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There are over 150,000 traditional handcraft businesses in Austria.
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The UNESCO refers to handcrafts as “traditional” when lived practical knowledge is refined, modified, expanded, and passed on in a sustainable manner over generations.
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Each day some 600,000 craftspeople put a great deal of time, passion and experience into creating distinctively Austrian products.
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Handcrafts were highly regarded throughout Austrian history: many members of the Habsburg dynasty learned a craft and practiced it for their own pleasure.
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One of the oldest crafts in Vienna is that of the goldsmith. It has existed in the city for over 650 years.
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Vienna’s Augarten Porcelain Manufactory has been producing fine porcelain for more than 300 years, making it the second-oldest porcelain manufacturer in Europe still in operation.
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In the Industrial Age the connection to handcrafts was lost, but a counter-movement was born: the Wiener Werkstätte (1903).
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Still today, street names in Austria refer to a large number of historic craftsman’s trades, such as the Hafnergasse (“Stove-Fitter Street”), Schmiedgasse (“Blacksmith Street”) and Webergasse (“Weaver Street”).

The “Tracht” as everyday clothing

“In the old days, work garb in the Salzkammergut was a simply cut ‘Tracht’”, explains Barbara Kern. “The word ‘Tracht’ comes from ‘tragen’, to wear. It was first and foremost practical and durable clothing and intended for everyday work. The material used to make them was usually an inexpensive wool or linen. Only the privileged upper classes could afford silk, cotton or other fine materials.” The men wore lederhosen for woodcutting and hunting. Generally made from goat hide and worn as knickerbockers, they were part of everyday dress.

“Only in the course of the 19th century”, continues Barbara Kern, “did people begin using the traditional costume as an expression of their origins, and this became increasingly important.” Today, every local “Tracht” has its own distinctive colour and pattern: there is, for example, the “Ausseer Dirndl” and, as a recent addition, the “Hallstatt Dirndl” – designed and custom tailored in the region.

Summer in Salzkammergut

Anyone who has an appreciation for this traditional and stylish ambience will return again and again to the Salzkammergut. The best time to experience the region is during the “Meistersommer”. Each year from mid-June to the beginning of September, the Hand.Werk.Haus Bad Goisern invites visitors to events and exhibitions featuring the region’s master craftspeople. In 2019, it will celebrate the tenth anniversary.

Barbara Kern is excited about the event: “For nearly ten years the knowledge about traditions and handcrafts has been passed on to the younger generation. For this, in 2016 the institution was also included in UNESCO’s Register of Good Safeguarding Practices for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The original Hallstatt-Dirndl

While the bodice of the “Ausseer Dirndl” is green, the skirt pink and the apron lavender, Katharina Stork and Rebecca Schilcher have designed their

“Hallstatt Dirndl” according to the colours of the lake and the landscape. They make a conscious reference to the geographic surroundings: the grey bodice makes the connection to the millennia-old salt production on the Salzberg – with grey representing the rocky mountain face. The blue skirt symbolizes the water, and the pink apron refers to the vitality and exuberance of the people here. The buttons are also of interest: they are modelled after prehistoric brooches from the Hallstatt Period (800 to 450 BCE).

Hand.Werk.Haus in Bad Goisern

Rudolf-von-Alt Weg 6

4822 Bad Goisern

Telephone:: +43 6135 50800

office@handwerkhaus.at

https://www.handwerkhaus.at