Pongau Attractions

The resort of Bischofshofen (547m/1,795ft; pop. 9,000; mountaineering school) at the mouth of the Mühlbach valley attracts large numbers of winter sports enthusiasts (ski jumps; final jump of the Intersport Four Jumps Tournament in Jan.). The parish church of St Maximilian has some fine 15th and 17th C. frescos; the marble tomb (1462) of Bishop Sylvester of Chiemsee (d. 1453) is also of interest. The Romanesque St George's Chapel, on higher ground, has frescos of 1230 in the apse. The tower in the courtyard dates from 1250. The Tauern motorway turns off here towards Radstadt.

On a hill 5km/3mi to the west of Schwarzach lies the summer and winter sports resort of Goldegg (825m/2,707ft; pop. 1,500). The 14th C. Schloss belonged to the Counts of Galen; holiday courses are now held there. Besides the small lake known as the Goldegger See there are peat baths.

From Bischofshofen a minor road runs 10km/6mi southwestward up the Mühlbach valley to Mühlbach (853m/2,799ft), a beautifully situated mountain village with a copper mine; good skiing terrain. From there a steep mountain road climbs a further 6km/4mi to the Arthur-Haus (1,503m/4,931ft) on the Mitterberg Alm, a popular skiing area with many ski lifts. From the Arthur-Haus it is an hour's climb to the summit of the Hochkeil (1,779m/5,837ft; to the northwest (five hours, with guide) rears the Hochkönig (2,941m/9,649ft), with the Franz-Eduard-Matras-Haus (accommodation) in a grand rocky setting.

There is a mine and museum in Mühlbach am Hochkönig.

The motorway from Salzburg now runs to the west of the Lueg pass (562m/1,844ft), a defile (fortified in 1630) high above the gorge of the Salzach. Here the gorge cuts its way through between the Tennengebirge and the Hagengebirge into the Pongau. The wild gorge known as the Salzachöfen was first traversed in a collapsible boat in 1931. A smaller road and the railroad go through Werfen, from which a detour (strongly recommended if the weather is good) can be made to the Eisriesenwelt ("World of the Ice Giants") cave.

10km/6mi southwest of St Johann is Schwarzach (591m/1,939ft; pop. 3,600), a little holiday township at the western end of the Pongau, dominated by Schloss Schernberg (now a nursing home). In the Rathaus can be seen the "Salzleckertisch", a table at which the Protestant peasants formed a league in 1731, as a result of which 30,000 Protestants were banished from the province of Salzburg.

8km/5mi east of St Johann, in the beautiful Wagrainer Tal, lies the well-known winter sports resort of Wagrain (838m/2,749ft; pop. 2,600; numerous chairlifts and ski tows up to 2,000m/6,560ft). A cableway ascends the Griesskareck (1,991m/6,532ft), a skiing area to the east. In the churchyard are the graves of the writer Karl Heinrich Waggerl (1897-1973) and of Josef Mohr, once curate here, who wrote the words of the carol "Silent Night".

6km/3.75mi east of Pfarrwerfen is the winter sports area of Werfenweng (901m/2,956ft), with several skilifts and a chairlift via the Strussingalm (1,530m/5,021ft) to the Bischlinghöhe (1,836m/6,024ft). From there it is a two hours' walk through the beautiful Wengerau at the head of the valley to the magnificently situated Dr-Heinrich-Hackel-Hütte (1,531m/5,023ft). From here the surrounding peaks of the Tennengebirge can be climbed: e.g. the Eiskogel 2,321m/7,615ft; two and a quarter hours), to the north, with an ice cave 4km/2.5mi long, or the Bleikogel (2,412m/7,914ft; three and three quarter hours), also to the north.