1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Salzburg (duchy)

SALZBURG, a duchy and crown land of Austria, bounded E. by Upper Austria and Styria, N. by Upper Austria and Bavaria, W. by Bavaria and Tirol and S. by Carinthia and Tirol. It has an area of 2762 sq. m. Except a small portion in the extreme N., near Bavaria, the country is mountainous and belongs to the N. and central zone of the Eastern Alps. It is divided into three regions; the region of the Hohe Tauern, extending S. of the Salzach, the region of the limestone Alps and the undulating foothill region. The Hohe Tauern contains many high lying valleys, traversed by the streams which flow into the Salzach, as well as numerous depressions and passes, here called popularly Tauern. The deepest depression of the Whole range is the Velber Tauern valley (8334 ft.) between the Velber and the Tauern, and the principal pass is the Niederer (Mallnitzer) Tauern (7920 ft.). This pass which leads from the Gastein valley to Carinthia is the oldest bridle-path over the Hoher Tauern. Between the passes is the ridge of Sonnblick, where a meteorological observatory was established in 1886 at an altitude of 10,170 ft. The region of the limestone Alps is composed of several detached groups: a portion of the Kitzbiihler Alps, which contain the famous Thurn pass (4183 ft.), then the Salzburg Alps, which contain the Loferer Steinberge and the peak Birnhorn (8637 ft.); the Reitalm or the Reiteralpe with the peak Stadelhorn (7495 ft.), and the broad mass of the Schonfeldspitze (8708 ft.), from which the great glacier-covered block of the Ewiger Schnee, or Ubergossene Alps projects into the Salzach valley. Farther N. are the Hagengebirge (7844 ft.); the beautiful summit of the Hoher Goll (8263 ft.); the Tennegebirge (7217 ft.); and the Untersberg, an outpost of the Berchtesgaden group. Between the Hagengebirge and the Tennengebirge, which are situated on each side of the Salzach valley, is one of the most magnificent narrow passes of the Alps. It is below Werfen, and near its ezdt, just at the narrowest part, is the Lueg Pass, which was fortified as early as 1316 and offered a firm resistance to the French in the years 1800, 1805 and 1809. A portion of the Ischler Alps, as well as of the Dachstein group, also belongs to Salzburg. The principal river of Salzburg is the Salzach. The Enns and the Mur also rise in this province. The four Krimmler falls, together 2085 ft. high, are the most important falls in the Eastern Alps. The two falls at Wildbad-Gastein (196 and 296 ft.); the fall, by which the Gasteiner Ache discharges itself into the Salzach, near Lend; the Tauern fall (660 ft.), formed by the Tauern Ache on the N. side of the Radstater Tauern; and the Gollinger fall (202 ft.) also deserve notice. Among the Klammen, i.e. narrow passages leading from the Salzach valley to the valleys of smaller rivers, the most celebrated are the Kitzloch Klamm and the Liechtenstein Klamm. The Kitzloch Klamm is formed by the Rauris Thal and the Liechtenstein Klamm by the Gross-Arle Thal. A path through the last Klamm leads to the magnificent fall (174 ft.) of the Gross-Arle river, which discharges itself in a series of cascades into the Salzach. The most important. lake is the Zeller-see (2424 ft. above sealevel, 2 sq. m. in extent, 238 ft. deep), whose waters are carried off by the Salzach. The Walle-see or Lake of Seekirchen (1653 ft. above sea-level), the Fuschl-see (2095 ft.), the Hinter-see (2580 ft.), the Ober-Trumer-see and Nieder-Trumer-see are all situated in the Alpine foothill region. The Mond-see (1560 ft.) and Aber-see, or Lake St Wolfgang, are on the frontier between Salzburg and Upper Austria. The climate, although healthy, is very changeable, with great extremes of temperature and heavy rainfall, especially in the summer. The most settled season is the autumn. The annual mean temperature at Salzburg is 46.4° F. The population of the duchy in 1900 was 193,247, which is equivalent to 69 inhabitants per square mile. It is the most sparsely populated province of Austria. Between 1880 and 1900 the population increased by 17.5%. The inhabitants are a handsome and powerfully built peasant race, very conservative in religion, manners, customs and national costume. They are almost exclusively of German stock and are Roman Catholics. Elementary education is much more advanced here than in any other Alpine province. Although 13.71% of the soil is unproductive and 32.4% is covered with forests, Salzburg is one of the principal pastoral regions of Austria. Of its total area, 28.9%, consists of Alpine pastures available during the summer months, 4.95% of lowland pasturage's and 8.3% of meadows, while only 9.2% is arable. Cattle-breeding and dairy-farming are very developed and constitute the chief resources of the province. Next in importance comes the timber trade; game is also plentiful. The mineral wealth of Salzburg includes salt at Hallein, copper at Mitterberg, iron-ore at Werfen, marble in the Untersberg region and small quantities of gold near the Goldberg in the Rauris valley and at Böckstein in the Gastein valley. The duchy contains also a great number of mineral springs, as the celebrated springs at Gastein, alkaline springs at Mauterndorf and at St Wolfgang, and saline springs at Golling and Hallein. Commerce and manufacture are poorly developed. The duchy is divided into six departments, of which the capital, Salzburg, is one and its environs the second. The other four are Hallein, St Johann, Tamsweg and Zell-am-See. The local diet, of which the archbishop is a member ex-officio, is composed of 28 members, and the duchy sends 7 members to the reichsrat at Vienna. At Hallein, pop. (1900) 6608, with celebrated saline springs known since the beginning of the 12th century, in October 1809, encounters between the French and the Tirolese under Joachim Johann Haspinger took place. To the N .E. lies Adnet with extensive marble quarries, and to the N. Oberalm, with manufacture of marble articles. The ascent of the Hoher Göll is made from here. Zell-am-See (2473 ft.), pop. 1561, is a favourite tourist resort. To the E. is the Schmittenhöhe (6455 ft.), which is easily accessible. On the summit is a meteorological station. Sankt Iohann (pop. 1343) was one of the earliest settlements in the Salzach valley, and was a principal centre of Protestantism. Near it is the Liechtenstein Klamm.

For the history of the archbishopric and duchy see the article on the town of Salzburg.