Wagrain (

Austro-Bavarian Bavarian (german: Bairisch , Bavarian: ''Boarisch'') or alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a West Germanic language, part of the Upper German family, together with Alemannic and East Franconian. Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million peop ...

: ''Wågroã'') is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in the St. Johann im Pongau District in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

. It is located in a high valley stretching from the

Salzach The Salzach (Austrian: �saltsax ) is a river in Austria and Germany. It is in length and is a right tributary of the Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limestone and Central E ...

at Sankt Johann in the west to the Enns river in the east. The municipality includes the

Katastralgemeinde A cadastral community or cadastral municipality, is a Cadastre, cadastral subdivision of Municipality, municipalities in the nations of Austria,Cadastral Template for Austria, web-pageCT-AT Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Ser ...

n ''Hof, Hofmarkt, Schwaighof'' and ''Vorderkleinarl''. The population is about 3,020.

History

The settlement of ''Wakrein'' in the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (german: Fürsterzbistum Salzburg; Erzstift Salzburg; Erzbistum Salzburg) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops of ...

was first mentioned in a 1243 deed. Original a

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

area, Wagrain in the early 18th century was a centre of

Crypto-protestantism Crypto-Protestantism is a historical phenomenon that first arose on the territory of the Habsburg Empire but also elsewhere in Europe and Latin America, at a time when Catholic rulers tried, after the Protestant Reformation, to reestablish Catho ...

within the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

country. About 1732/33 Prince-Archbishop

Count Leopold Anton von Firmian Leopold Anton Eleutherius Freiherr von Firmian (11 March 1679 – 22 October 1744) was Bishop of Lavant 1718–24, Bishop of Seckau 1724–27 and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1727 until his death. Early life He was born in Munich, on his f ...

had the Protestant population expelled; most were received by King

Frederick William I of Prussia Frederick William I (german: Friedrich Wilhelm I.; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the "Soldier King" (german: Soldatenkönig), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuch ...

and re-settled the

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

n province, which had been devastated by the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. Today Wagrain mainly depends on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. It is nestled in the valley of the

Ski Amadé The Ski Amadé region of Austria is a network of 28 ski areas and towns that combined, make up the second largest ski area in Europe.largest ski domain is Dolomiti Superski It is named after the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who was born in the ...

resorts, one of the largest

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

networks in Europe. In the summer the ski lifts transport bikers to the mountains for the summer mountain biking season. Wagrain is the original home of

Atomic Skis Atomic (officially Atomic Austria GmbH) is an Austrian company that manufactures and sells skis and other skiing equipment, such as boots, bindings, helmets, ski poles, goggles, bags, apparel and protective equipment. Atomic is a subsidiary of ...

, which was founded in 1955 by Alois Rohrmoser, who bought a wheelwright shop, and expanded its production to include winter sports equipment, such as skis and sleds, using local timber resources and a crew of four craftsmen.

Local council

Elections were held in 2014: * 10 seats: ÖVP * 6 seats: SPÖ * 3 seats: FPÖ

Transportation

Wagrain can be reached via the ''B 163 Wagrainer Straße''

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

linking Sankt Johann with

Altenmarkt im Pongau Altenmarkt im Pongau is a small town in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Geography Altenmarkt is situated 65 km southeast of Salzburg. Economy The town is principally known for its winter tourism. It is also the location of the factory manufactur ...

and the

Flachau Flachau is a village in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian state of Salzburg, with a population of 2,802 (2016 data). Its numerous skiing facilities are part of the Ski Amadé network of ski areas, one of the largest in Europe. ...

junction of the

Tauern Autobahn The Tauern Autobahn (A 10) is an Autobahns of Austria, autobahn (motorway) in Austria. It starts at the Salzburg junction with the West Autobahn (A1), runs southwards, crosses the Hohe Tauern, Tauern mountain range on the main chain of the Alps an ...

Gallery

File:Slbg-01884 Wagrain Marktplatz 3.jpg, Wagrain market place in 1920 Image:Wagrain, kerk foto2 2011-07-27 16.49.JPG, Local church File:Wagrein.jpg, Wagrain in winter Image:Wagrain, straatzicht foto5 2011-07-27 16.56.JPG, View of a street

References

External links

Wagrain

Tourism Office Wagrain
Cities and towns in St. Johann im Pongau District {{Salzburg-geo-stub