Historic salt works economy - drifting of Hallholz
Until the railway era, the forests of the Hinterberger valley supplied Hallholz for the Aussee salt works. The tributaries of the Traun, the Ödensee and other waters were connected, as everywhere in the Salzkammergut, to form an overarching "drift system", based on a variety of technical installations (risen, Klausen and rakes). A substantial part of the wood came from the Kemet Mountains on the southern edge of the valley, in front of the eastern Dachstein plateau. Timber workers from the salt works trifled Hallholz from the Ridlbach and from Lake Ödensee on to the Kainischer Traun to Aussee. One example of a technical facility is the Ridlbachklause, first mentioned in a document in 1561 and newly built of ashlars in 1868, located above Mühlreith and still visible today. In 1901, the Hallholz drift in the Salzkammergut was abandoned.
Historic saltworks - peat extraction in the Ödensee Moor
From the 18th century onwards, the Aussee salt works used peat as a substitute and supplementary material for firewood in the brew. Peat cutting at Lake Öden began in 1741, and peat production at Lake Öden increased continuously during the 19th century. Peat cutting was always a summer labour. In late autumn, peat was brought to Unterkainisch (the site of the salt works) and mixed with wood for the brewing process. Peat extraction in the Ödenseer Moor initially survived the introduction of coal. It finally ceased in 1925.
Historic saltworks and local handicrafts
Since the Middle Ages, the Hinterbergertal valley had been part of the saltworks region and subsequently part of the Styrian sovereign and later state "Kammergut". The historical Aussee saltworks were not only associated with the use of wood in the valley, but also with a number of other trades. These included, for example, salt transport, craftsmen's workshops such as wainwrights, blacksmiths, saddlers or sawmills or a brickyard southwest of the Kumitzberg. There were numerous inns and hostels along the salt road. One of the largest private workshops in the valley was the Kalß family's Zeugschmiede in Mühlreith. The business was later taken over by Johann Weihnacht, who became prosperous with special products such as draw irons, scythes and sickles, which were exported as far as Russia.
The Hinterberg agricultural pioneer Paul Adler
A good 200 years ago, the Mühlreith farmer Paul Adler (1770 - 1843) played a special role in agricultural progress in the Hinterberger Valley. He was in close contact with Archduke Johann, who supported agricultural modernisation in Styria and founded the Agricultural Society (forerunner of the Chamber of Agriculture) in 1819. Adler knew the important agricultural reference books of his time. He experimented in various fields, gathered experience and made records - for example in potato, cereal and fruit growing, beekeeping and wool processing. Adler was also active in weather observation and had all the important utensils of a naturalist of his time. He is credited with several innovations in the valley, such as the introduction of the potato and the Pinzgauer breed of cattle. As a sideline, Adler worked for many years as a master wood and stone worker's servant for the Aussee salt works. He was a child of the Josephine era and saw himself as a persistent social liberal reformer. He sought contact with educated people, sought intellectual freedom, cared little for class distinctions and championed the concerns of the neighbourhood and the poorer population.
Kainisch - Pichl - Mühlreith - Knoppen
The villages of Knoppen, Pichl, Mühlreith and Kainisch were part of the "Lordship of Hinterberg", which existed from the Middle Ages until 1848. Together they finally formed the political municipality of Pichl or Pichl-Kainisch, which was merged with the municipality of Bad Mitterndorf in 2015. Whereas the timber industry, handicraft businesses, peat extraction and mountain farming used to be characteristic, Pichl and Kainisch are home to the Ödensee nature experience and are an important business location.
Bogs in the Ödensee Nature and European Conservation Area
As late as the 1950s, extensively managed litter meadows and fen meadows with the remaining remnants of raised bogs characterised the small-structured landscape of the Ödensee basin as well as other parts of the Hinterberg valley (Rödschitzer Moor, Krungler Moor). After more than one hundred and fifty years of peat cutting, three remnants of the former extensive raised bog landscape have been preserved: Kainischmoor-West and Kainischmoor-East as well as Ödenseemoor. Only a few remnants of still-living raised bogs remain from the former extensive bog landscape of the Ödensee basin.
Peat extraction was carried out in this area for a good 180 years, from 1742 to 1926. The peat cut at that time was used to produce salt in the Aussee salt works, with extraction heights of up to four metres. This also explains the abrupt differences in height (up to over two metres) between intact raised bog areas and areas below (often degraded bogs or bog forests).
The bog with the largest extent and the best conservation status is the Kainischmoor-West. The two remaining, much smaller mire areas are impaired in their naturalness to varying degrees due to unfavourable edge effects as well as drainage measures. All three bogs mentioned still have bog-typical biotope structures such as bulbs and swales in their interior. The most important characteristic species of ombrogenic raised bogs such as rosemary heath (Andromeda polifolia), sundew (Drosera spp.), white 23 beak rush (Rhynchospora alba), sheath cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatum) and cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus) are also present. The heavy spread of mountain pine (Pinus mugo) and the invasion of moor grass indicate disturbances in the hydrology of the bog.
The Ödensee Bog
The approximately two-hectare remnant of the former 28-hectare Ödensee Moor rises about two metres above the surrounding area. Due to its small size, the influence of unfavourable boundary effects (succession through forest areas, drainage measures in the immediate vicinity) becomes more significant. The disturbed hydrology and thus the increasing desiccation of this biotope are most evident in the strong spread of mountain pine (Pinus mugo), which already covers two thirds of the area, although this condition has been stagnating for about 50 years. Another disturbance indicator of the drying out of this bog is the broom heath (Calluna vulgaris), which is already a dominant species here. Pipe grass (Molinia caerulea) also migrates here as a disturbance indicator. In addition, the characteristic species of the raised bogs such as rosemary heath (Andromeda polifolia), cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus), round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) and long-leaved sundew (Drosera anglica) occur in the biotope-typical structures such as bulbs and swales. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)