03Cities and regions

A lake under a wall

Hallstatt and Dachstein

Hallstatt is a small town in Upper Austria, pressed between the shore of Lake Hallstatt and the Dachstein slopes. The road between Salzburg and Graz passes through it. Salt here is ancient, and the town gave its name to the Hallstatt archaeological culture of the early Iron Age, roughly 800 to 450 BCE. In 1997 the Hallstatt–Dachstein / Salzkammergut cultural landscape entered the World Heritage List. Hoher Dachstein rises to 2,995 metres — the highest point in Upper Austria and in Styria — and its massif sits on the borders of three states. From the north you see ice; from the south the mountain drops almost sheer toward the valley. The massif covers about 600 square kilometres. The village is under heavy visitor pressure. Come early, or at the edge of the season, and do not expect an empty street at noon in August. The mountain block is wide, so do not reduce the place to a postcard of houses on water. Morning is quieter than midday if you want the waterfront with fewer crowds. Salt, lake and cliff share one tight shoreline — leave room for all three.

1997

Landscape heritage since

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Dachstein elevation (m)