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Hallstatt Salt Mine. Photo by Karelj.

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Hallstatt and Altausee Salt Mine

Austria鈥檚 largest active salt mine which has been continually mined since 1147 to date is the Hallstatt and Altausee Salt Mines.  

During the Second World War, the rock salt tunnels were turned into a storage facility holding thousands of pieces of artwork stolen by Nazi Germany among other valuables.

The artworks were looted around 1943 from some of the most important public and private collections in Europe.   

The Hallstatt Salt Mine which has over 7,000 years of exploration is the oldest salt mine in the world. 

The top 10 remarkable facts about Hallstatt and Altausee Salt Mine include the following.

1. The Salt Mine Is the Oldest Salt Mine in The World

Altausee Salt Mine. Photo by Tigerente.

The history of salt mining in Hallstatt is very unique in the globe. People were already busy mining salt in Hallstatt during the Neolithic Age some 7,000 years ago making it the oldest salt mine in the world.

People dug tunnels 200 meters deep into the mountain and built staircases to transport the salt out from deep inside the mines in the mountain.

During those days salt was extremely valuable and was only comparable to gold and was referred to as the 鈥渨hite gold鈥�.

Salt was used to preserve food during those early days and hence those who had it use it to trade for other commodities.  Archeological excavations in the Hallstatt valley found bodies well preserved in salt in the burial grounds there.

2. The Most Famous and Valuable Pieces of Art Were Stored in The Salt Mines

Madonna of Bruges. Photo by Otto Cusanus.

During the Second World War, nearly 8,000 paintings, drawings, and sculptures stolen by Nazi Germany were stored in the rock salt tunnels in the salt mines.  

A planned F眉hrer museum to be constructed in Hitler鈥檚 hometown of Linz, Austria was to be the new home of the stolen artworks.

Paintings by Vermeer, Breughel, and Rembrandt and the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan and Hubert van Eyck are some of the most famous and valuable pieces of art which were stolen.

The monumental bible from St. Florian鈥檚 Monastery, the Rothschild family jewels, and Michelangelo鈥檚 Madonna of Bruges stolen from the Church of our Lady in Bruges were other stolen famous artworks destined for the F眉hrer museum.

3. Hallstatt and Altausee Salt Mines Provided Perfect Conditions for Storing the Artworks

The conditions in the mines were ideal for storing the artworks as the interior temperature was consistent at eight degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit).

The artworks were protected from aerial bombing as they were stored deep in the underground sometimes up to 800 meters deep.

The cool, dark, dry and most importantly stable climate in these tunnels was also perfect for conservation.

After the war, many of the recoveries found in the mines were relatively dry with a low average relative humidity of 40 percent according to the Monuments Men and conservator George Stout.

4. The Pieces of Art and The Mines Were Almost Destroyed in 1945

Adolf Hitler. Photo by Unknown.

In 1945 a desperate Hitler issued the Nerobefehl (Nero Decree) as Allied and Soviet advances were nearing Berlin.

The Nero Decree was to prevent Allied advance as through the decree, Hitler ordered the destruction of German infrastructure. 

The decree was interpreted to extend to the salt mines where the artworks were stored.

The regional head of the Austrian Nazi party August Eigruber ordered eight bombs to be placed in crates labeled 鈥淐aution – Marble – Do Not Drop鈥� inside the tunnels.

Dr. Emmerich P枚chm眉ller, the general director of the mines got suspicious and moved the crates out of the mines.

He blasted the entrance to the tunnels sealing the treasures inside the mines in the dead of the night.

5. The Mine Opened 鈥淭he Fortune of Art鈥� Permanent Exhibition In 2019

The mines tunnels were accessed in July 1945 and 6,577 paintings, 230 drawings and watercolors, 954 prints, 137 sculptures, and 129 pieces of arms and armor were retrieved.

Furniture, tapestries, and cases of archival objects, books, and unidentified content were also retrieved from the mines. All these pieces were relocated to a number of collecting points across Germany.

In the place where Hitler鈥檚 looted art had been stored the mine opened 鈥淭he Fortune of Art鈥� permanent exhibition in 2019.

6. A Large Prehistoric Cemetery Was Discovered at the Salzberg mines near Hallstatt

Johann Georg Ramsauer. Photo by Unknown author.

A large prehistoric cemetery was discovered at the Salzberg mines near Hallstatt by Johann Georg Ramsauer in 1846.

Johann Georg Ramsauer excavated the site during the second half of the 19^th century and about 1,045 burials were yielded.

Many of the grave goods found in the graves were in styles widespread in Europe but there were some whose styles and decorations were very distinctive.

Many of the grave goods had survived in good condition and included organic materials such as textiles, wood and leather, and many  artefacts such as shoes and tools including miner’s backpacks.

7. Hallstatt Salt Mine Has the Oldest Pipeline in The World

Lake Hallstatt. Photo by Herzi Pinki.

Salt mining has over the years been a lucrative venture in in the Hallstatt mine located above Lake Hallstatt. As at 1909, 313 people were employed in the mines.

Even though the Hallstatt salt works were forced to close in 1965, brine is still produced in the salt mine above Lake Hallstatt to the present day.

About one million cubic meters of brine is produced and it flows all the way to salt works in Ebensee via a 40-kilometer pipeline system.

Hallstatt brine pipeline is the oldest pipeline in the world having been built in 1595 which is over 400 years old.

8. The Salt Mines Made Salzkammergut The Oldest Industrial and Cultural Region in The World

The Hallstatt pipeline transports salt brine from Hallstatt Salt mine to Ebensee where various salt products are produced.

Salt having been produced in the Salzkammergut region continuously for over 7,000 years to the present day makes the region the oldest industrial and cultural region in the world. 

The oldest commercial enterprise in the world which is linked to the salt mines is Salinen Austria AG

9. The Hallstatt Salt Mines Have the Oldest Wooden Staircase in Europe

Salzwelten Hallstatt has the oldest wooden staircase in Europe which is close to being 3,400 years old.

The wooden staircase was discovered in 2002 in the prehistoric part of the mine by scientists from the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

Investigations done indicated that in the year 1344 BCE people used these staircases to lug salt which was then akin to 鈥渨hite gold鈥� out of the mountain.

Visitors to the salt mine can still marvel at this structure in the Bronze Age Cinema but naturally nobody trudges up and down those stairs anymore.

Bronze Age Cinema is a realistic animation projected onto the original exhibit which brings back to life the arduous working routine of Bronze Age miners.

10. The UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hallstatt Museum, Holds Discoveries from The Salt Mines

The Hallstatt Museum located in Hallstatt, Upper Austria is a UNESCO World Heritage designated site together with the salt mines, and the Dachstein Ice Cave.

The museum holds unrivalled collection of discoveries from the local salt mines and from the cemeteries of Iron Age date near to the mines.

The museum is located below the salt mines on the mountainside close to the Hallst盲ttersee.