Hallein, Salzburg

Hallein, province of Salzburg, town in the district of Hallein, alt. 447 m, pop. 17,271 (1981: pop. 15,377), area 26.96 km², old salt-mining town, health resort, summer tourism (109,483 overnight stays), situated at the confluence of the Almbach stream and the River Salzach, on the border to Bavaria, main town of the Tennengau region. - District Commission, district court, Employment Services, Chamber of Labour, Economic Chamber, district Chamber of Farmers, local health and social insurance office, consulates, hospital, Lebenshilfe welfare organisation, training centre of the Austrian Armed Forces, Rif provincial sports centre; Pro-Juventute-Kinderdorf children´s village; schools: Bundesgymnasium (secondary school), Bundesrealgymnasium (mathematics-oriented secondary school), Berufsschule des metallbearbeitenden Gewerbes (vocational school for the metal-processing trade), Höhere Technische Lehranstalt (technical/engineering school), Fachschule für wirtschaftliche Berufe (commercial college), Höhere Lehranstalt für Mode und Bekleidungstechnik der Schulschwestern (denominational college for fashion and dressmaking), adult education centre; run-of-river power station Hallein Sohlstufe (built 1987, 11.7 MW); in Bad Dürrnberg Adventure Mine Hallein (salt mine and saltern closed down 1989), Dürrnberg Austrian Research Centre, Celtic culture trail, Celtic village and top station of the Hallein mountain railway, sanatorium (salt-water baths, mineral water). Dynamic economic activity with 9,054 employed persons (1991), 53 % in the manufacturing sector: paper industry (Modo Papier Hallein GmbH), metal-working industry, manufacture of machine tools, testing equipment, automatic machines for the metal industry, Diesel injection pumps etc.; production of shoe polish, cosmetic products, floor and car polish, bath salts and salt for the preservation of foods; 2 sausage and meat products factories, beverage industry, shoe factory, wood-working industry, marble works (municipality of Oberalm); service sector dominated by wholesale and retail trade (textiles), large-scale forwarding business; Innovations Center Taxach (computer and high-tech companies). - First documented mention 1198, first mention of salt mining 1191, town status between 1218 and 1232, called Hallein since the 1^st half of the 13^th century, 1218 9 salt pans, in the 19^th century demolition of the boiling houses (only the Colloredo boiling house from 1798 has been preserved), 1854-1862 saltern was transferred to the Pernerinsel island in the River Salzach; former saltern offices (1654) are now Celtic museum (since 1970, finds from the cemeteries of the Hallstatt and La Tène periods on the Dürrnberg); reconstruction of a chieftain´s burial mound, bookbinding museum, Hofbräu Kaltenhausen brewery (Brau Union Österreich AG); medieval-Baroque townscape with remains of city wall (before 1300), Griestor portal (14^th century) and Thürndl ruins (14^th century), deaconal church (first documented mention 1347), nave (1769-1775) with late-Gothic choir, tower (1965); next to church, grave of F. X. Gruber (composer of "Silent Night"), Gothic St. Peter chapel (first documented mention 1384), citizens´ hospital chapel (first documented mention 1386), town hall (16^th  century core, tower 1836), industrial estate and manorial buildings from the 17^th  century in the district of Burgfried, Wiespach Castle in Neualm (first documented mention 1434), on the left bank of the River Salzach, Gutrat ruins (13^th century), Gartenau Castle (end of 14^th century), Rif Castle (first documented mention 1250).

Literature: E. Penninger and G. Stadler, Hallein, Ursprung und Geschichte der Salinenstadt, 1970; Salz, exhibition catalogue, Hallein 1994; U. Kammerhofer-Aggermann, Bergbau. Alltag und Identität der Dürrnberger Bergleute und Halleiner Salinenarbeiter in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 1998.