Heiligenblut in Carinthia on the Grossglockner

Heiligenblut Carinthia Austria

The place Heiligenblut in Carinthia, Austria, is known as a ski resort. In summer it is the starting point for the journey to the Grossglockner from the southern end of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Those who stay in Heiligenblut for a long time will also find good opportunities for hiking there. Also worth seeing is the gold digging village of Heiligenblut, which is only a few kilometers outside the city in a valley on the northern edge of the Tauern.

 

 

Sightseeing in Heiligenblut Carinthia Austria

Heiligenblut in Carinthia is a village at an altitude of 1288 meters in the Alps in Carinthia. The Großglockner High Alpine Road, one of the most beautiful panoramic roads in Austria, begins shortly after the village. This leads through the highest mountain peaks of the Hohe Tauern. A side street goes to the Pasterze, the Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Höhe and Austria's highest mountain, the Großglockner (3798 m). Heiligenblut is one of the typical mountain villages in the region. Many residents make their living from alpine farming. However, the place also looks back on a history that is unusual. Gold was mined here until the 20th century.

Tourism has also played a role since the end of the 19th century. At a Tour of the place shows you the sights of Heiligenblut.

Hikes in the vicinity of Heiligenblut

The place is the starting point for the Großglockner region. You can also go hiking in the area. You can find a selection of the hiking trails near Heiligenblut here

Summer hikes

• To the Lucknerhütte on the Großglockner: hike with a national park ranger
• From Heiligenblut to Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe
• To Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe via the Tauernhöhenweg
• Heiligenblut Jungfernsprung circuit
• Hike into the Gößnitz valley
• Haritzersteig and Bricciusweg
• The Natura Mystica nature trail (Gössnitzfall - Kachlmoor)
• The circular route Langtalseen - Elberfelderhütte
• Kleines Fleißtal - gold digger village and Alter Pocher
• Gold digger village to Zirmsee
• The Geotrail Tauern window (from the top station of the Schareck cable car)

Winter hikes

• • Empress Elisabeth hike to the Gipperalm
  • Walk to the herb wall
  • Loop through Heiligenblut
  • Pockhorn winter hiking trail
  • (Our tip: Use the Outdooractive maps offline as well Outdooractive Pro*.)

 

 

Heiligenblut ski area Carinthia Austria

In winter the place is the starting point for ski tourists who ski on the Schareck (2606 m) and on the Gjaidtroghöhe (2988 m).

Ski touring

• Beginners tour to the Roßschartenkopf
• Brennkogel
• Spielmann
• Margroetzkopf
• Sonnblick from Heiligenblut / Fleißtal
• Sandhead

 

 

Parish church Heiligenblut Carinthia

The parish church of Heiligenblut cannot be overlooked in the townscape. The Gothic style church dates back to the 15th century. The church was restored at the beginning of the 20th century. The high altar comes from the Bolzano school and shows the coronation of Mary.

Briccius Chapel

West of Winkl. The chapel was built in 1872 to commemorate the name of the place. A Danish prince named Briccius had a vial with the blood of Christ implanted in his calf. He was killed in an avalanche in 914 while on his way back from Constantinople to his homeland. It is said that three ears of wheat grew out of the snow. This is how his remains were discovered. When the peasants tried to bury him, a leg kept poking out of the earth. It was only when they investigated that they found the vial of blood in his leg. This is kept today in the parish church. The chapel commemorates the prince who gave the place its name.

 

 

The gold of the Tauern from Heiligenblut in Carinthia

We had heard of it: the legendary Gold of the Tauern. However, I thought until we visited Heiligenblut and the Grossglockner in Carinthiathat it's really just a legend. We learned that this was not the case on our trip to the gold mining village near Heiligenblut. It was not a day on which a trip to the high Alps was worthwhile, because it was pouring freely. After the wonderful weather at ours Drive over the Grossglockner High Alpine Road the day before the weather god was not so kind to us this time. Or maybe yes?

Because after we branched off shortly after Heiligenblut in a sharp hairpin bend on the high alpine road to the gold mining village, more and more clouds of fog built up on the mountain slopes and gave the scenery an almost unreal character. Drizzle covered the front windshield of our car, and the windshield wipers barely managed to control the moisture. They just kept giving us a quick, clear look at what lay ahead. As if the gold diggers of the past only reluctantly wanted to give us a look at what is hidden in the hidden tunnels of the gold mines in the Hohe Tauern. It was almost like taking a trip back in time - mysterious and full of puzzles.

 

 

The gold of the Tauern on the trail in the gold digger village Heiligenblut

The feeling of a journey through time intensified when the narrow tar road at the bridge over the Fleiß turned into a gravel road and finally a forest path. We didn't park our car at the main entrance to the gold digger village, but drove to its upper end, where we parked our vehicle on the edge of the stream bed. In the spring when the snow melts, a wild mountain stream may rustle through the bed of hard work. At the time of ours Austria Visiting in the fall, the stream bed was dry despite the pouring rain that was still falling. Maybe the waterfalls that fell down the steep mountain wall behind us on the mountainside needed a little more time to reach the stream bed? Or did it seep into the tunnels that the gold miners had once dug into the mountains? We didn’t know.

 

 

Nice even when it rains

After a few minutes the weather god had pity on us and the downpour subsided. The clouds that had built up on the mountains at the end of the valley by then broke up, and there was even a piece of blue sky. Wooden huts, in which the miners and miners once lived, line our path along the dilemma. A wooden water gutter accompanies us on our way. This was where the gold was once transported from the higher elevations of the Hohe Tauern to the "Alten Pocher", the grinder for the gold-bearing rock that we can see in the gold digger village.

The methods of how to win the gold have changed throughout history. In addition, the tunnels in the high mountains have been closed by glacier ice over the centuries. Nevertheless, the gold of the Tauern was won until the Second World War. Not a ton a year as in the late Middle Ages, but until 1944 it was still enough as extra income for the farmers in the region.

 

 

Do you fancy panning for gold?

Today, visitors can try gold panning in the gold digger village. For us, this is too wet and uncomfortable on this rainy day. However, I can well imagine that on a hot summer day is a welcome refreshment. We look at the tools used to win the gold. One of the old tunnels opens in the middle of the gold mining village, and I wonder how exhausting the work must have been because neither Petar nor I could stand upright in this low tunnel. What must it have been like a drudgery to get the precious metal out of the mountain?

 

 

Meager life as a gold digger

On one of the boards along the way that tell how the prospectors lived in these gold deposits, describes how meager their life was: in the 16th century, a married squire received five loaves of bread a week, one and a half kilos of flour and half a kilo of lard each , Cheese, sheep or goat meat and pork. Unmarried people received a quarter less. Not exactly exuberant considering they did 44 hours a week of hard physical labor. These rations were only available at the best of times. In times of need they only fed on stinging soup, sauerkraut, bread and bacon.

The gold diggers could not speak of quick wealth. In any case, the work was not safe. While in the beginning the gold was extracted from the ore at the place of discovery, it was later brought down the mountain to the "Alten Pocher" in iron carts. A brave squire sat on the cart and steered it down the steep and dangerous descent into the valley with a pole hook.

 

 

An afternoon in the gold digger village

We can well imagine how difficult these people's lives must have been when we look at the mountain walls at the end of the valley. In the meantime, clouds of fog are gathering again and it is slowly starting to drizzle again, so that we find our way back to the car after this glimpse into the life of the miners who once fetched the gold of the Tauern from the mountains. This gold can be admired today in the castles, churches and monasteries of the prince-bishops of Salzburg, who used it to furnish their stately buildings. Here in the valley we can barely see the tiny gold particles in the quartz rock with the naked eye. What a drudgery to honor the princes of the country!

After an afternoon with the gold of the Tauern in the gold digger village, we finally make our way back to Heiligenblut at the foot of the Hohe Tauern.

You can too Panning for gold in the Gastein Valley. You can find information about this in the Schönste Zeit Magazin.

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Travel Arrangements

Parking at the airport

You can book your parking space at the airport here.

Webcam and weather

For a spontaneous trip, you can find one here, for example Webcam and weather forecast for Heiligenblut.

Gold digger village

Exit from the Großglockner High Alpine Road to Kerne 17
Then follow the signs.

You can too Hike to the gold digger village

Accommodation Heiligenblut Carinthia

For example, you can stay overnight in Holy Blood *which is only a few kilometers away. We recommend spending the night in Hotel Kärntnerhof.

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Other Slow Travel Experiences is also available here.

Source: own research on site. We would definitely like to thank 50 Plus Hotels for the kind invitation. However, our opinions remain our own.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TWO
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TWO
Video: © Copyright Petar Fuchs and TWO