Wagrain is a market town

Market town

Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...

 in the St. Johann im Pongau District in the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n state of Salzburg

Salzburg (state)

Salzburg is a state or Land of Austria with an area of 7,156 km2, located adjacent to the German border. It is also known as Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its capital city, also named Salzburg...

. It is located in a high valley stretching from the Salzach

Salzach

The Salzach is a river in Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Inn and is 225 kilometres in length.The river's name is derived from the German word Salz, meaning "salt". Until the 19th century shipping of salt down the river was an important part of the local economy...

 at Sankt Johann

Sankt Johann im Pongau

St. Johann im Pongau or St.Johann/Pg. is a small town in the middle of the province of Salzburg in Austria. It is the capital of the district of Pongau.-History:On 24 June 2000 the town of St...

 in the west to the Enns river in the east. The municipality includes the Katastralgemeinde

Katastralgemeinde

A Katastralgemeinde , a German word , is a cadastral subdivision of municipalities in the nations of Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Italian provinces of South Tyrol, Trentino, Gorizia, Trieste, and in Slovenia.A cadastral community records property ownership in a cadastre,...

n Hof, Hofmarkt, Schwaighof and Vorderkleinarl. The population is about 3,020.

The settlement of Wakrein in the Archbishopric of Salzburg

Archbishopric of Salzburg

The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire, its territory roughly congruent with the present-day Austrian state of Salzburg....

 was first mentioned in a 1243 deed. Original a mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 area, Wagrain in the early 18th century was a centre of Crypto-protestantism

Crypto-protestantism

Crypto-Protestantism is an historical phenomenon that occurred on the territory of the Habsburg Empire. It describes the attempt made after the Protestant Reformation to regain for Catholicism parts of the Empire that had become Protestant...

 within the Catholic country. About 1732/33 Prince-Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian had the Protestant population expelled; most were received by King Frederick William I of Prussia

Frederick William I of Prussia

Frederick William I of the House of Hohenzollern, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death...

 and re-settled the East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

n province, which had been devastated by the plague.

Today Wagrain mainly depends on tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

. It is nestled in the valley of the Ski Amadé

Ski Amade

The Ski Amadé region of Austria is a network of 28 ski areas and towns that combined, make up the largest ski area in Europe. It is named after the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who was born in the city of Salzburg.-Background:...

 resorts, one of the largest ski resort

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...

 networks in Europe. In the summer the ski lifts transport bikers to the mountains for the summer mountain biking season.

Wagrain is the original home of Atomic Skis

Atomic Skis

Atomic is an Austrian company which manufactures and sells skiing equipment .-Background:...

, which was founded in 1955 by Alois Rohrmoser, who bought a wheelwright shop, and expanded its production to include winter sports equipment, such as skis and sleds, using local timber resources and a crew of four craftsmen.

Important Websites

Wagrain


Tourism Office Wagrain

Transportation

Wagrain can be reached via the B 163 Wagrainer Straße highway

Bundesstraße

Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...

 linking Sankt Johann with Altenmarkt im Pongau

Altenmarkt im Pongau

Altenmarkt im Pongau is a small town in the Salzburg state of Austria. Altenmarkt is situated 65 km South East of Salzburg. The town occupies an area of approximately 48 km² and sits at 842 metres above sea level.The town is principally known for its winter tourism...

 and the Flachau

Flachau

Flachau is a village in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Salzburg state, Austria, with a population of 2,639 . Its numerous skiing facilities are part of the Ski Amadé network of ski areas, the largest in Europe.- History :...

 junction of the Tauern Autobahn

Tauern Autobahn

The Tauern Autobahn is an autobahn in Austria. It starts at the Salzburg junction with the Westautobahn , runs southwards, crosses the Tauern mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps and leads to the Süd Autobahn and Karawanken Autobahn at Villach in Carinthia...

.