Zell am See - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Zell am See is the capital city of the Zell am See 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...

. The city has about 10,000 inhabitants.

Zell am See is a tourist destination and a transportation hub for the region. The German name "Zell am See" means "Zell by the lake".

Location

The valley

Valley

In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

of Zell is a corridor in the middle of the Austrian Alps between the Saalach

Saalach

The Saalach is a long river in Austria and Germany, and a left tributary of the Salzach.- Course :The river begins, as the Saalbach stream, in the Austrian state of Tyrol in the Kitzbühel Alps at the Torsee lake below the 2,178 m high Gamshag...

and 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...

rivers. The lake is the 68 metres (223.1 ft) deep Lake Zell, with Zell am See's "Altstadt" (or Old Town) in the west, and with the villages of Thumersbach to the east, Erlberg to the southeast, and Schüttdorf directly to the south. Zell am See is approximately 100 kilometres to the east of Innsbruck

Innsbruck

- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...

and 30 kilometers the north of Großglockner

Großglockner

The Grossglockner is, at 3,798 m above sea level, Austria's highest mountain and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass...

City outline

The city of Zell am See is divided into five districts:

Bruckberg (residential area)
- Zellermoos
Erlberg (includes a nature reserve)
Schmitten (location of many cableways)
Thumersbach (noble district, seaside resort and beautiful landscape)
- Prielau (a summer resort)
Zell am See
- Old Town (centre sites)
- South Zell am See (Schüttdorf)

Landscape

The original Lake Zell reached somewhat further to the north and extended south to the Salzach river. The dimensions of the lake, however, haved changed over time into marsh areas. The lake has the shape of a peanut, with an area of 4.7 square kilometres (1.8 sq mi).

The mountains of the area form a horseshoe shape and are mainly forested or agricultural fields. The "Hausberg" or home mountain of Zell am See is the Schmittenhöhe

Schmittenhöhe

The Schmittenhöhe is a mountain, high, on the eastern edge of the Kitzbühel Alps. It is the local mountain of the district capital of Zell am See, from where a cable car was built in 1927 by Adolf Bleichert & Co. that runs to the summit. The cable car system has been renovated several times since...

(1.965 metres), which is part of the Salzburg Greywacke zone

Greywacke zone

The greywacke zone is a band of Paleozoic metamorphosed sedimentary rocks that forms an east-west band through the Austrian Alps. The greywacke zone crops out between the Mesozoic rocks of the Northern Calcareous Alps and the Austroalpine and Penninic basement rocks of the Central Eastern Alps....

(or slate Alps). The Schmittenhöhe is a popular center for winter sports. The nearby "Hundstein" (or "Dog Stone") at 2117 metres (6,945.5 ft) is the highest peak of the Salzburg Grewacke Zone.

History

Zell am See was already populated in Roman times. In 740 AD, by order of the Archbishop Johannes (John) of Salzburg, monks founded the village "Cella in Bisonzio". Zell received the rights of 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 1357, and its city rights on January 24, 1928.

Timeline

1875, July 30 - Railway opening (Giselabahn), start of tourism in the summer months
1879, July 15 - Opening of the Hotel "Elisabeth"
1881 - Start of steam navigation with boat "Elisabeth" on the lake
1885 - Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) visits the Schmittenhöhe (mountain)
1887 - The Municipality takes over the ship navigation on the Lake Zell
1893 - Visit of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef I
1894 - The Grand Hotel is built
1898 - Business start of the Pinzgau Local Railway (Pinzgauer Lokalbahn)
1906 - Foundation of the Skiing Club Zell am See; first winter sports festival
1906 and 1910 - Acquisition of electric motor boats, end of steam ship navigation
1914 - Railway track becomes double tracked
1924 - A light plane lands on the sheet of ice of the Lake Zell
1928 - Construction of the tennis courts (used for ice-skating and ice-hockey in winter)
1928, January 25 - Commissioning of the Schmittenhöhebahn (up to the Schmitten mountain)
1928 - Foundation of a chapter of the Austrian Aeronautical Association (Österr. Flugtechnischer Verein)
1930 - Opening of the Hauptschule (similar to a UK secondary modern school)
1937, February 5 - Academic World Wintergames
1945 - City serves as a base for Company "E"
Easy Company (Band of Brothers)
Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles", is one of the most well-known companies in the United States Army. Their experiences in World War II are the subject of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers based on the book...

of the 2nd Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
The 506th Infantry Regiment is a unit assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division. During World War II, the unit was designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment ....

(PIR), 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...

.
1952, May 8 - Opening of the Alpine Gliding School
1959, May 15 - Opening of Airport Zell
1961 - Zell receives the status of a climatic spa
1966 - Serious damage due to thunderstorms, the River Schmitten overflows its banks
1968 - Construction of the Spa- and Sportcenter and foundation of the Europe Sports Region
1973 - Ski-Worldcup (December 12th to December 20th)
1975 - Rosenberg Castle (16th century) becomes the town hall
1976 - Opening of the new hospital
1977 - Commissioning of the one-rope chairlift "Zeller Bergbahn"
1979 - Consecration of the pedestrian area
1979 - Worldcup Downhill Women
1981 - Honorary citizen/Dr.h.c.Ferdinand Porsche
1981 - Honorary citizen/Commercial Council Dr.h.c. Louise Piech-Porsche
1996 - Opening of the road tunnel (Schmitten Tunnel
Schmitten Tunnel
The Schmitten Tunnel is the bypass tunnel for the town of Zell am See in Austria and a road tunnel on the Pinzgau Road in the Austrian state of Salzburg....

, 5,110 m)
2000 - Award ceremony of the Sydney Olympia winners Steinacher + Hagara (Tornado-Sailing)
2004 - Award ceremony of the Athens Olympia winners Steinacher + Hagara (Tornado-Sailing)
2005 - Christening of the third ship on the Lake Zell, the "Schmittenhöhe)
2008 -World Hockey Tournament: see http://www.worldclass-hockey.com/Austria.htm

(Source: Custos Cav. H. Scholz)

Attractions

St. Hippolyte's Church

Within St. Hippolyte

Hippolytus (writer)

Hippolytus of Rome was the most important 3rd-century theologian in the Christian Church in Rome, where he was probably born. Photios I of Constantinople describes him in his Bibliotheca Hippolytus of Rome (170 – 235) was the most important 3rd-century theologian in the Christian Church in Rome,...

's Church are the oldest known building remnants of the Pinzgau

Pinzgau

The Bezirk Zell am See is an administrative district in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria, and congruent with the Pinzgau region....

region. The church is built in a mostly Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

style and consists of three nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

s. Before 1794, the central nave was crowned with a Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

vault

Vault (architecture)

A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...

, but in that year it was replaced with another vault, which in turn was replaced by a flat wooden roof in 1898. Four steps lead up to the main altar

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

, but the crypt

Crypt

In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....

has been filled in. The narthex

Narthex

The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...

and aisles are still Gothic, but some of the other Gothic objects (like the neogothic altars by Josef Bachlehner) were added during the renovation in 1898, when also the baroque furnishings of preceding centuries were removed.

The highpoint of the church is its elevated walkway with its ornate parapet

Parapet

A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...

, built in 1514. The walkway rests on four carved columns of precious marble

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...

, in between which an intricate net-vault is spun. The three pointed arches are crowned with crocket

Crocket

A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....

s, and end in pointed towers. Between the arches are Gothic baldachin

Baldachin

A baldachin, or baldaquin , is a canopy of state over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure is more correctly called a ciborium when it is...

s with cut-out figures of St. Hippolyte and St. Florian

Saint Florian

Florian lived in the time of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and was commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum. In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing firefighting brigades....

, originating from 1520.

The tower is the main focus of the Zell am See skyline. It has a height of 36 metres (118.1 ft). The strong walls have a limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

exterior.

From 1660 until 1670, the main altar was replaced by a Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

one, which was removed again in 1760. Almost none of the Baroque furnishings of the church remain apart from some adornments. Two Baroque statues ended up in the church of Prielau. Next to the main altar are two statues dating from 1480: St. Rupert and St. Vigilius. The side altar contains an image of the Virgin Mary from the now non-existent Church of Maria Wald, which dates from 1540. The left nave has a small altar dedicated to St. Sebastian in its apsis.

The Grand Hotel Zell am See is situated in a unique position on a private peninsula right at the shore of Lake Zell - this large chalet is surrounded by water with a panoramic view of the mountains.

Education

In Zell am See there are 3 elementary schools, one high school, one special school, one vocational school, one grammar school, one commercial academy and a commercial school:

Film shootings in Zell am See

1944/45: Film Ein Mann gehört ins Haus directed by Hubert Marischka
Hubert Marischka
Hubert Marischka , brother of Ernst Marischka, was an Austrian operetta tenor, actor, film director and screenwriter.- Career :...

.
1963: Film Allotria in Zell am See directed by Franz Marischka.
2001: Film Band of Brothers (TV miniseries) Part Ten - Points, directed by Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

and Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...

.

External links

Tourist Board of Zell am See

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