All towns in the Salzkammergut are picturesque and lovely. About each of them, the story is drawn to begin with the words "Picturesque little town ...". But that is the true truth. They are all like that. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that over the year zimmers and various hotels are booked 90 percent!
But still…
St. Wolfgang is a small picturesque alpine town located on the shores of the lake of the same name.
This place is named after St. Wolfgang. This saint was not a simple fellow. Just a bishop of Regensburg.
Revered as one of the three main saints in Germany. History says that back in 976, he quietly lived in prayers not far from the place where the city now stands.
But, either he became bored, or "his hands got used to the ax." But he decided to build a small church, and in order not to be puzzled by the search for a place, he decided to just drop the ax, and in the place where he would fall, and begin construction.
He swung away, looking for an ax for 3 days, so he began to work pretty tired.
The devil decided to help the old man, but demanded a fee for the work, as befits all the devils - Wolfgang had to give him the soul of the one who was the first to cross the threshold of a new temple. Soon the church was built.
Wolfgang prayed earnestly - he could not allow the devil to take possession of the soul of a Christian. God heard his prayers and sent a white wolf to the temple. The wolf entered the church first. The devil grabbed the beast and dragged him into the hole in the ceiling. To this day, ceiling frescoes with plots of this legend and a mysterious hole in the arch of the temple have been preserved. This church is interesting in that there are two altars in it. The explanation is quite simple: when, by order of the pope, the Gothic altars in Catholic churches were changed to baroque ones, they did not begin to destroy the old altar in this church.
It was decided to keep the excellent work of Michael Pacher in the style of late German Gothic. Since then, both Gothic and Baroque altars remained in the temple. While writing the material, I wandered around the Internet, and I noticed a wonderful picture of this same Michael Pacher "St. Wolfgang and the Devil."
The plot is clearly inspired by this story with the saint. In the story, St. Wolfgang argues with the devil, urging him to help him build the church. And from the upper and lower lips of the Unclean, the words are heard: "Show me where this is written in the Bible." Do you see the lower mouth? That's it ... Yes, but the picture, if you are interested, in the Old Pinakothek of Munich.
In St. Wolfgang many films and operettas have been shot. The most famous to this day remains Im 1960's Im weißen Rößl, an adaptation of Ralph Benatsky’s play. This is reminiscent of the White Horse Hotel.
And the figure of the white horse itself became the talisman of the city, its image can be found in all souvenir shops of the city. The operetta king Leghar himself was imbued with the charm of the town, nearby is his villa, bequeathed by the composer after his death to the city. Local beauties made him to write 24 operettas!
Yes, I almost forgot to tell you about a wonderful thing - a milk machine! Well, what am I!
He stands modestly on the Wolfganser Strasse, a small wooden booth near the barn. Inside the machine and plastic bottles.
Throw a coin into the machine, substitute a bottle - and voila! you are the lucky owner of one and a half liters of the freshest alpine milk.
Near the fridge with yogurt. And next to the mug for money. Everything is on trust. And the little farm is not easy - look how many medals.
Milk is really great.