Sep 19, 2011

Hallstatt Mines

After a ride up the mountain in a funicular, we reached the mine which is now converted to a museum. We crossed an open grave site, with numerous displays. Inside the miner’s hostel were various pictures of miners of last century, the tour begins from here. Chambers after chambers, some dark, some well lit, we were treated to a small movie too on the miners’ lives there.



One section was reconstructed image of Bronze Age hut. It gives a clear idea of what the conditions of life were like in the high valley in ancient times. The few wooden items are proof of their great skill in handicraft. Inside there were mega slides transporting us from one level of the mine to another, taking us deep below in the mines.



There was this human size statue of Sepp the miner, who told the story of Man in salt; In 1734, the corpse of a prehistoric miner was found embedded into miner’s rocks, well preserved by the salt, but squeezed flat by the pressure of mountain.


The whole experience was an excellent one with children enjoying the most. The tour is indeed planned well and definitely worth its cost.

28 comments:

pietrzyk said...

Very interesting post and beautiful pictures.Greetings Andrzej.

Sylvia K said...

A fascinating post indeed and terrific captures as always, Indrani! Love the last one! And I would love to take the tour! Hope you have a great week!

Sylvia

Bob Bushell said...

Interesting piece of work.

EG Wow said...

I love tours that take you back in history and make you feel like you are almost living way back in time.

Gemma Wiseman said...

A fascinating journey this must have been! A taste of other lives! Great series of photos!

SandyCarlson said...

An incredible place, to be sure. Thanks for these.

Ann said...

I like the effects of the second photo.

Rajesh said...

A great and unique museum.

aka Penelope said...

It does seem like an incredible eye-opener traveling into these mines and a little claustrophobic perhaps for some. The hardships and courage of people during these times is astounding.

ladyfi said...

What a great experience!

J Bar said...

Fascinating.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Anu said...

fascinating!!! am sure samhith would have loved it too, esp the story of the man in salt!

Ebie said...

The guard is so tall! That must be a wonderful tour!

The Floating Clouds said...

That's a lovely post. Thanks for sharing!

Leovi said...

Delicious photos, my favorite is the second, full of mystery.

Anya said...

Wow ....
it looks very mysterious
and also a little scary
but kids do like an adventure :P
Great shots :)

POESIE-LYRIK-HAIKU-KURZGESCHICHTEN-H-P's MÄRCHENSEITE-FOTOGRAFIE-H-P's FOTO ART said...

Wunderbare Eindrücke, schöne Fotos, ein wunderbares Erlebnis...

Liebe Grüsse Dir aus der Schweiz

Hans-Peter

Gattina said...

That must have been an awful life ! very interesting post !

Krishna said...

nice post with photos

eileeninmd said...

What a neat tour, my hubby would like this place. Wonderful photos and post, Indrani!

Reader Wil said...

Interesting, Indrani! Isn't Hallstatt the place where they found Celtic graves? There seems to have been a large Celtic population.

Team G Square said...

Interesting and exciting experience .

Gary said...

Really interesting post!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Sridharan said...

Interesting indeed.!

Genie said...

What a fabulous experience for the children as well as you all. I would love to have gone into the mine. Had to look up the meaning of funicular..had no clue as to what it was. I think I would handle the mine a lot better than the ride in the funicular. The photos are great...I really got the feeling of what you all were experiencing.Thanks for a great post. genie

Reader Wil said...

Hi Indrani, thanks for your comment. The problem is that schizophrenic people like two of my close relatives, hear voices or see things we cannot hear or see. If they take medication they are very sensitive and kind people, because they need this medication just as much as any other patient suffering from a metabolic disease, because that's what it is.So they don't need to be executed but put on medication.
Sometimes relatives warn the doctor that their son, daughter, husband or other relative is acting dangerously. If doctors are wise enough to listen they help immediately and force the patient to take medicines. Sometimes however they are too late. These patients are always frightened and very lonely. I have seen this in my family and my heart breaks when I think how awful life must be or had been for them.

R Sudhir Kumar said...

I was searching for the snap of a funicular. The Utensils looks superb

P.N. Subramanian said...

You must have had a wonderful time. I have visited some of our own underground coal mines and found the conditions are horrible.