08/10/2017
Day 27 - We travelled by train to Mariazell on the The Mariazell Railway (Mariazellerbahn) which is an electrically operated narrow-gauge railway (with a track gauge of 760 mm (2 ft 5 15⁄16 in)) which connects the Lower Austrian capital of Sankt Pölten with the Styrian pilgrimage centre of Mariazell. The line was opened in stages between 1898 and 1907, and had a, now closed, branch to Wieselburg an der Erlauf. The railway is operated by NÖVOG, which is owned by the provincial government, and is a part of the Verkehrsverbund Niederösterreich-Burgenland (Lower Austria and Burgenland Transport Association) into lower Austria with Ingrid, Gunter and Max.
This area is known for the beautiful Mariazell Basilica, also known as Basilica Mariä Geburt (Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary) is a Marian basilica in Mariazell, Austria. It is the most important pilgrimage destination in Austria and one of the most visited shrines in Europe. In the church, a miraculous wooden image of the Virgin Mary is honored.
It is a site of pilgrimage for Catholics from Austria and neighboring countries. The object of veneration is an image of the Virgin Mary reputed to work miracles, carved in lime-tree wood. This was brought to the place in 1157, and is now enshrined in a chapel adorned with objects of silver and other costly materials. The large church of which the chapel forms part was erected in 1644 as an expansion of a smaller church built by Louis I, King of Hungary, after a victory over the Turks in 1363.
In 1157, Monk Magnus came into the Zellertal with a lime-tree wood statue of the Virgin Mary and founded the first chapel there, around which the town later grew. The town's name derived from the description "Mary in the cell", i.e. in the monk's chapel. In 1344, Mariazell was elevated to the status of market town. Between 1340 and 1380, the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style. In 1420, the Turks came to Mariazell for the first time and burned the church and the town. In 1474, another fire devastated the town. In 1532, the Turks returned to Mariazell and set more houses on fire. 1644: The "baroque-ization" of the church is begun by Abbot Benedikt Pierin, and the commission is given to Master Builder Sciassia. After his death the construction is continued by various other workers before being completed in 1780. 1679: Emperor Leopold I visited the shrine, and a valet in his entourage brought the plague to Mariazell. Fear and terror took hold as 156 townspeople fell victim to the disease. 1683: Fears of a new Turkish invasion caused the holy statue as well as the treasury images to be sent to St. Lambrecht, from which they were returned later that year. 1742: The Empress granted Abbot Eugen Inzaghi the privileges of an Archabbot over Gollrad and Aschbach, as well as over the Mariazell cast iron works. In 1782, Joseph Haydn wrote the Mariazell Mass, for pilgrims to the Basilica in Mariazell. The mass was commissioned at the request of the pilgrims, through a military officer. In 1786, Emperor Joseph II dissolves the Monastery of St. Lambrecht, from which Mariazell was serviced, in the course of his cloister abolishments. The pilgrimages are hampered and later completely forbidden. In 1798, a conflagration destroys the town; the area of Wiener Straße is especially hard hit. 1805: The Battle of Mariazell is fought in the area during the War of the Third Coalition as the French invade Austria. 1809: Faced with a French advance in the War of the Fifth Coalition, church treasures are brought to Temesvár in Hungary for security. A few weeks later, the French arrive at Mariazell. Combat operations, requisition, and crop failures lead in these years to a massive decrease in population. 1816: A great famine takes place. Archduke Johann introduces the potato and plants it in the poor fields of the area to combat hunger. 1818: Archduke Johann buys the Brandhof. 1827: Mariazell's largest fire, which incinerates almost the entire town, and leaves the church with great fire damage, occurs on All Souls' Night. 1828 - 1832: The town is rebuilt with great hardship and suffering. 1892: The idle boring machine of the cast-iron factory is converted to a power plant; the following year, Mariazell gets electric power for the first time.
1896: The building of the first public water service begins.
1898: The Mariazell cast iron factory is shut down.
1907: The Mariazellerbahn, finished the previous year, is opened for public transport. That same year, the Mariazell Basilica is elevated to a Basilica Minor. 1911: The Mariazellerbahn becomes electric. 1924: The first festival in the newly built festival theatre is begun. 1925: The festivals reach their high point. In the following years, financial decline brings them to an end. 1928: A gondola to the Bürger Alps becomes the first funicular to be built in Austria. That same year, the water system in expanded around the "Student-Quelle". 1945: The Red Army enters Mariazell and takes accommodations for 5,000 men.
1948: Mariazell is elevated to the status of a city. 1955 - 1957: A general restoration of the church takes place. During these years, a by-pass and a new post office are built. 1966: The fathers of the Kremsmünster Monastery separate from the fathers of the Schottenstift, who had been in charge of the ecclesiastical leadership of Mariazell since 1949. In the following years, extensive restoration work is done on the church, the priory, and the nearby chapel. The new rosary path is also built during this time. 1976: Mariazell gains an indoor swimming pool and, a few years later, the enlargement of its Hauptschule. 1983: Pope John Paul II visits Mariazell. The papal altar is built in the main plaza. In the course of this great event, the entire city receives a façade facelift, the main plaza is redesigned, and parks are created.
1990: Thanksgiving and freedom pilgrimages from the former Eastern Bloc states bring 25,000 participants to Mariazell. 1992: The Bendictines of Kremsmünster transfer the duty of pastoral care for the pilgrimages into the custody of the founding monastery and mother cloister of St. Lambrecht. 2004: Central European Catholic Day - a pilgrimage of the people to Mariazell brings over 100,000 visitors. 2007: Pope Benedict XVI visits Mariazell to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the foundation of the Shrine of Mariazell.
We also made the journey via Schwebebbahn (cable car) to the top of The Mariazeller Bürgeralpe which reaches an altitude of 1267 m and is regarded as a viewing hill with a unique panoramic view of the Lower Styrian Pre-Alps area, which you can enjoy in the summer especially from the plateau.
To the south rises the university massif. The water donor for the city of Vienna is 2267 m high and extends from Seeberg to Eisenerz. In the west, the Göstling Alps are connected with Hochkar and Dürrenstein. To the north-west are the municipalities and the Ötscher, in the east galleri, Schneeberg, Rax, Schneealpe and Wildalpe rise.
Already in the 19th century began with the construction of a view tower on the Hausberg of the Mariazeller, the cableway was erected in 1928. The construction of the first Schilifte at the beginning of the 1950s was the start-up of the Mariazeller Bürgeralpe to a Schiberg.
Today, it is one of the most modern small family ski resorts in the east of Austria. In 1995 two 4-seater chair lifts were built. In December 2002 the new cableway was opened, which had to be crossed without a single step and disabled-friendly. A snowmaking plant built in 1991 guarantees snow safety from December to March.There is an chalet here and children's playground and an the observation tower is still here although the original wooden structure was replaced with a brick one. There is also a ski hut here called the Edelweiss Hütte where we sat and had lunch. Do quaint and a great meal.
We finished our time here with a coffee in the bakery overlooking the church square. Here they bake Gingerbread and give lessons and their toilets are very pretty 😂
