The oldest village on Lake Traunsee
A complex history through the ages
Smoke lies over the dark green Traunsee. A monastery burns. The idyllic village on Lake Traunsee becomes a place of destruction. Around 950 AD, ravenous Hungarians devastate the old Benedictine monastery - Traunsee Abbey or Abbacia Trûnseo - in Altmünster.
Altmünster was a constantly changing place. An extraordinarily beautiful find from the Hallstatt period graves of Traunkirchen is evidence of Celtic colonisation. These are hollow bead rings made of bronze with rich decorations. The Romans subjugated the Celts living in the region. This can be seen from a Roman gravestone walled into the cathedral. These finds, like the foundations of a Roman villa, are proof that the history around Lake Traunsee goes back a long way. A history in which Celts and Romans, Protestants and Catholics as well as modern tourism have left their mark.
According to legend, there was once a large pagan town here that sank into the lake. The settlement was founded by fishermen who had built their idolatrous temple on the site where the church stands today, on the Kolmansberg, in the so-called Errer. The temples are said to have been destroyed by St. Jerome, who lived as a hermit in the neighbourhood on a hill that is still called Hieronymusleiten or Animosleiten today.
In 1973, during the renovation of the parish church, archaeologists discovered the brick foundations of an early Romanesque church, a cemetery and the foundations of monastery cells on the Hagenfeld. One document proving the early existence of the monastery is the deed of gift of King Ludwig IV the Child from 909 A.D. The Trunseo monastery is given to Bishop Pilgrim of Salzburg and a Count Aribo for life with all its possessions and rights.
After the destruction of the monastery by the Hungarians, the Benedictines return. Not to the village of Altmünster, but to the neighbouring village of Traunkirchen. The first women's monastery in Upper Austria was founded here around 1020. When the Traunkirchen monastery was founded, the Traunsee Abbey in Altmünster must still have been in memory. For there are documents that refer to its land ownership.
The village has flourished since the Middle Ages and is closely linked to Traunkirchen. It lies on the transport route for salt, which is mined in Hallstatt and other places. It is also a supplier of firewood, which is used to extract salt and fire the brewing pans in the salt works, as well as wood for the construction of transport ships and salt barrels. The salt trade also brought Altmünster considerable prosperity.
In the middle of the 19th century, the beginning of the industrial revolution with new transport options, such as the railway, led to the end of the salt trade. During this time, the towns were increasingly forgotten. However, from the middle of the 19th century, tourism begins to boom, starting in Bad Ischl. The entire Salzkammergut benefited from the imperial health resort. The nobility and wealthy citizens had castles and summer villas built on the lakes of the Salzkammergut, such as the Traunsee and Ebenzweier castles in Altmünster. Hotels and guesthouses sprang up like mushrooms. The charming villages, the beautiful lakeshore and the picturesque mountain scenery make Lake Traunsee one of the most popular bathing and holiday resorts in the Salzkammergut, both then and now.
