The Traun Riders

It is indescribably loud where the masses of water plunge into the depths of the Traunfall. But they are a well-coordinated group, a team, as one would say today. The Fall Farmers need no words. What is truly necessary is inner calm, ensuring the well-being of the horses and preventing any harm to them.

From the Edict of Emperor Maximilian I onwards, all boats (Zillen) used in salt transport had to be returned to their places of origin through horse counter-drives. These counter-drives could be auctioned off to farmers through a bidding process.

The number of horses needed to pull a boat formed the "Traunzug" or simply "Zug." The first horse carried the "Naureiter" (front rider), and the last one, the "Afterreiter" (rear rider). The "Stangl- or Vorreiter" was an additional man not connected to the towing rope. With a measuring rod called the "Schalt," he measured the water depth when the horses had to wade through tributaries or cross to the other side.

The Traun farmers, with four to five of their heavy horses, pulled two connected boats from Zizlau on the Danube back to Stadl. From Stadl, the Traun horses were returned to Zizlau with the "Rossplätte," which had low side walls to allow the horses to jump in more easily.

From Stadl, Roitham farmers led the counter-drives through the Traunfall channel to Gmunden. Because they possessed special knowledge about the conditions at Traunfall, they were also called "Fall Farmers." Through the navigable channel with a gradient of up to 6.5%, two counter-drives, or ten to twelve horses, were harnessed together, each pulling only one boat. Additionally, two more horses were ridden on this stretch by the so-called "Mittelreiter" (middle riders). The journey from Stadl to Gmunden usually took about nine hours and started at three in the morning. The "Fallzug" was the undisputed privilege of the farmers residing there. They knew that the Salt Office relied on them and took advantage of it. At times, oats were provided to them if there was not enough in the region, and the imperial property was not subject to tolls, customs, or other fees.

Across Lake Traunsee, the Gmunden Urfahrmeister had his servants row the salt boats, but from Ebensee onwards, counter-drives were again prevalent. The return transport to Hallstatt was taken care of by the Ebensee horse farmers. They brought the ships in one day to Ischl, in two days to Hallstatt, overcoming the "Wilde Lauffen" with a winch on this stretch. Already in the 16th century, the horse farmers had contracts regulating their payment, depending on the oat prices.

As the private counter-drive became increasingly expensive, in 1806, the state terminated the contracts with the private Fall and Traun farmers and began conducting the counter-drives on its own. For this purpose, the Salt Upper Office established stables in Stadl-Paura in 1807 for 168 horses for the now 24 state counter-drives. The then Traunzug directorate, later the Federal Stallion Stable Office, is now the Stadl-Paura Horse Center. However, in 1824, the state ended the state-owned salt shipping and thus the counter-drives