The shipbuilders

The shipyards of the Salzkammergut

In the Kammergut, the majority were independent entrepreneurs who sold their products directly to the purchasers and only had to adhere to the regulations of the wholesale skid trading office in Gmunden with regard to the price. The sales prices for the barges were officially fixed.

The lifespan of even solidly built barges rarely exceeded four or five years. During this time they had to be thoroughly repaired several times. In 1688, apart from Hallstatt, Weißenbach and Gosau, there were 49 shipbuilders in the district of Ischl, 64 at the Gmundner See, 57 in the area around St. Wolfgang, 13 at Abersee.

The main buyers of the salt pellets produced by the shipwrights were the manufacturers, who usually used their own ships to transport the pellets, i.e. wooden vessels with pressed salt hammered into them.

The salt ships made the journey from Gmunden to the loading point and back three to four times or more before they became unfit to sail, if they did not have an accident earlier. The barges that had been taken out of service but were still usable for lesser purposes were called Hingeberinnen, because the builders sold or gave them away, if possible, after they had been unloaded on their last journey at the loading sites or in Gmunden.

The private sale of barges was subject to several restrictions. New barges could not be sold at all after their contents had been emptied. Despite all the threats of punishment, the black market flourished not only with the givers but also with new barges - because the manufacturers, the salt traders, made a tidy profit.