Blog. Hall tells stories – Part III
Today we’re going for a walk from the Lower Town Square to the Schweighoferstiege and on to Stiftsplatz, where a real queen is waiting for us. Let’s go!
Schergentorgasse connects the Unterer Stadtplatz to the east with Salzburgerstraße and the main road. ‘Schergen’ were the executioner’s assistants, and the town of Hall – which was also the seat of the district and municipal courts – had executioners, and what a lot of them there were! Ottmar Krieger, for example, was executioner in Hall from 1645 to 1671 and had to carry out a death sentence on average four times a year. He became famous above all for the beheading of Chancellor Wilhelm Biener in 1651. When you consider that the death penalty was only abolished in many European countries in the 1960s, it still sends shivers down your spine today! It wasn’t that long ago.
The Schergentor gate on the Lower Town Square
Where an underpass now leads into the old city moat, the Schergentor gate of the same name once spanned what is now the spacious approach to the Unterer Stadtplatz, forming part of the city walls to the south of the town. The executioner’s assistants lived in the alley ‘around the corner’, whilst the executioner himself resided in the ‘Gritschenwinkel’ (now Krippgasse West, Upper Old Town). ‘Gritsch’ is a term for marshland or mudflats, so it certainly does not suggest the finest neighbourhood. Even though the executioner was well paid and received his master’s certificate upon successfully completing an apprenticeship, he was socially ostracised: he lived on the outskirts of the town, and his children were not permitted to learn a conventional trade. He was usually buried in an inconspicuous spot, as he was regarded as dishonourable.
Eerie remnants
The post office building, erected in 1912, now stands on the site of the former executioner’s house. Place names such as the Köpflplatzl near the Thömlschlössl or Galgenfeldstraße in the Schönegg district still serve as a reminder of the sites of execution. At that time, the area was uninhabited, situated outside the eastern city wall.
Back to Schergentorgasse: Walking past Café Post – where, hopefully, one will soon be able to enjoy wonderful coffee and read the newspaper in the finest of atmospheres once more – the ‘entrance’ to the Schweighoferstiege opens up on the north side, leading on to the former Bachgasse, now Eugenstraße, and to Stiftsplatz.
A traditional pub: the Bretze
Let’s hope that one of the city’s most traditional inns, the Bretze – originally known as the ‘Brötz’, after the name of one of the first families to run it – will also be able to reopen its doors soon. There was a practical reason why inns usually had their dining rooms on the upper floor: the upper floors were dry, brighter and generally safer. The artists’ rooms are still preserved today, where, in a cosy setting over food and drink, one can admire works of art by renowned figures such as Franz von Defregger, Albin Egger-Lienz, Artur Nikodem and others. This outstanding collection is thanks to the ‘Einsiedlern’, a dining circle in Hall around 1900, who asked well-known painters for donations of paintings and received them – albeit sometimes only after some persuasion. Canvas and paints were provided free of charge, as were often board and lodging.
Distinguished guests at the Bretze Inn
It is said that none other than Franz von Defregger stayed in Hall for a considerable time and was lodged at Rainegg Castle in the old town. In this way, the bare walls of the long-established inn gradually filled up. Even the wood-carved coat of arms of the Einsiedler family (a monk with a cat on his back) still hangs today in one of the artists’ rooms. Wilhelm Busch, too, has ‘immortalised’ himself with a poem in the Bretze, which is particularly apt in times like these:
Although the world, so to speak,
is sometimes a little flawed,
it is unlikely to be done away with
in the coming days.
As long as our hearts and eyes remain open,
to take delight in beauty
as long as that is the case, we may hope with joy
that the world, too, will remain.
The Schweighofer Stairs
The Schweighoferstiege still bears the name of an old family of millers. From the former Bachgasse (now Eugenstraße), the town stream was channelled at this point down a steep slope into a millwheel. The steep gradient of the Hall alluvial fan was ideal for this purpose. The milling of grain, which was so vital to life, made the millers’ guild one of the most important guilds of all. From the mid-15th century onwards, numerous guilds were represented in the flourishing trading town of Hall.
Even today, some street names serve as a reminder of this (Schmiedgasse, Schlossergasse, Gerbergasse, Fassergasse). Above all, however, the water from the mountains was vital for supplying Hall’s fountains – and thus the people – with fresh water. It also served to flush away all the rubbish and waste that was dumped into the wooden channels or gutters, eventually carrying it into the River Inn. No wonder there were repeated outbreaks of diseases and epidemics! Just imagine how awful the smell must have been in the town – it’s almost impossible to picture!
The Miracle of the Donkey Mill
“The Miracle of the Donkey Mill” tells the story of a mill owner’s three-year-old daughter, who is playing at the entrance to Bachgasse. Unfortunately, a manhole cover over the stream had come loose and the child was swept away by the current in the channel, along the alley, down the steep slope to the millwheel and on to the Lower Town Square. It was only there that the girl could be rescued: soaking wet, deathly pale and, it is said, smelly, but miraculously unharmed.
Of Urine Barrels and Wild Women
Having arrived at No. 11 Eugenstraße, we find ourselves in front of the former ‘Kuttenwirt’, an inn that had previously served as a bakery for many years. In the entrance hall there was a public urinal (!). The guests’ urine was collected there in barrels. The so-called ‘Fetzweiber’ – mostly single women – would regularly take the barrels by cart to the sal ammoniac factory on the outskirts of town to earn a few Kreuzer (19th century). On their way past the parish church, the following story is said to have taken place:
One snowy winter’s day, as the siblings Theresa and Hans – known as Fetzgrattl-Thres and Fetz-Hans – were on their way to the factory with their full barrels, a couple of urchins lay in wait for them by the church tower. As the siblings passed the parish church, the boys threw snowballs from the church tower down into the full barrels, causing the urine to splash everywhere! Hans and Theresa shouted and swore loudly, which only amused the boys all the more.
The Haller tartlet
A plaque on House No. 4 in Eugenstraße still commemorates a well-known Hall dessert which, centuries ago, delighted the palates of many a prominent guest in Hall: the Hall tartlet. It is said that Sigmund the Rich (15th century) and his court enjoyed the Hall tartlet in abundance. This popular Hall speciality was still being conjured up by the Fuchs family in the 19th century, based on a recipe passed down orally. Not far from the princely residence in Hall, diagonally opposite the Fürstenhaus, the town’s cooks baked this novel pastry made from sugar, almonds, eggs and precious spices. Spices from distant lands were hard to come by and expensive. Today, it is remarkable that these ‘Gewürztaler’ – which taste of fine gingerbread – contained no flour. Gluten-free biscuits, then, that melt in the mouth!
Haller tartlets reloaded
When we talk about a ‘town baker’, we should picture a confectioner or pastry chef from days gone by, who, in addition to sweet pastries and cakes, also conjured up traditional loaves for secular and religious, public and private celebrations. Incidentally, the Haller Törtchen has been available again for a few years now: At Hall’s fine patisserie, Weiler, on the Oberer Stadtplatz, this sweet treat is available to eat straight away or as a gift (optionally in specially designed packaging featuring photographs of Heinz Weiler’s ‘Hall Colour Swarm’). A delicious tradition and a sweet gift idea all in one!
Stiftsplatz
There are so many stories to tell about the Baroque, eastern corner of the Old Town! In the centre of the square, you can see Magdalena of Austria high up on the fountain column. Rudolf Reinhart, a 20th-century resident of Hall (!) and a prominent metal sculptor, has also left his mark here: the copper-chiselled sculpture dates from 1951–52. It is a fitting tribute to a true queen! Archduchess Magdalena was one of the 12 daughters of Anna Jagiello of Bohemia and Hungary and Emperor Ferdinand I. The couple had a total of 15 children. Archduchess Magdalena, together with two of her sisters, Helena and Margaretha, founded the Haller Ladies’ Convent in 1571. Deeply devout and living according to the vows of chastity and obedience to the Mother Superior, they led a very secluded life together with other ‘noble young ladies’, much like that in a convent.
The Haller Ladies’ Convent as a source of education and culture
As the founders were wealthy, their estates extended in part as far as Bruck Castle in Lienz. At the ladies’ instigation, a Jesuit college was founded in the immediate vicinity (now the district court) to provide spiritual guidance for the people of Hall. Education was not neglected either. Even today, Hall’s oldest school, the primary school on Stiftsplatz, serves as a reminder of this: boys from middle-class families were taught here by Jesuit priests. Cultural life in the town also flourished: Magdalena herself played three piano-like instruments and was a passionate musician. People sang, played music and composed – and all to the highest standard!
The Strange Woman
Centuries later, the following story is said to have taken place:
The child of the old sexton and his wife, a girl of about five, had fallen ill and was confined to bed. One day, when her mother returned home from running errands, she found the front door unlocked and rushed, alarmed, to the sick child’s bedside. The girl cheerfully told her mother that just moments earlier a stranger, a woman dressed in a very peculiar manner, had kept her company, played with her and even prayed a little with her. The mother found this hard to believe, but the child described the woman’s black clothes and her pleasant appearance very clearly. When Monsignor Josef Engel showed the girl a picture of the benefactress, Magdalena, the little girl immediately exclaimed: ‘Yes, that’s the woman who came and played with me!’
The White Doves of Hall
Since 1912, the ‘White Doves’ have been the mistresses of the former Sparberegg Castle, where the first Haller Guldiner coins were minted in the 15th century, and where, later on, the ladies led by Magdalena took up residence. The Order of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus was founded by the Frenchwoman Marie de Jesus Deluil-Martiny. There are now only six branches of the convent left worldwide, the only one in Austria being in Hall’s old town. The sisters live in strict seclusion and only leave the convent building in an emergency, for a doctor’s appointment, for example. Time and again, people come to the gate to donate food. The handover of these gifts takes place at the gate’s latch. A curious feature of Hall: the sisters live more or less from hand to mouth.
The monastery’s protégé
Many myths surround the nunnery. Despite the turmoil of the 20th-century wars, the buildings and their inhabitants were spared. The nuns attribute this to the ‘Hausväterli’ – or ‘Swiss Christ Child’ – as their protector: a wooden carving of the infant Jesus, approximately 30 cm tall, which was washed ashore at Haller Innrechen in the 17th century. The Engadine carving, which was part of a Mother-and-Child or ‘Anna Selbdritt’ sculpture, is still carried in a procession through the convent every 28 September as a token of gratitude for its protective role. A woman’s hand can be seen on the figure’s backside. It is thought that the Christ Child was violently severed and thrown into the river during the Reformation.
The Swiss Christ Child as a protector in times of need
The protective role of the Swiss Christ Child is particularly well illustrated in the following story:
When the Christ Child was still on display for public veneration in the collegiate church, numerous supplicants came and implored it for help. On one occasion, the relatives of a man addicted to gambling prayed for his conversion. At that very moment, the man was once again gambling with his mates. He was drinking and swearing furiously, as he was having little luck with his playing cards. When the cards were dealt again, the most important ones were suddenly missing: the Ace of Diamonds, the King of Hearts and the Seven of Spades. The game had to be stopped. It was only later that the playing cards were discovered in the hands of the helpful Christkindl! The man saw this as a sign from above and was cured of his gambling addiction for good.
If you’d like to read more stories about Hall and the surrounding area, we recommend the book *Geheimnisvolles Hall* by Christine Zucchelli.