Village hike Fieberbrunn

Johannes von Nepomuk was one of the most popular saints in the 18th Century and was, among other things, the patron saint of water hazards. The huge sudden “water gushes” and damages, that frequently occurred, especially in the year 1759 had prompted Simon Millinger and other founders, to establish this chapel in honour of the saint Johannes von Nepomuk. In 1787 the chapel was closed by the state and shortly after, it was flushed out by flood waters, sweeping half away. Only three walls remained standing. And so Simon Millinger got back to work! The Johannes Kapelle is one of the most important Rococo chapels in Tyrol in terms of both its architectural design and its artistic furnishings (frescoes by the prominent Rococo painter Matthäus Günther). The towerless chapel consists of a two-aisled long house with a saddle roof and a curved façade gable. The double-leaf wooden doors lead you to the interior, which is surprising due to its brightness. Stucco moldings, stucco decorations and fresco tiles display the greatest artistic decoration of the chapel - a large nave fresco, which depicts the saint Johannes von Nepomuk in heaven.
(Chronicle: Fieberbrunn – Geschichte einer Tiroler Marktgemeinde)

The Salzburg-Tyrol Railway is the only East-West railway link, which runs entirely on Austrian territory. The fact, that there is no motorway connection between the federal states of Salzburg and Tyrol on the Austrian territory, gave the stretch great importance. It is known as the "Gisela railway” (after the second daughter of Kaiser Franz Joseph I. and his wife Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, Archduchess Gisela Louise Marie of Austria). The Salzburg-Tyrol railway was constructed from 1873 to 1875 and goes from Salzburg via Bischofshofen, Zell am See, Hochfilzen, Fieberbrunn, St. Johann in Tirol and Kitzbühel to Wörgl. In 1915 the Salzburg-Tyrol railway was extended to a double-track. In 1925, the electrification of the stretch began, which was completed in 1930. Towards the end of the Second World War, the Salzburg-Tyrol railway line was the target of Allied bombings due to its strategic importance. Today, the stretch is especially relevant in regional transport, as part of the connection from Innsbruck to Klagenfurt and Graz.

The prerequisites for mining at that time were geological conditions. Fieberbrunn lies in the border area of the Limestone Alps up to the Greywacke zone. The mining of iron was of economic importance for a long time. The most important mines “Gebra” and “Lannern” were located below the Großen Gebras (2,057m). The Fieberbrunn lodge supplied the cast iron for the Pillersee steel, which was produced there and was highly regarded! The life of the miners was burdensome and dangerous! Separated into different groups (keepers, ore cutters, pit keepers, ...), it was then exactly determined, who had to work for how long. An incident in the year 1875, shows how dangerous the miner's life could be: In this year, iron was still being mined and there was room for up to 80 miners in the houses near the mine.

It was Monday 19th December 1875, when 54 miners made their usual way through the Pletzergraben to their workplace. Suddenly the “sleeping lioness” (=avalanche) was awoken and buried half of the men. Miraculously, many of the men were able to free themselves, the others were pulled out of the snow by their comrades. They continued on their way, in order to reach the miner's house before noon. Among them was the 17 year-old, Jodok Stöckl. It was extremely difficult for him to recover and it seemed like he wouldn't make it to Christmas Eve. Snowstorms set in and everyone was at their wit's end about how to take the boy to the town's doctor. Two miners declared their willingness, to take the young man to the valley despite a further danger of avalanches. Jakob’s fever provoked imaginative outbursts and fears of death at the same time. Located halfway, there is still a place in Pletzergraben today, that people call “God”! Jodok Stöckl was saved thanks to the bravery of his mining comrades in the most adverse conditions!

In mining, gunpowder was also required. With the use of black powder the tedious shredding work was relieved or at least sped up. Through the generations the Edenhauser family dealt with this job. Their powder-making mill was located in the village of Weißach. Today, the farm name “Pulvermacher” (powder makers) still exists in the Millinger family. (Chronicle: Fieberbrunn - Geschichte einer Tiroler Marktgemeinde u. Wolfgang Schwaige)

Today, a forest road along the Pletzerbach makes this hiking and cycling area accessible up until the “Herrgott bridge” and further into the valley. The summits of the Gebra and Karstein are among the most popular tours and provide an insight into the mining industry at that time. The St. Daniel chapel below the Gebra was originally a Baroque miner's chapel in the former mining area of Fieberbrunn. In 1975 the old, dilapidated chapel was rebuilt as a memorial. Once every summer, a mountain mass is held at the chapel.

In 1446, the church at the Fieberbrunnen became a new central point, from which the further development of the village and its own community began. On 17th July 1446, the consecration of the house of God in honour of the Saints Primus and Felician took place. Renovations to the exterior of the church in the summer of 1978, showed that the church was built from scratch in 1689.

From here you have a quite spectacular view of the village centre. The Wildseeloder is in the background, the Buchensteinwand in front of it, and immediately along the footpath there are two significant Fieberbrunn highlights: the Fieberbrunn fountain and the statue of a miner!

Built in 1995 by the market town of Fieberbrunn, in commemoration of the mining of iron, lead, copper and dyes from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century, as well as the magnetite mining in our time. (Sculptor: Horst Mayr Hochfilzen)