The market town of Maria Saal is built, in the truest sense of the word, on historical ground. With every step they take, visitors can discover testimonies in stone to Carinthia’s storied history.
The Carinthia Outdoor Museum in Maria Saal is actually the oldest of its kind in Austria. On display here are rural homes and farms brought here from different parts of the country, providing fascinating insights into life and work of former times.
When, in 590 A.D., the Slavs began to settle Carinthia as well as parts of the modern Austrian provinces of Styria and Salzburg, the community of Karnburg – located within today’s Maria Saal – became a seat of governance (“Curtis Carantana”) for their princes. Karnburg later became the capital of the Duchy of Carinthia, while Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia established an imperial palace here. The stone Duke’s Chair on the Zollfeld – which still stands for visitors to see – once played an important role in ducal inaugurations.
Maria Saal is an imposing abbey church and pilgrimage site. Along with the house of worship in Karnburg, it is one of the earliest churches to be founded in Carinthia, its roots going back to the 8th century when the Salzburg bishopric sent bishop Modestus to minister to the Karantanien. It acquired its late-Gothic form in the early to mid-15th century, when it was rebuilt, along with the surrounding abbey buildings, into a fortress church, later providing the local populace with protection from Turkish incursions. During renovations after a devastating fire in 1669, the church acquired its current appearance. At the same time, the “Maria Saalerin”, which is Carinthia’s biggest church bell, was cast for the north tower and consecrated in 1688.
Kärntner Freilichtmuseum Maria Saal
Domplatz 3
9063 Maria Saal
Tel: +43 4223 2812
office.landw-museum@ktn.gv.at
May to October