Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer#

Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer, province of Salzburg, market town in the district of Zell am See, alt. 744 m, pop. 12,604, area 118.67 km2, bi-seasonal tourist resort (290,780 overnight stays in 1992) near the confluence of the Urslau and Saalach rivers, Pinzgau Region. - District Court, Wallner-Kaserne barracks, regional health and social insurance agency, builder´s yard of the regional management for torrent and avalanche control, forestry enterprise of the Austrian Federal Forests AG, family counselling, social care centre, day-care centre of the Lebenshilfe charity, Ritzensee hospital-sanatorium (private), Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the rehabilitation of internal diseases, Ritzensee mud bath, advanced-level commercial school, federal boarding school, adult education centre, at Ritzenschloss Palace, museum with largest collection of Christmas cribs and nativity scenes in Austria, centre of contemporary music, Saalfelden jazzfestival, banqueting hall (800 seats), 2 golf courses, summer toboggan run, water treatment works, in the vicinity, Diessbach storage power station (26 Mw, built jointly with the municipality of Weissbach bei Lofer in 1964 and 1967), about 68 % of the 4,522 inhabitants in gainful employment (1991) work in the service sector: mainly personal, social and public services, trade (furniture, wholesale markets); packaging industry, textile industry and timber industry, portal construction and steel construction, asphalt processing plant, commercial stone-crushing plant. - First documented mention around 790; neo-Romanesque deanery parish church (reconstruction 1861) with western tower, Gothic crypt, interior largely dates back to 1859-1869 (late Gothic winged altar, not accessible to the public); Lichtenberg Palace (rebuilt around 1580, after 1872 redecorated in Romanticist style); Farmach Palace (rebuilt during the 16th  century, now old people´s home); Dorfheim Palace (reconstruction 1601); Ritzenschloss Palace; nearby, Lake Ritzensee.

Literature#