Lungau

Snapshot

Lungau is the district that Salzburg State keeps to itself. One hundred kilometres from the capital, at altitudes where most of the settlements sit above 1,000 m, it is Austria’s remotest inhabited plateau. A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Roman milestone roads, medieval castles, and a folk tradition involving a four-metre-tall giant carried through village streets make it the most culturally compact and least-visited corner of the state.

The Story

The Lungau plateau sits at the southeastern tip of Salzburg State, enclosed by the Radstädter Tauern to the north, the Schladminger Tauern to the northeast, and the Nockberge range to the south where it meets Carinthia. The upper Mur and Taurach rivers drain the basin and its nine side valleys. This topography has always made Lungau self-contained: difficult to reach, easy to hold, shaped by its own rhythms.

Humans have been here for at least 15,000 years, with late glacial flint tools documented near the Mauterndorf River and the Weisskirchen rock shelter. The Amber Road passed through the plateau, linking Baltic amber deposits to the Roman port of Aquileia; Roman engineers paved sections of the route and installed milestones that survive today at the Radstädter Tauern Pass. Six third-century stones, cut from local marble, mark the north face; another five appear on the southern descent. One bears the name of Emperor Septimius Severus, dated to 201 AD. The pass was known as “In Alpe” in the Roman itineraries, the same site that is today the ski resort of Obertauern.

The medieval period left two durable landmarks. Burg Mauterndorf, built on a Roman foundation, served the archbishops of Salzburg as a toll station on the pass road and later as a summer residence; it is among the best-preserved fortified structures in the state. Schloss Moosham, the former seat of the district court, achieved notoriety as a location of witch trials in the 17th and 18th centuries; it remains largely intact and is still privately owned.

The Samson procession gives Lungau its most visible folk identity. In summer, communities across the district carry a wooden giant figure, sometimes four metres tall, through the streets as part of Catholic feast-day celebrations. The tradition was inscribed on the Austrian national list of Intangible Cultural Heritage and is the defining expression of a Lungau identity that has remained relatively unchanged by outside influence.

The UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (Salzburger Lungau und Kärntner Nockberge), spanning roughly 48,893 ha of the district, codifies what residents and visitors already recognise: that this plateau supports a quality of ecological integrity and traditional land use that is rare in Central Europe. Sixty alpine lakes, extensive bog systems, and avalanche-prone slopes kept development low; the population has not grown since the mining closures of the 1880s.

Planning

Lungau is a destination for those making a deliberate choice. Tamsweg, the district capital, is the practical base; St. Michael im Lungau is the largest municipality at approximately 3,500 residents. The Radstädter Tauern Pass road connects the district northward to Pongau and on to Salzburg; the drive from Salzburg takes approximately 90 minutes to two hours depending on conditions. Obertauern, at the top of the pass, is the district’s principal ski resort and arguably better known than Lungau itself among winter visitors. In summer, the UNESCO management routes offer walking itineraries with certified Biosphere Park guides; the Samson procession calendar varies by village and feast day. Burg Mauterndorf and Schloss Moosham are both open to the public and can be combined in a single day’s loop.