Pongau is Salzburg State's most Alpine-historic district. People have been digging into its valleys since the Bronze Age, first for copper, then centuries later for salt and iron. Today the same territory is Austria's largest ski network, but beneath the lifts sits an extraordinary layering of Celtic trade routes, Neolithic settlement evidence, a wartime POW camp, and some of the most dramatic gorge scenery in the Eastern Alps.
The Story
The upper Salzach valley that defines Pongau has been inhabited since at least 6000 BC, when Neolithic camps appeared on the Bischofshofen plateau. By around 1800 BC, Bronze-Age miners were extracting copper from sites including Mitterberg, eventually reaching depths of 200 m, feeding a trade network that stretched to the Danube. The town of St. Johann im Pongau, first recorded in a 1074 deed, grew from these prehistoric foundations into a medieval market hub and is today the administrative capital of the district.
The 1855 fire that destroyed most of St. Johann's wooden core left a defining mark: the subsequent Neo-Gothic parish church, the Pongauer Dom, was completed by 1861 and its twin spires have anchored the valley skyline ever since. It is entered free of charge and is considered among the finest rural church buildings in the state.
Pongau also holds one of the more difficult chapters in the region's 20th-century history. Stalag XVIII-C, a multi-national POW camp that held more than 10,000 men from France, Britain, Serbia, Poland and the United States, operated near St. Johann from 1940 until liberation on 8 May 1945. A modest museum and memorial mark the site; entry is minimal and the site is open for respectful visits.
The natural landscape beyond the valley towns is extraordinary. The Eisriesenwelt near Werfen, described as the world's largest accessible ice cave, draws visitors into a frozen interior of remarkable scale. The Liechtensteinklamm gorge, about four kilometres long with walls reaching 300 m, has been accessible via walkways since 1875. The Bad Gastein spa valley in the district's south has a separate character entirely: a 19th-century resort town set dramatically in a high alpine gorge, with a waterfall running through the town centre and a thermal spa tradition that predates modern tourism by several centuries.
Planning
St. Johann im Pongau is 53 km from Salzburg, roughly 50-60 minutes by train with frequent daily connections. Free ski buses link the main resort villages in winter. The Ski Amadé network is vast; a single day pass covers 760 km of pistes. For summer visitors, combine the Eisriesenwelt (May-October, timed-entry guided tours) with the Liechtensteinklamm gorge as a half-day itinerary. Bad Gastein warrants a separate overnight. The Stalag XVIII-C memorial is a low-key but meaningful stop near the railway station. The Arthurstollen show mine in St. Johann offers an underground alternative to Werfen's ice cave.