A hot tip: Discover cultural treasures!
Jun 30th, 2009 by Christine Aberger
Zell am See-Kaprun is brimming with cultural treasures. Anyone who has already been here will readily confirm this. But the region has more hidden facets. Maybe it is precisely because there are so many great sights that we tend not to see the forest for the trees. Have you ever, for instance, paid attention to the chapel in the market square of Zell? It was erected around the year of 1770 to honour St. Nepomuk, national saint of the Czech Republic and protector against floods.
And since you are already in the market square, why don’t you pay a visit to Vogtturm tower? It was built before the year of 1,000 and thus is the oldest building of Zell am See. It is also called Kastnerturm tower, because – as history books state – Johann Kastner bought it in 1866. Today it houses more than 2,500 historical exhibits such as traditional costumes, furniture, and tools.
Just a few minutes on foot away, in the immediate vicinity of the lakeside terraces of the Grand Hotel, there is another cultural pearl. The so-called ‘Austria Fountain’ was designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, one of the most influential Austrian artists of the 20th century. The nine columns of the fountain represent Austria’s nine provinces with their height corresponding to the number of inhabitants. Check it out on your next stroll through town!
