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Sehenswertes/Übersicht |
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Salzburg's mountain cleaners |
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| An occupation that lets you "climb to the top": rock cleaner, a unique occupation |
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A unique occupation has been available to men in the city of Salzburg since the 17th century - working as a "rock cleaner."
This vocation originated after a tragic rock slide during the night of July 16, 1669, when gigantic pieces of rock (weighing over 2000 tons) broke loose from the walls of the Mönchsberg and smashed two churches and 13 burgher houses in the "Gstättengasse" - one of Salzburg's oldest districts. A total of 230 people lost their lives during this terrible catastrophe.
It was subsequently established that the catastrophe was caused by the excessive number of cellars, vaults and rooms hollowed out of the mountain, causing the overhanging rock masses to give way. Porous rock, ice, water, heat and cold did their share.
The rock cleaner occupation has endured since that fateful July 16, 1669. After the snow melts, men are lowered down on ropes from the Mönchsberg, the Kapuzinerberg and the Festungsberg as far as 140 m. They tap on the rock walls with hammers to break away any loose rock to prevent a similar catastrophe from happening again. The first rock cleaners, Hauser, Brandauer and Jager, enjoyed a reputation as daring heroes. Their names have survived to this day since it became a custom to call subsequent rock cleaners by these names.
A marble plaque on the outer wall of the Ursuline Church in Gstättengasse commemorates the tragic accident occurring July 16, 1669.
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