Wagrain, Austria

Long time no see... I wasn't intending on taking this long to update again but somehow it just happened. Well, there *was* quite a lot going on in June and I've been preoccupied with other things. I'll try to squeeze in an update now before heading off to my aikido class.

This card is from a swap earlier this year. Marco was offering the new Austrian Europa stamp and I just couldn't resist. Marco accidentally sent me a cover with the stamp first but kindly offered to send a postcard as well as that's what we'd agreed on. He did do a lot of swaps for the stamp, though! Anyway.. I was getting frustrated with the cover I sent to him - it was returned to me TWICE by the Royal Mail despite the postage actually being too much! It did finally reach Austria, but I was getting a little annoyed. The same happened shortly afterwards with a letter I sent to dad's sister. I wonder if it happened because of the way I write (or used to, I've changed it a little since then) the return address on the back of the envelope? Oh, the joys of sorting machines. :P ...although I find it a bit strange that the postman didn't notice anything! Or maybe he did but just doesn't care...

Wagrain is a market town in the St. Johann im Pongau District in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It is located in a high valley stretching from the Salzach at Sankt Johann in the west to the Enns river in the east. The municipality includes the Katastralgemeinden Hof, Hofmarkt, Schwaighof and Vorderkleinarl. The population is about 3,020.

The settlement of Wakrein in the Archbishopric of Salzburg was first mentioned in a 1243 deed. Original a mining area, Wagrain in the early 18th century was a centre of Crypto-protestantism within the Catholic country. About 1732/33 Prince-Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian had the Protestant population expelled; most were received by King Frederick William I of Prussia and re-settled the East Prussian province, which had been devastated by the plague.

Today Wagrain mainly depends on tourism. It is nestled in the valley of the Ski Amadé resorts, one of the largest ski resort networks in Europe. In the summer the ski lifts transport bikers to the mountains for the summer mountain biking season.

Wagrain is the original home of Atomic Skis, which was founded in 1955 by Alois Rohrmoser, who bought a wheelwright shop, and expanded its production to include winter sports equipment, such as skis and sleds, using local timber resources and a crew of four craftsmen.