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Silver, Speik, and Sumpters
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The late Middle Ages in the Murtal region.
The 14th century.
When someone explores the Alps in the Middle Ages
one enters a world of rare minerals,
of fragrant Alpine herbs and ancient legends.
In the 13th century, the 'Berggschroa', mountain's call, breaks out
in the side valleys of the Triebener Tauern.
The search for rare ores attracts people from far and wide to the region.
Miners, traders, charcoal burners, and vagabonds receive the news.
For in the hearts of the mountains lies the silver
the greatest treasure of Styria.
Alongside the pumpkin seed oil, of course.
Silver was the most widespread form of currency in the 13th and 14th centuries.
And mining attracted job seekers from all over.
Greetings, lad! I've heard that anyone could get a job in your silver mine.
Here we go with another vagabond.
Pardon me?
Good Day! Have you ever worked in a mine before?
No, but I've done plenty of things already!
Good - because down there, you need to do "plenty".
But you can apprentice with me.
What, you work down there too?
Of course, my whole family works for the mine.
And now I bring them food and other things.
Then can you take me with you?
Vagabonds, tramps, and itinerant workers — also called 'Sandler'
could become part of this mining community alongside the local families.
I can recommend you to the mine master
if you promise not to cause any trouble.
Deal!
Start packing the food then. But woe betide if anything is missing.
There, you'll need these.
Thanks!
Among other tasks, children were used for errands in the mine.
In doing so, they learned the trade.
He's done plenty already, he says
So, come on now, let's go!
As can be seen at the borders of present-day Austria,
the Murtal lies at the eastern foothills of the Alps.
The villages connected by valley routes, were already important
transshipment and trading posts in the Middle Ages
through which the silver flowed into the Habsburg lands as Zeiringer Pfennig.
In the tunnels, strict order prevailed
overseen by a so-called 'Hutmann' (hat man).
Even though he probably didn't wear that Hat all day.
God protect you!
I would like to help you with the silver mining in the mine.
Are you the master?
I am Big Stefan. And we can find use for you indeed!
You are here in the mine of the Admont Abbey.
And I am your Custos Fodine.
I control the shares in mining there.
And from today, these are your mates.
Greetings!
Cheers!
Every second resident of Oberzeiring works in the mine.
In the 13th century, Oberzeiring possessed all the rights of a mining town
At its peak, it was the largest silver mine in Styria.
Especially in the mountains, mining was
considered one of the most lucrative trades.
You're on your way down to your uncle, aren't you?
Then you can take him with you and introduce him in their work group,
So they can teach him the craft. Grab a backpack and don't bump your head!
And at the end of the shift, we'll see how you've performed.
And, um, what about payment?
We're not serfs here.
You'll get paid.
The special thing about the payment that awaited
at the end of the shift was that real money was involved.
Other tasks in agriculture and forestry
were carried out as bonded labor by serfs.
But the miners were not serfs of the nobility,
the heads of families were paid in silver according to the work done.
But only after the work was done.
As long as you're not a member of the guild,
you'll get your daily wage only after your service in the mine.
And where do I live and sleep?
Well, down below, of course!
But just bundle up warmly, because down there the cold is constant.
Cozy is something else
it was 8 degrees Celsius underground in the mine all year round.
The bucket of ore now belongs to the landlord.
Are you joining the bowling today? The entire Societas
is coming together - you should definitely be there again!
The Societas was the union of free and equal partners,
the community of miners.
Since Roman times, efforts have been made to
find ways to transport goods across the Alps.
The 15th century.
With the help of donkeys, mules, and horses, known as sumpters
or pack animals, the mountain paths could be conquered.
With the decline of the Roman roads and the necessity
for goods to be transported in a way suitable for pack animals
we enter the time of the Middle Ages.
And see that the heyday of the pack animal
transport system was in the 12th to 16th centuries.
A "Saum", derived from the Latin "Soma"
expressed the maximum weight a pack animal could carry.
Depending on the animal, this was typically 120 to 160 kilograms.
The goods were transported in columns.
300 to 400 animals a day,
and they always trampled the path firmly,
which made for a solid trail even in winter.
Yet the routes remained perilous,
often requiring 15 hours of travel per day
and involving ascent of up to 1300 meters in altitude.
Between each mountain lodge, there might have been
overhanging rocks or something of the sort,
where one could take shelter, but certainly no safe havens.
Avalanches, freezing, falling,
these were constant dangers for people back then.
Today, from records, we mainly know of three goods
that were transported: Salt, grain, and wine.
These routes were most heavily trafficked
after the snowdrifts cleared in February and March.
After the thaw in May and June,
as well as after the grape harvest in October.
In the Middle Ages, when crossing the Tauern Pass,
one sought refuge
and found it at the Inn at the Elbow,
presumably named after the serpentine road.
Over time, the village of Hohentauern
developed around this inn.
Despite the fact that the annual income of the
muleteer handler barely equaled the value of one of their animals,
Many drunken stories revolve around the merrymaking
of the muleteers after their daily stages.
In the center of Hohentauern, alongside the inn,
a church stood from the 14th century,
which is why people referred to it as
a small church hamlet for a long time.
It can be assumed that not everyone
appreciated the company of the muleteers.
However, it was the duty of the innkeepers to provide them with shelter.
I know you have to provide accommodation for the muleteers,
but it's quite a task you have on your hands now!
Don't wobble so much...
A tavern license is still a tavern license...
That's better already.
I can do better than that.
I thought that maintaining the roads was already enough work for you,
but nearby there's already another serpentine road to fix.
The condition for the tavern license was to
provide accommodation for the muleteers.
Additionally, it's the innkeeper's duty to keep
the roads in a passable condition.
Go on, innkeeper! Another round!
You've had enough to drink already!
Enough? - You can have something to eat.
We don't even know when we've had enough ourselves!
Especially not you! So, what now??
I'll get you some food.
Get us water at least!
At least bring us a jug of water, huh?
Water you can have, yes.
Responsible alcohol consumption was important to the muleteers,
as they wanted to deliver their goods intact and on time.
Make the barrel a little lighter.
The load has become a bit lighter.
Pass the jug here! Do we need to refill, huh?!
The term "Lagel" derives from the Latin "Lagena" - bottle
and is one of the two oval barrels
used for transporting wine on the backs of pack animals.
It is a standardized unit of approximately 60 liters.
You moron!
Those slackers!
Well, do you like that?!
The muleteers were naturally very careful
to maintain the weight measurement
and compensate for any wine losses with water.
In the name of the Lord! That's why the sacramental
wine from the lower Styria is so diluted.
No wonder then, if every little village from here to Salzburg has its own brewery.
Even in Salzburg, they now have this... "Stiegenbräu"!
He deserves it...
Even though nothing can compare to Judenburg's Citizen Brewery.
What kind of beer is that?
Judenburg's Citizen Brewery...
since 1462!
Amen! The priest is right.
Let's have a beer then!
Yes, but a certain amount of wine is also due to us muleteers!
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, the muleteers could insist on a certain share of their wine cargo,
which was granted to them for their work.
The problem was that they often arrived drunk at the recipient's.
Well, if we're entitled to wine, then let's forget about that bloody beer!
Hey! Don't you insult my bloody beer!
Then what is it?!
According to stories, few muleteers boasted of good manners and general piety.
I'm going to bed now.
I certainly hope we'll see each other in church on Sunday, right?!
Yes, of course, I'll come to church, absolutely!
An official document states
that the muleteers preferred to indulge in their drunkenness
at the inn rather than attending mass.
There was a complaint sent from Gurk to Admont.
And then, if the weather permits, we'll use the pickaxe
to create a new ventilation shaft in the tunnel,
so that not everything has to be drawn out through the main entrance.
That's called a ventilation chimney.
I only understand mining jargon...
By the way, each tunnel has a name.
And what's that one called?
That's the Beer Pit!
I like it, then that's mine.
The mines were given their own names for orientation purposes.
Whether beer was brewed or just enjoyed there,
that's a matter of speculation for science.
But perhaps for safety reasons, they already had non-alcoholic beer.
That one sure is pretty huge! There must be a lot of silver inside.
No, it's that big because it's been mined empty for a long time.
I always thought that only little dwarves worked in a mine.
But in there, it seems like everyone has space!
Don't be fooled!
The other day, I met a man from Italy. He looked like a little dwarf.
He must have been looking for a copper violet.
Wherever you found copper violets, you also found copper in the ground.
And the Venetian ‘Mandln’ (manlets), small and mysterious, searched for them.
Their foreign language and secret knowledge
made them the subject of many legends.
Their goal was to find colorful minerals like malachite,
and the rare zeiringite, which they sold for glass coloring in Venice.
With dowsing routes and taste tests, they also found
silver veins - which often occurred together with copper.
We ́ll look for silver veins here
and here we'll see if we find anything.
Oh, there's little Stefan!
That's little Stefan, my mining dog.
Then the uncle must be somewhere around too.
The mining activities were organized into work
groups or family units, always led by an experienced member.
This foreman was responsible for the orderliness and training of new miners.
He supervised the progress of the tunnels and was an important decision-maker.
To avoid constantly hitting their fingers, the miners needed light.
Pine splinters from resinous coniferous trees
had been cheap lamps here since the Stone Age.
The team's task was to recognize ore veins in the rock by their discoloration
and to follow them with hammer and chisel.
Each blow required skill and understanding of the mountain.
Again, again, again! Yes!
- That ́s how you do it! - The energy of the people and the tools
that had to measure themselves against the
hard rock of the Tauern were limited resources.
To successfully mine, one had to be strong
and closely acquainted with the blacksmith.
Because the tunnel could only be deepened by
about one to two centimeters per day,
it was necessary to carefully consider where to place hope for silver.
Perfectly suited for the crawling tunnel were in addition to small built men,
of course, children from the age of ten.
Separating the ore from the barren rock
and carrying out the penetrating water
were among their most amusing tasks.
Because the light of the exit was always distant,
one had to rely on the simplest lighting tools.
Down there in the mine, this splinter is the
last thing shielding you from the darkness.
Make sure you always have one with you - there!
Thank you!
And tuck a bundle into your belt or hang it around your neck.
Be careful - we always dip the tip into pitch.
If you run out of that down there, you can only
call for help or find your way to the fire on your own.
Yes, and you don't have torches or oil lamps down there?
No, we don't have anything like that down there.
When hollowing out the mountain,
one also encountered natural caverns.
Starting from these, digging slowly continued
while precisely following the found silver ore veins,
as progress with hammer and pick was extremely arduous.
Damn it, you stupid thing, light up!
Damn it!
Light up, you stupid thing!
Hey, there, come here!
Ah!
Has it gotten dark?
The stay in the mine lasted up to 5 days.
Despite the unpleasant environment, people also ate and slept down there.
For this, they gathered in groups that corresponded to the work shifts.
These lasted between 7 and 12 hours. Work was done for 260 days a year.
Welcome to a new edition of:
"Baking like back then"
Today, our cooks have come up with something special,
this time there's no light cuisine.
Because a fresh Alpine mountain range is on the menu!
Finest marble and slate from Styria.
Many substances form such a mountain range.
Marble is mainly made of calcite.
Mica schist from muscovite and biotite.
But many other elements form the rock layers.
And they all occur mixed together in the earth.
Where they were pressed together 100 million years ago,
like into a dough
by unimaginable forces.
Oh, and heat was released during that process, phew.
But beware: There's more in the dough!
The galena or lead glance,
consists not only of sulfides,
in it we find the silver.
Of course, only in small quantities.
In very small parts.
But it's what makes the rock of the Alps so special.
And so the mountain range consists mostly of marble,
a tiny portion of galena, with its silver,
and mostly of mica schist.
Hidden beneath many more dense layers of rock.
And forms an enticing mountain range.
That makes one very curious
about its sweet, silvery filling!
When the late medieval muleteers followed the Mur past Knittelfeld,
they soon heard hammer blows coming from the direction of Wasserleith.
What was special about the forge in Wasserleith at that time:
It was the only scythe forge in the whole region.
A tradition for which the iron-rich Styria later became famous.
Along their trails, the muleteers could supply numerous farmers with these scythes.
The rarity of scythes traded before is
evidenced by the toll records from that time.
Their production was reserved only for
the most competent metalworker specialists.
Ah!
The muleteers who crossed the Triebener Tauern
also liked to come to Oberzeiring,
as there was a very active mining industry.
And they brought goods from the south,
fabrics, lighting materials. And from Oberzeiring
they took silver and speik and
transported it further across the Triebener Tauern.
If muleteers and hikers didn't reach a shelter before nightfall,
they had to find a place to sleep in caves and under overhangs.
Oh, thank you! But unfortunately, I only have wine to trade.
No, I don't drink wine.
But I heard that you often visit the inns in the Pölstal area.
Can you tell us a story from the area right away?
Yes, of course, I'll tell you a story!
Look up there on the hill! Until recently, wine flowed there every day!
Be very quiet and look deep into the fire.
Then it's as if the robber knight himself is telling you the story!
Many stories are already circulating in the Murtal about how it happened.
And not every one describes him as a God-fearing man...
I think I was not always the most excellent of my class.
For as the last lord of Offenburg Castle, I was indeed a notorious robber knight.
Plundering and killing was our pleasure.
So that soon a watchtower could be seen on Offenberg.
High enough that no one wandering in the Pölstal
could escape our sharp gaze.
My neighboring rascals from Reifenstein and Sauerbrunn were just the same,
with whom we took them on.
Why did they always have to stroll with their
expensive goods when we were on the lookout.
All too easy prey, these wealthy merchants!
How wonderfully cunning it was for us to communicate with
the most modern signals to our blood brother.
The view from tower to tower reached across the entire Pölstal.
So my fellow murderers quickly sprung into action when
I brandished my weapons to seize rich booty.
One fine evening, I invited the man from Sauerbrunn to join me.
And there we feasted on the rich plundered food,
noble and mannerly, as was our custom.
And with hearty swigs from the free beer barrel,
we boasted ample sportsmanship and team spirit.
And did not shy away from any sin or pleasure.
Finally, we indulged in courtly dances and games.
But as long as God did not take me
we became even more unrestrained.
It was just midnight when three powerful
knocks echoed at the outer castle gate.
But that can't be the holy Feme, can it?
Silence fell over the entire hall, even the most boisterous ones paled.
I am afraid to announce the arrival of
a foreign knight, in black armor, on a dark horse!
He summons, the knight of Offenburg, out to the square.
Thus, the knocks were widely known: The sign of the Holy Feme,
that even the wildest of fellows dreaded.
No lord of Offenburg could I call myself,
if I had lost my composure there.
Each one listened to the hoof beats
and beheld with horror how the punishment in person,
on hellish steed, circled me - Offenburg's hero - and the full moon
illuminated the night's darkness all around.
Then one heard fierce clashing of swords.
With my sharp sword, I wanted to cleave her!
But through the hall windows, they saw how the Feme
tore me from my feet, dragged me down the steep slope of the castle hill,
and disappeared into a fiery chasm at the edge of the forest.
So that the castle hill trembled, the guests fled,
and the stately castle crumbled into a thousand pieces.
The robber knight legend may perhaps trace back to Dietrich von Füllenstein,
lord of the castle in the 13th century,
who repeatedly carried out attacks on the nearby Seckau Abbey.
Apart from the keep, not much is left of Offenburg Castle today.
Even though it was already heavily dilapidated
in the late Middle Ages, it finally burned down in 1590.
Opposite it, in plain view, on the southern side
of the Pölstal, lies the ruin of Reifenstein Castle.
Together, the two castles jointly controlled
the old trade route through the Pölstal.
Together with Sauerbrunn Castle, the castles form
a Murtal Bermuda Triangle in many versions of the legend,
where many trading caravans disappeared.
Although Sauerbrunn Castle in its current form
was actually built on a spring after the Middle Ages.
Hewed climbing trees made of weather-resistant
oak wood were much better than ladders and ropes.
But even these were consistently damp and dangerous.
And be careful, okay? The steps on the climbing tree are really slippery.
And you know the saying: Rumpeldipumpel...
Ah!
And gone is the miner.
At locations with richer ore deposits, the mines were expanded into tall shafts.
These connecting tunnels were spacious
while crawl tunnels were often only one meter high.
Well, and why is there straw lying around here anyway?
You stuff that into your hat or your hood.
It's not that cold, after all.
- Watch out, there's the cave fright! - What, where, who? Ah!
Damned Ouch!
Now you know.
It's there, so you don't bash your skull.
What even is a cave fright?
Quietly and unassuming, the pale-patterned Rhaphidophoridae,
called ‘Höhlenschreck’ (cave fright), creeps through abandoned tunnels.
Despite their intimidating appearance, they are harmless.
These five-centimeter insects cannot fly,
But with their legs, they can both dig and hop through the depths.
Many endangered bat species seek refuge in the mines.
That's why one should never disturb their beauty sleep.
With the active mining operations, mine dogs also entered Zeiring's depths.
They likely took on transport services in the low tunnels.
Wear and tear on skeletal remains indicate the strain on the dogs' backs.
It wasn't until later, in the 16th century, that four-wheeled carts,
known as mine hounds, became established and are still known today.
Perhaps the name developed from the animal mining tradition.
Hop! Yes! Yes!
That humans and dogs shared their snack in the tunnel
has been documented since the late Bronze Age, based on bite marks on pig bones.
It's said that the dogs never saw daylight in their entire lives.
Rest in peace, little Stefan.
Your whole life, you were in the mine and never saw the light of day.
But one time too many, you stole our snack.
Carefully arranged, the remains of several
mine dogs were found in a grave in the mine.
Their loss was mourned.
Stefan! Come here!
But the time of little Stefan had not yet come.
Hey you rascal, stop!
According to old maps, the network of tunnels
extends extensively beneath the town of Oberzeiring.
An effective way to expand the tunnels was by using fire-setting.
For this, a dense ventilation shaft made of wood,
moss, and clay, called a ‘Bewetterung’, had to be installed.
The rock wall was first heated by a leaning stack of wood
and after several hours, it was shock-cooled
with ice water to break the hard rock.
Well, until then! Goodbye!
Tragically, despite all safety measures,
the mine was a dangerous place.
Ouch...
There you are...
I'll get help, hang on! I'll get help!
The loss of a family member could have
catastrophic financial consequences for the survivors.
And what happens now to him and his family?
The community will take care of them.
Accidents of this kind were not uncommon
and the mining community had to find ways to collectively deal with them.
The miners' spiritual care is still provided
for today in their own miners' chapel.
This is indeed a special treasure,
as this church houses an entire cycle of frescoes
from the heyday of Zeiring mining.
In the mid-14th century, the Church of St. Elizabeth
was adorned with frescoes from an Obermurtal workshop.
One of the frescoes depicts Saint Mary Magdalene
as a penitent, covered only by her own hair.
Others depict a youth possessed by the devil,
and three crosses of the apostles.
Held by two angels the sweat cloth of Saint Veronica with the head of Christ.
Christ flanked by apostles and the crucifixion.
All frescoes form a unity,
which illustrates the religiously dominated thinking
and life of medieval people.
Francis of Assisi, King Ludwig, Anthony of Padua,
tools, as well as a sleeping couple, which could indicate
that on Sundays and holidays, one should not stay in bed but go to church.
For hundreds of years, the miners' church has
been part of the mining tradition and is still used as such today.
Since the time of the Holy Roman Empire,
Hanfelden Castle has also stood in the Pölstal.
As early as 1493, Hans Han was granted a barren farm in lower Zeyring.
By Maximilian the First - Roman German King.
King? Hans, we'll send the count as planned.
And we ask for their support and help
for the pilgrimage to Rome
and for the coronation as emperor.
In 1506, Maximilian is said to have personally stayed in the Pölstal.
Possibly even in present-day Hanfelden, at least that's
what is said in the inscription in one of the rooms.
Austerity, austerity.
Maximilian was active in the Pölstal.
Deliveries were documented and many messages were sent.
For example, the delivery of 24 bushels and three-quarters of oats
for feeding the horses on October 13, 1506
during the king's stay, is specifically recorded.
Good, I was afraid the last delivery might have strained our finances.
Especially since pumping out the mine tunnels hasn't led to anything.
Oh, it's always just about silver.
But soon, very soon, we'll be emperor.
Then there'll be no obstacle to further expenses.
But until then, tell Fugger, we need...
Further loans!
But even his creditors were not bottomless pits, and
Maximilian's mountain of debt grew increasingly,
so he had to look for other sources of money,
such as through marriage.
What, what's this?
We'll sell this one!
He's a scoundrel!
Or by granting further fiefs and noble titles to
the Augsburg banking family, the Fuggers.
He can go to hell! Tell Fugger he can go Fugger himself!
Can he really do that?
No, better not tell him.
Better not tell him. We'll wait until we're emperor.
And until then, we want to live - we must live, like a monk!
Through the salaries of mercenaries in his numerous wars,
his lavish lifestyle including jousting tournaments,
and 30 illegitimate children, the so-called
last knight drove state expenses to unimaginable heights.
So that's him. He's magnificent! A beast!
Certainly not exactly cheap even individually,
but as a hunting dog, a true king! No!
We meant emperor, of course - emperor!
Emperor, good, good.
Maximilian also loved hunting trips.
Alright then, order me a full
hundred such beasts... a hundred!
And the mountain of debt would not exactly get any smaller.
We've been working on Schloss Hanfelden for
about 7 years now, trying to bring the castle into a state
where it doesn't further deteriorate.
Since the castle was inhabited until 1970,
most recently by refugee families
from Serbia, it has been maintained almost until today.
Schloss Hanfelden has attracted attention,
also in terms of tourism, early on in the 19th century
because a room is furnished with the so-called
Maximilian's inscription.
This inscription states that Maximilian resided here
while he dealt with the flooded mine.
Since the inscription was created over a hundred years after his stay,
it remains uncertain, whether he held court exactly here.
Schloss Hanfelden has uniquely remained
essentially unchanged for about 250-300 years.
There have been signs of decay, but nothing significant has been rebuilt.
Moreover, there are also medieval routes here,
which have favored the construction of such remarkable castle complexes.
We know of a toll that was collected exactly at this location,
so the connection between the silver mine and
Schloss Hanfelden is actually obvious.
In the Middle Ages, tolls were demanded at numerous locations.
In the Reformatio Sigismundi of 1476,
the duties of the toll stations were defined,
but there was still great arbitrariness in this work.
The maintenance of the roads was one of the
less strictly enforced duties of the toll lords.
Travel with God, pilgrim. You don't have to pay a transit toll here.
May God reward you.
Good day! Name and reason for travel!
Good morning! I just wanted to point out
that the roads are not exactly well maintained.
And at the last station, you dug quite a lot out of my purse.
Do you see anything?
Oh, today they seem to take especially long,
I don't even have anything to declare.
Forgive me, young lady, 4 denarii and a pound have been
the standard rate of the small toll for hundreds of years
and only deviates for expensive goods, as you know.
And obviously not every road can be kept wagon-ready constantly in this weather.
What do you have in your luggage?
In principle, a distinction was made between large tolls and small tolls.
The large toll - "muta magna" - was assessed depending
on the value and weight of the goods,
while the small toll, "lusezoll" or "leiszoll," was more like
a usage fee depending on the means of transportation.
I have nothing of note with me.
And anyway, only small amounts for personal use.
Personal use is generally exempt, as you know.
So you won't mind a cautious look.
The beautiful gold of the Alps! In large quantities!
For that, muta magna is required!
Hey, those are dandelion roots for my rabbits! Or does it look like speik to you?
Perhaps it's not genuine speik, but the Italian nobility
loves the imitation just as much!
We'll measure it with gold.
Excuse me, what? This is robbery, not a toll - as everyone always says!
Individual social groups were favored or even exempted from the toll.
But those who were asked to pay
often had to transport their goods on specific routes
and were hardly allowed to deviate.
The controlling authorities could be very unpleasant at times.
I'm used to it already, but today they're particularly annoying!
Look at them!
The strictly controlled toll stations were not easy to bypass.
Personal favors and bribes to officials were certainly not uncommon.
Pilgrims were usually not required to pay tolls,
but they were not safe from the arbitrariness of the officials either.
Today they even tax pilgrims as if they were Jews!
What? Twice as much as usual?
Specially tariffs applied to Jews, which were usually
twice as high as the generally customary ones.
Moreover, they had to pay body toll, which was
levied even when transporting a dead Jew.
Avoidance of toll stations by circumventing the control
or using secret routes was punished as smuggling.
At least you couldn't get caught.
Smuggler! Stop! Hold him!
When smuggling, the aim was to bypass the toll stations,
and this was of course punished more severely than theft.
Because it wasn't just about the smuggled goods, but also about the unpaid toll.
Get lost!
Mica schist is the basic component of the mountain, along with white marble.
Between these layers lies the coveted galena,
mainly with silver and other metal inclusions.
Other stones are also found in the mountain,
such as white barite or the rare Zeiringite,
named after Oberzeiring.
To extract the silver from the galena,
a clay furnace called ‘Rennofen’ had to be built first.
The furnace's shape was slowly built up by hand in layers of stacked rings.
Once the furnace was completely dry and fired,
it could be heated through a central opening.
Galena was alternately stacked with coal in the bloomery.
The furnace had to reach about a thousand
degrees Celsius for the silver to melt.
After several hours, it was carefully cracked open at the bottom.
The silver was collected and passed on for coin processing.
In the mint, the tool issue was meticulously
controlled by the ironworker.
At the end of the shift,
none of the inventory items could to be missing.
This foreman checked the silver alloy for its copper content.
The coinage standard.
On behalf of the sovereign, the mintmaster purchased silver at his own risk.
His goal was to achieve a quality level that was
just high enough to put it into circulation.
The caster poured the silver onto hard metal plates.
The dyesmiths hammered the rough cast into sheets - called 'Zaine'.
The well-coordinated team hammered in the same rhythm.
It was exhausting work, but the prospect
of a drink during lunch break lifted the morale.
Slowly, Zaine, as thick as paper, formed from them.
The mintmaster always checked the quality during this process.
Between all work steps in which rejects are produced,
The mintmaster always checked the quality during this process.
If, for example, the scrap master returns with the blanks,
not only are they weighed, but also
the offcuts, what is left all around is weighed.
To control that so silver went missing and no one could have pocketed anything.
Above all, the mintmaster earned with the annually inferior,
thinner pennies, which led to inflation.
After the dyesmiths were allowed to rest their hammers,
the scrap master took over cutting the silver into
‘Schrötlinge’ meaning coin blanks.
Gradually, with a lot of imagination,
a circle could be recognized in the shape of the coins.
These skilled craftsmen belonged to the civic elite.
The specialists had uniquely trained ears to determine the quality of the blanks.
The timbre determined whether the budding penny was sent back
for melting or further for stamping.
Coins that sounded too high or low were ruthlessly sorted out.
Weight was the main factor in determining the value of the coin
and more important than the shape or minting quality.
As everyday currency, the coins were only engraved on one side,
called 'bracteates' in technical terms.
The minting was done with a single precise and powerful blow.
And the coin was ready.
There are finds of the 'Zeiring Penny'
which means the execution site already exists for a long time
Mining goes further back historically than the late Middle Ages.
We're talking the about the Roman times.
There are also coin finds from the execution site.
Imagine it like a festival. Miners, farmers,
children came to witness and watch this execution.
Court proceedings and executions took place outdoors.
When will you finally start!? Get on with it!
A distinction was made between serious felonies
robbery, murder, and manslaughter -
and lesser offenses.
Such as theft, insult, brawls, and adultery,
which led to illegitimate children.
Keep your foul mouth shut!
People! We are gathered here to exercise high jurisdiction.
This is as a court by God and Emperor's grace,
charged with the announcement of penalties
on skin and hair as well as with the execution of judgments of neck and hand.
Unlike turnips, apples, and onions, lemons were rare in the Middle Ages,
and only recently introduced by Crusaders from the Orient.
Punishments on skin and hair could include
head shaving for adultery and fornication,
the whipping punishment for disobedient serfs,
and the chopping off of the head for noble felons.
Your first time?
Already known in the Middle Ages was broccoli, then fell into oblivion
and has been - more or less - popular since the 1970s again.
However, there is no evidence that a banana
would have made it's way to Europe at that time.
Where is he?!
Did we forget something?
Vigilantism was not a legal option for the common people.
Don't do that, that won't hold, that's a specialist's work.
They're getting quite restless, ah, where the heck is he?
What do you mean, they couldn't afford you?
Couldn't or wouldn't, it's all the same to me.
As long as they don't pay, the head stays on the neck!
Such an execution was very expensive. A hangman had to come from Graz.
He had to come specially, spend the night.
So, where is the hangman?
Execution without a hangman proved difficult.
Couldn't they afford the hangman? Then what are we even here for?
Just acquit him!
What? Acquit him? No, not again!
Your Honor! You must admonish the rabble, we have no executioner.
Not again. Oh, yes, exactly, we'll do that.
Fine, we'll do that.
So they have behaved themselves nicely,
they have behaved well in the cell, they were decent the last 3 days,
they only ate a little, didn't throw any excrement at the wall or at the guards.
They behaved well, we can say they had good conduct.
And so I sentence them to depart with a warning.
And in the future, behave!
Medieval jurisprudence still suffered from great arbitrariness.
Does that apply to me too?
Just don't say anything, it doesn't matter anyway.
Even today, remnants of a gallows can be found
between Unterzeiring and Katzling. Before this there stood a wooden gallows,
where in the Middle Ages the high court was held in the Birkachwald,
punishments were carried out,
and delinquents had to be buried outside the cemetery.
Macabre, as I always say - the mountain miners didn't get very old then,
and back then one probably died from the poor air quality,
especially in the mine. Because setting fires created
a lot of smoke, and the strong draft and moisture on top of it.
Well, woodcutter, did your old lady let you out again?!
How ruined do you look for God's sake?
That's what you look like when you're rich!
You won't have your silver for long anyway,
soon as the devil always takes you mountain miners.
We wouldn't want to get as old as you anyway!
I'm only 12!
Yeah, that's how it is.
Alright, now we're going bowling. Bye! See you later, woodcutter!
The fact miners rarely lived past 35 due to the lack of oxygen,
they they with a healthy dose of black humor.
Ironically, a lung sanatorium today offers patients recovery in dust-free,
radon-rich air at the same location.
At least minor air circulation was provided by shafts
for the removal of debris and water.
The spool with the rope was greased with tallow at both ends.
Next to ascending the climbing trees,
such cranks or reels, were an additional means of transportation
while wearing backpacks, also known as "rope riding."
Go on, fill it up and lift it!
Good job boy!
You did a good job too!
Abseiling in the hauling buckets was only
possible in a few places in Oberzeiring.
The massive raw material demand of the mine ensured that
the mountains in the surrounding area
were already deforested in the Middle Ages.
Timber!
Not only for building timber and pine splinters,
vast amounts of spruce wood were also consumed by charcoal burners.
Older and injured miners found employment in quieter activities on the surface.
For example, with the charcoal burners.
So, how are you doing?
Uh... yeah.
Smelting was only possible in forested areas.
The charcoal burners, who lived secluded in the forest,
represented an important profession for the industry.
The guild of the miners resembled a modern insurance company.
They stepped in for the family of the disabled person and found him a suitable job.
Due to the toxic gases emitted,
the charcoal kilns were always located outside the villages.
The insurance of the profession was not limited.
As a result, recovery sometimes took a bit longer.
Speik, "Valeriana Celtica," had been a coveted medicinal
and cosmetic plant from the Eastern Alps since antiquity.
Root diggers or speik harvesters were landless members of rural lower classes.
These were mainly woodcutters, former miners, and charcoal burners,
later also specially employed women.
For harvesting, a sophisticated, specialized tool, the speik hoe, was used.
The work was extremely laborious and left no leisure time.
Boiled in milk or wine, speik became a popular medicine.
Thus, Styria was very significant for the extraction of genuine speik.
Particularly notable is Judenburg, which was a center of speik processing.
The harvesting season for speik was from mid-August to mid-September,
when the leaves turned yellow and it developed the most fragrance.
Where the habitat is suitable, where there are
alpine meadows, that's where speik really grows frequently.
So there's one plant, and next to it, another and another and another.
In addition to their main transport goods grain, wine, and salt,
muleteers were also available for transporting small quantities.
Muleteers formed into columns or pack trains.
They would travel with up to 30 animals.
And sumpter - or pack animal transport was actually practiced everywhere.
Long before the horse was used as a riding animal, it served as a pack animal.
To avoid congestion at narrow passages in the mountains,
muleteers announced themselves from afar with bells.
From this time comes the German expression
'keine Zeit versäumen'
Speik is most widespread in the eastern Styrian Alps.
Judenburg had an imperial trade monopoly and through Genoa and Venice,
several tons were exported annually to the Orient, especially Egypt.
However, the journey of the muleteers should not end at the borders of Austria.
It led them in lands where the people knew how to appreciate good smells
and the refined life of the slowly emerging early Renaissance.
Italy
Venice was the final destination for the Alpine herbs.
Where something, perhaps the scent of the canal,
made aristocrats particularly appreciate the soothing scents of Alpine herbs.
However, the journey of the muleteers here was fraught with risk:
They were not allowed to travel further south
than this point, and there were strict customs.
At the Fondaco dei Tedeschi on the Grand Canal,
all journeys of the Germans, Flemish, Hungarians,
and Austrians came to an end; only the Venetians went further south.
And so, they could only conduct their business
under official supervision. The goods were strictly controlled.
Buongiorno
The speik had to be checked for authenticity.
The noses of the Venetians were discerning,
so muleteers with counterfeit speik made the journey in vain.
All the happier were the traders when they could claim success.
For the weight of the speik was weighed in gold - it is said.
Fortunately, the Styrians were already known as a lovable people back then.
And people gladly did business with them.
And because extraction of perfume had been invented as early
as the 13th century the substances could be preserved in alcohol.
An invaluable treasure.
The scent of the Alps.
We muleteers are like Murtal crumbled cheese.
With age, we only get stronger and sharper.
In my time, we used to play with only a piece of wood.
Or went bowling.
Or don't you know that here, in the old days, they used to bowl with silver balls?
And do we remember!
In Zeiring, in the marketplace near the Green Woodpecker,
people merrily bowl, laugh, and carouse.
Laugh, scold, carouse, and curse,
not even the devil himself could do any worse.
Drunken brawlers and quarreling dogs,
and dancers and harlots mix and mingle.
And deep in the corner, clinking and tapping,
the dulcimer player kept the beat.
Wine drips from table and bench,
coins roll on the ground.
And the innkeeper smiles cheerfully,
as if he heard the angels fiddle.
And do you know who today, at the Green Woodpecker,
bowls, makes noise, and carouses so cheerfully,
it's the miners of Zeiring.
The pockets full of silver, the silver in the mine,
has made everyone's heads spin.
They fancy themselves free of lords and kings,
and would've even dethroned God Father himself.
"Hey, scoundrel," shouts now the foreman loudly,
"come forth, whoever dares to bowl with me.
I'll boldly wager this jar of coins here,
that I'll swiftly knock down all nine."
"Good luck, comrades! So be it, so be it!"
The gang cheers wildly, with chaotic cries.
"Good luck, good luck, let's empty the cups,
so the devil may grant us luck!"
Then steps in, a delicate child by the hand,
wrapped in a poor, gray garment,
an elderly woman from the street,
to see what all the jubilation is about.
The joyful child is greatly amused,
It hops and peers back and forth.
And as outside, the pins fall,
so it laughs with a bright sound.
"Do you like it out there, you monkey face,"
shouts one at it: "Don't stare your eyes out then!"
Another sneers: "That's funny, isn't it?
I'll show you something even better up close!"
Then he decapitates the child and cruelly rolls
the bloody head out into the pins,
so swiftly, as if with eerie strength,
it knocks them all down to the ground.
Then the wild, ugly crowd
erupts in mad and neighing laughter.
But the old woman is silent and stares,
ghastly into the scene, trembling and nodding.
And she bends down and throws gravel and earth,
in a circle around with strange gestures,
and murmurs a terrible incantation,
wherein every word is a tenfold curse.
There stood horrified, hair bristling,
the pale crowd, still with laughing faces.
But the old woman in the gray garment,
like storm clouds against the mountain, disappeared.
And when in the mine on the next workday
the first hammer strikes resound,
the ground trembles and with thunderous roar
shaft and miner plunge into darkness and horror.
Many legends are told of the supposed flooding.
One chilling tale recounts the demise of the mine,
where 1400 women of Oberzeiring are said to have become widows.
In actual fact, large parts of the tunnels
below Oberzeiring are still flooded to this day.
The depletion of the ore deposit and the increasing effort to pump out groundwater
led, at the end of the Middle Ages,
to the inhabitants of Zeiring largely abandoning mining.
Zeiring without a mine, huh? Hard to imagine.
Guess we'll have to come up with something else.
Like what?
You've already done so many different things.
What was the next best thing after being a miner?
Peddler! That's it.
That's the profession of the future, mark my words.
Another peddler, great.
What?
It's fine, I'll explain to you how it works.
First, we need an investor.
And little Stefan,
he needs to learn how to use an abacus.
Hmm, could it be that the smart gentleman doesn't know
quite as much about this topic as he does about mining?
I have an uncle who will show us how it's done.
Here - Stefan!
Come here!
Good boy!
Well, look at that, they're not doing too badly for their first time outside, huh?
Wouldn't it be nice if they could bring us a rabbit?
That would be something.
That's true.
Well, maybe they'll figure it out. Let's see.
Somehow we'll make it work.
It's going to be exciting, just the two of us.
While we still have to feed those two as well.
The side valleys of the Triebener Tauern
are still marked by their legends and history.
Even today travelers hike along old muleteers paths
and visit the enchanted ruins
...and the impressive mine.
Ah goddammit!