List of the Ritzen castle info points

Here you will find a list of the museum's various info points.

Ground floor

• 1. Georelief

  This geo-relief, made by pupils in the 1980s, shows the Mitterpinzgau region.

• 2. Postcards

  As early as the 1870s, postcards had already become a popular way of depicting views of cities, sightseeing spots and travel destinations.

• 3. Kraxen

  Inhabitants from Saalfelden took their carrying frames with loads of up to 100 kg to the mountain cabins.

• 4. Plans

  Franz Wallack, the builder of the Großglockner Hochalpenstrasse, made several plans for a road across the Steinernes Meer (the mountain range around Saalfelden).

• 5. Poor souls in purgatory

  Four poor souls, sculptures rising from the fire, wood, 19th century.

• 6. Sonnwendfeuer

  On the mountain peaks of Saalfelden, fires in honour of St. John are lit at the time of the saint's name day, which is the 24th of June.

First floor

• 7. Roast turner

  Roast turner, 18th century. Skewers and weights are missing. If a large clock no longer worked, it was converted into a roast turner.

• 8. Monastic work

  The roots of arts and crafts from monasteries go back to the Middle Ages when countless hours were spent there creating works of art entirely by hand.

• 9. Wardrobe

  Carved furniture, such as this pine chest from 1770, emphasise the artistic design and the high level of workmanship of the craftsmen from Pinzgau.

• 10. Man of Sorrows

  Christ stands on a rock-like pedestal. His body is covered with bloody stigmata, his loins are veiled and covered by a white cloth. .

• 11. Traditional jewellery

  Festive jewellery is an essential part of the festive costume. A brooch for the scarf, the eight or twelve-strand silver clasp necklaces, earrings and a hairpin or hair clip.

• 12. Holy-Ghost-Pigeon

  In the Christian faith, the Dove of the Holy Spirit represents the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

• 13. Televotives

  In the past, life's calamities were usually illnesses, accidents or death. Dead-end digital worlds, endless chats, buzzing smartphones and people lost in their screens are reason enough to pray for salvation and seek the assistance of saints.

• 14. Annahand

  This secondary relic from the 18th century shows the right hand of St. Anne moulded in wax and surrounded by beautiful monastic work. It was the destination of female pilgrims wishing for a child.

• 15. Votives

  Votive pictures are a sign of gratitude and make up the majority of the deposited votive offerings in pilgrimage churches and chapels.

Second floor

• 16. The deer from the Biberg

  The bronze figure from the 1st century BC depicts the stag god Cernunnos, who was usually represented in human form with stag antlers on his head.

• 17. Suggrundarium

  During an excavation in 2018, a grave with at least 3 infants buried together with a clay jug was found in the atrium of a Roman villa rustica from the 1st century AD.

• 18. Wind of the North

  Parts of the residential building of a villa rustica were uncovered during an emergency excavation. The stone-walled dwelling house dates back to the 2nd century AD.

• 19. Stirrup ring

  When farmer Josef Hörl wanted to move fence posts in April 1980, he literally stumbled upon a treasure.

• 20. Haimeran von Ritzen

  The portrait from 1589 shows Haimeran von Ritz, chamberlain to Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, who acquired Schloss Grub castle (which is today Schloss Ritzen) in 1603.

• 21. Salzmann's painting - Yellow Sky

  In the midst of the turmoil of the Second World War, Gottfried Salzmann was born in Saalfelden in 1943. He developed a keen interest in art and painting at a very early age.

• 22. Adventmadonna

  This Advent Madonna from Saalfelden dating back to the 1st half of the 18th century is still in its original case for the advent tradition of Frauentragen.

• 23. Bagpiper

  Figures from the old nativity scene of the parish church of Saalfelden from 1799, jointed puppets carved by sculptor Johann Oberlohr (around 1755 - 1809), painted by Michael Kurz, reworked and completed by Xandi Schläffer in 1965.

• 24. Xandi Schläffer

  Xandi Schläffer's father made the best of the long, cold winter evenings by building nativity scenes, his young son watching attentively.

• 25. Tresterer

  Tresterer are so-called Schönperchten, traditional folk figures, who to this day dance their annual dance in the nights between Christmas and the Three Kings' Day to the sounds of the fife or without music - this brings luck and blessings to the families and are harbingers of a good harvest.

• 26. Mechanical nativity scene

  Christmas nativity scenes have a long tradition in the Alpine countries. They are put up from the 24th of December to the 2nd of February. The various stages in the life of Christ can be used as motifs.

• 27. Baby Jesus of Saalfelden

  Women who wish for children, expectant mothers who prayed for a safe birth, parents who pray for their sick children - these are the people who have always asked the Jesulein for protection and help.