A Stay in Steyr
Museum Arbeitswelt, Steyr
After those wonderful few weeks in Croatia, the Oldies soon set off again to do some touring around Austria. Sad as I was to say goodbye to the sea, I was pleased to see that we settled by the waterside again. This time, the Oldies set up beside the river Enns in a lovely quiet campsite not far from the old town centre of Steyr.
I thought the river Enns was impressive, but I was bowled over when I first saw the town centre where the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns, with the backdrop of beautiful ancient buildings, is a magnificent sight.
There’s a lot of water under the bridge here!
I was also struck by how well restored so many of the ancient buildings are. But then I saw date markers showing the heights reached by floodwaters over the centuries. The worst flooding was back in the 16th century, but even as recently as 2002, the floodwaters rose to well over seven metres. Between floods and wars, I can imagine that Steyr is a town that has had to be restored over and over again!
After taking the Tabor Panoramalift though, we were high and dry and treated to the most amazing views of the surrounding countryside with snow-capped mountains peeking out in the background. Stunning!
During our stay, the Oldies popped into Steyr quite frequently. It nagged at me constantly, but it was only when we visited the Museum Arbeitswelt/Museum of Working Life that I realised why the name Steyr had seemed so familiar to me. Of course! Steyr bicycles, Steyr tractors, Steyr trucks, Steyr-Puch cars, Steyr rifles… the list goes on and on. The history of this town is inextricably linked to all those well-known products that have been and are partly still manufactured here.
I had plenty of time to study the lovely old advertising posters, as His Lordship was occupied with trying to drag Herself away from her all time favourite car, the Steyr-Puch 500, the Austrian version of the Fiat 500. I must say it is dinky. And just her size too!
The shoe was on the other foot when His Lordship came across this display. Apparently BMW engines are manufactured in Steyr these days. I hope Her Ladyship made sure that Himself didn’t sneak off to place an order for one of these beauties before we left. Whatever about the Steyr-Puch 500, that Beamer would put quite a hole in our travel budget!
In the German speaking world, kids write their Christmas letters not to Santa Claus, but to the Christkindl, the Christ child. And it has become traditional to send these letters to a place of pilgrimage that’s actually called – you’ve guessed it – Christkindl, on the outskirts of Steyr. Since 1950 there’s been a special post office here to handle all the Christmas post. Nowadays, it apparently handles millions of letters every year. Another local industry! Each letter is given a special cancellation stamp, many of them very collectable.
Ah, so now I know why His Lordship, the philatelist of the family, dragged us up the extremely steep hill to Christkindl. And, believe me, after pushing their bikes up the Pufferweg as the road was called, the Oldies were very puffed indeed!
