Christkindl in summer :-)

by Anka Berger

When I've got the invitation to go for a communication seminar in Steyr, Upper Austria and I've read the information about the accommodation and place of the seminar .... I did not understand it .... Hotel Christkindl on Christkindlweg no. 6 .... "Christkindl"??? What is this??? No, not a lingvistic issue, not at all ... but somehow a strange name ...
Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd largest town in Upper Austria.
Celts settled the area from about 600 BC, the name of the Stiria River is of Celtic origin. Their kingdom of Noricum became part of the Roman Empire in 15 BC. A settlement named Gesodunum noted by the ancient geographer Claudius Ptolemy (c. 90 – c. 168) was possibly located in the Steyr region. Here the Roman "Iron Road" led from the Erzberg mine along the Enns River to the castra of Lauriacum (at present-day Enns) on the Danube.

 I'm not going now to write about Steyr, but I will go there again and do it in a detailed journey comment, maybe in summer. Austria it is an amazing travel destination, an interesting combination of ancient, old and new and future.
Going back to Christkindl now:

The place is a comunity, a part of the city of Steyr, having a pilgrimage church up on the hill and a famous Special Post Office (!) Austrians have designed their country like a living fairy tale. Steyr ist close to Weyer where I was last summer, so I had an image about the area, here you can see a lot of pictures about the fairy tale idea of this country  :-)

by Anka Berger

You have to spend here at least 4 seasons in order to understand what I mean. To see all the handmade woody figures from stories and fairy tales which are everywhere in the gardens, windows, houses, on the roofs, on the fences, in the trees ... really, no joke, I will do pictures to show you!! It is the world I was grown up and now I see this with my eyes. It is like I am back home.

by Anka Berger

Christkindl became world famous after the Second World War through its post office. Countless of Christmas letters are going through this post office every year. All letters and cards that transit the Christkindl Post Office get a special stamp and I did something I never did in my life, even at that moment - this morning - I had no idea about this story I am telling you right now: I bought a card and I let it to be send on my own address to Vienna!! I am just curious about the stamp I get on it.
I tried to find out about the origin of the Pilgrimage Church from Christkindl on Christkindlweg no. 6.

by Anka Berger

About 300 years ago, lived in Steyr a man sick of epilepsy disease. He used to work as fire guard for the city's towers, but due to his illness he could not work anymore.
One day he got from the nuns from Steyr a little wax Christ child which he placed in a tree trunk of a spruce on the right bank of Steyr.

by Anca Berger

The man visited almost every day his Christian wax child and prayed for his health. After a while the man was completely healthy again. His natural healing spread quickly and the Was Christ Child were attributed to have miraculous powers. The was statue places in the tree under the open sky became the destination of many curing - and people came from all over to ask for help.
In this way was born the name of Christkindl from Under the Sky (Christkindl im Unterhimmel).
After a while, the people built a chapel over the tree where the Wax Christkindl was hidden.
In 1702 the Abbot of the Garsten Steyr Monastery let to be build a baroque church on this spot. The Wax Child remained in his place and before the tree was build a simple altar.

found on internet

A goldsmith from Steyr, who also was healed through the power of the Wax Child surrounded the miraculous wax figure with a golden aureole. The was Christkindl is about 10 cm high.

**

I woke up at 5 in the morning, I left Vienna at 6 and after 2 hours an 15 minutes and 195 km I reached Steyr. To find the church and the hotel was actually not very complicated due to the gps, otherwise it would have been complicated by car.

found on internet

When I saw the big building I thought it will be an interesting area to be explored. So sorry I had to change plans and left the place after the seminar finish next day. The initial plan was to stay in Steyr 3 days longer and return to Vienna on Sunday evening. But .... we cannot have everything in life at the moment we want.

by Anka Berger 25.03.2015

As the GPS announced: Sie haben Ihr Zeil erreicht (you reached your final destination) I was confused because all I saw it was a big old church and nothing more.

(va urma)