Besides the city of Salzburg there is also the state or province of Salzburg, and to make things even more complicated there is also a region called Salzkammergut. In short, the area around Salzburg is no less impressive than the old city itself. The days of old can be admired in the Grossgmain museum; but the old customs and trades can still be seen in many other places.
As their names reveal, Salzburg and Salzkammergut have one important characteristic in common - salt. The salt and the accompanying trade left their mark on Salzburg turning it into what it is today: a city with style and a little world fame. There it is, crystal salt. It was the Celts who, in 500 B.C. started extracting salt in the neighbourhood of Salzburg and Dürnnberg. Using simple bronze and wooden tools, they extracted salt from the mountains and built the first mines and settlements. They would go 300 metres down to find their precious raw material. Salt was necessary to prepare and preserve food, but also for medical purposes. Health resorts along the Wolfgangsee still bear witness to this. Salt is no longer extracted here, but the tourist can still travel back through time and breathe the air and atmosphere of those ancient times. Der Mann im Salz. In 1573 mineworkers discovered the remains of a prehistoric forebear. And in his case the salt had done its preservation job well.