About this place
The Marktplatz is the social and architectural centre of Hallstatt, a small open square wedged between the lake and the mountain where there is otherwise barely room to stand. Its layout reaches back to the 14th century, but the elegant late-baroque faces you see today were born of catastrophe: on the 20th of September 1750 a fire broke out in a baker's house and tore through the village, destroying around 35 buildings and killing four people. The square was rebuilt in stone in the late baroque style, and the gentle pastel tones of grey, pink and blue that make Hallstatt so photogenic are said to carry that memory, with grey for the ashes, pink for the flames and blue for the calm the townsfolk needed to rebuild. At the centre stands the Holy Trinity column, a plague column endowed in the 1740s by a prosperous salt-trading family in thanks for deliverance from the plague, crowned by figures of God the Father and Son, a dove for the Holy Spirit and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Around it cluster cafes, salt and souvenir shops and the village fountain, where locals and travellers alike pause, sit and take in the view.
Key facts
- 1750 year — A fire that began in a baker's house destroyed much of the square, which was then rebuilt in late baroque stone
- 35 houses — Roughly this many buildings in the village centre burned in the blaze of 1750
- 14 century — The basic layout of the market square dates back to the 1300s
📍 Marktplatz 47, 4830, Hallstatt