Climbers cover gothic church with clapboards
Sepp Mayerl was the ancestor and teacher of the experts working in Gastein. The Dölsach roofer and extreme mountaineer star 2012 climbing in the Lienz Dolomites – shortly after his 75th birthday. Mayerl became internationally known at a young age with first ascents in the Andes of Latin America. Reinhold Messner, who was seven years his junior, saw a certain teacher in the quiet and modest mountain man. In addition, Mayerl’s legendary first ascent of Lhotse Shar in 1970 – a technically difficult and very exposed neighbor of Mount Everest in Nepal.
Professional association of the East Tyroleans of his skills as a climber with those of the roofer on the steepest and highest church roofs – also in South Tyrol and many other regions of the Alps.
Dölsach as an international competence center
Guru Mayerl’s former apprentices are long established men and very experienced master craftsmen. They process wood, natural stone, copper and other metals, maintain the technical legacy and like to remember the pioneer – like Klaus Hainzer. He also comes from Dölsach: “Several families here now make a living from it. They have founded their own businesses. When I was young, I worked with Sepp in Selva in South Tyrol at a church. Then he said, Klaus, this craft is golden soil . The money is on the street. You just have to pick it up. Sepp was also really okay as a person.”
There are still very few international specialists who can take on such assignments: “A lot is done by word of mouth. I came to the St. Nicholas Church in Gastein like the Virgin to the Child – through an assignment at Tandalier Castle in Radstadt. Then another came in Pongau Another project with new contacts. And then the Archdiocese of Salzburg called me about Gastein. I then bid and got the bid.”
Large picture gallery:
Shingles from Siberia and the Tatras
Total costs for the Nikolauskirche: 65,000 euros. The men pile up the very weatherproof larch shingles in three layers and staple them on with pneumatic nail machines. Total area for this order: 425 square meters (185 on the tower, 240 above the church interior).
The shingles cost 48 euros per square meter – making a total of a good 20,000 euros for the material in Gastein. Imports come from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.
“You can get rich in this job”
The order books of the East Tyrolean are always full. They need very large amounts over the years. And nobody in Austria can produce them, says Klaus Hainzer: “It’s all still labour-intensive. We are quite satisfied with the shingles from the Tatras. Up until a few weeks ago there was also good material from Siberia. With the war and the trade embargo against Russia, that has now been resolved.”
A general supply problem is currently emerging: “You have to be careful not to accept any orders, and then you suddenly have no shingles. We don’t know what’s going on at the moment. Our inventories are rapidly shrinking. Perhaps the international intermediate trade will speculate on higher prices. But that’s just a guess.”
Is the tradition breaking down?
There is also an ever-increasing problem with the staff – there are hardly any apprentices, not enough junior staff, says the entrepreneur: “You could really get rich in our job if you work hard and enjoy it. Endless orders. We also make castles and palaces, hunting lodges for many aristocratic families down to Lower Austria and western Hungary. But many younger people are not interested in physical work, they play with computers, develop apps and would rather get fat.”
To the 600 year anniversary More than 30 years ago, the pastor of Bad Gastein at the time, Peter Hausberger, tried to restore the St. Nicholas Church. He promotes research into the history of the building and was involved in a team of volunteers who raised many donations.
Gastein hotelier Hans Windischbauer had keys for the ancient locks made and the medieval tombstones restored. Under him, the somewhat younger tower clock from the Baroque period started again.
The foundation walls were drained by master builder Hans Angerer. The Malzer carpentry shop in Bad Gastein is re-covering half of the church roof with shingles. Subsequently, the pensioner and former sports retailer Josef Angerer took care of the church.
You should be sporty, emphasizes the expert: “The tower in Bad Gastein, for example, is very high, even by Gothic standards, very slender and very pointed.” Great. Further up, the inside of the tower would be too narrow for a person: “It’s a challenge for the first person who has to climb up to fix the fixed ropes for the team directly at the Wetterkreuz.”
Bergprofi Ortner as lead climber to the tower cross
Hainzer gets the East Tyrolean extreme mountaineer and professional climber Peter Ortner involved in very difficult projects. As a lead climber, he then scales the steepest and most dangerous towers and the work ropes below. He uses special ice axes on the wooden structure, which are actually designed for frozen waterfalls.
The trio with whom Hainzer works in Gastein also comes from Dölsach and, in addition to the trained professions of carpenter, roofer and plumber, is deeply rooted in alpinism: Florian Unterweger, Alexander Bacher and Markus Werndle.
Trigger-happy hunters not very popular
Before the roof is laid, the so-called Helmbaum – the wooden structure at the top of a tower – must also be checked carefully. When everything is rotten and the statics are ruined, it becomes very dangerous to attach the ropes. The reason is human weaknesses. In some regions, drunken hunters would particularly like to shoot at the tops of church spires, according to the company boss: “This destroys the roof structure, and a lot of rainwater penetrates over the years. And the helmet tree then has to be completely replaced. A time-consuming and expensive additional work.”
Rescue of honor for hunters in the Gastein valley: the tower of St. Nicholas Church has not yet been shot at, the East Tyrolean smiles.