Lost Gothic Treasure Hunters

06/24/22 Today, Friday, June 24th, the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Museum of Mining and Gothic in Liogang will be celebrated. On this occasion, its founder and servant Hermann Mayrhofer was awarded the Great Order of Merit of the State of Salzburg.

It all started with “Repatriating the Saint,” and that was more than just a start from zero to a hundred: at first there were no exhibits, and after three decades there were six thousand. It is displayed on an exhibition area of ​​​​a thousand square meters – a collection of high-quality and highest-value exhibits on the history of the region and the state of Salzburg, with an emphasis on mining and Gothic art. “Visitors and experts from all over the world appreciate the high quality of what is on display at Leogang,” Governor Wilfried Haslauer said when handing over the award to Mayrhofer.

“It is seen over time as the work of many patrons, sponsors and lenders, but it is the idea and long-term legacy of the unshakable Salzburger, who has gone from being a mayor to an honorary hunter of a near-lost Gothic treasure,” according to Haslauer,

Born in 1945, Hermann Mayrhofer is from Leogang and has worked in all areas of municipal administration since 1967, including 33 years as head of the department. He recognized at an early age the supra-historical value of the mining tradition, which dates back more than three thousand years, and began the exhibition mine, which opened in 1989. In 1992, the Mining Museum was founded in Hütten near Leogang. With the help of several patrons, Mayrhofer was able to obtain and secure the lost cultural assets for his museum. The discovery of the world-famous cross of Limoges in a rubbish bin in Zell am See was particularly astonishing. That was in 2007. (country correspondence)

Photo: still from Film State Press Office