History Of Heiligenblut am Großglockner

Nestled in the Duchy of Carinthia, Heiligenblut boasts a rich past entwined with religious importance and mythologies. The reference to a chapel in 1271 signalled the start of its relationship with a relic of the Blood of Christ, thought to have been brought there in 914 AD by a Danish knight called Briccius. Legend has it that this relic—now kept in a sacrament house—was taken from the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Buried under an avalanche on his way across the Alps, Bricius hid the relic in an open wound at his calf. Locals found his body where three ears of wheat emerged from the snow, shown on the Heiligenblut coat of arms.

A monument to Heiligenblut’s religious legacy, the Gothic pilgrimage church dedicated to Saint Vincent of Saragossa Built between 1460 and 1491, the church’s late-Gothic winged altarpiece from 1520 contrasts with its unique spire. Especially, the crypt and tomb within the church house Bricius’s mortal remains.

From ancient times to the Middle Ages, Heiligenblut’s history spans transhumance agriculture and gold mining. Presumably used during the Hallstatt culture following the Late Bronze Age, the area was a vital point on the bridle path and subsequently the Roman road leading to the Hochtor Pass across the Alps. Archduke John of Austria started building a mountain hut under the pass in 1834; further developments included a driveway starting in 1875. When the Grossglockner Road opened in 1935, Heiligenblut’s economic revolution had a turning point. This event significantly helped Heiligenblut become a well-known travel and mountaineering destination, so changing its economic path.