Hasegg Castle, Hall in Tirol, Austria

Hasegg Castle construction was completed soon after 1300, when Hall was rapidly becoming the center of Tyrolean commerce and salt mining. The building was originally erected to protect the salt mines, the shipping industry, the bridge across the river Inn and the old Roman Road. The castle's mint was established by Sigismund, Archduke of Austria in 1477. The first dollar-size silver coin was struck in 1486.

When Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria had the old mint transferred from the Castle of Sparberegg to Hasegg in 1567, Hall experienced a decisive upswing. Between 1748 and 1768, Hasegg Castle became universally famous for its minting of silver Thalers of which it produced over 17 million specimens.

The mint ceased production in 1806 due to the Napoleonic Wars and the increasing lack of local silver resources.

The mint in Hasegg Castle is a museum now, and open to the general public. Demonstrations of historical minting techniques are given from time to time. The castle itself is an example of early Gothic era Tirolean fortress architecture. The pointed roof of the mint tower is of heavily tarnished copper.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Colin Taylor (15 months ago)
Pretty cool place you can still see the minting coins to this day and it's interesting to see how things were minted back in the day The tower is excellent and there's an additional art gallery and or bird exhibit to see as well. Good to go to after or before lunch doesn't take much time and is rather a quick thing to go through. 9/10

Becky T (15 months ago)
We purchased a combo ticket for the hall and mint. It was a little smaller than expected, and you can see most things within 30-40 minutes. The hall has interesting history about coin production, showing a few different types of coin presses including small videos for how coins would be made using them, example coins, and a general history of coin making. The larger signs in each room were in both German and English, though smaller ones are German only - however the audio guide provides more details. The tower has a lot of steps, though newer ones are fairly even on the way up and able to stop at different platforms starting part way up. There are beautiful views from inside the windows on all platforms.

Milena Przybylik (2 years ago)
An fantastic place to visit if you love history and amazing views.

Mitch Lim (2 years ago)
Superb and once in a lifetime experience!

nicolas beurton (2 years ago)
A great place to better understand the history of Tyrol

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Klearchos Kapoutsis

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