Tradition

Lime-burning in Olang 
 
Lime was burned in Olang until 1962. Seven lime burners were in use along the rivulet Furkelbach, from Mühlbach to Bad Bergfall. Relics of these burners are still visible. There was another lime burner in use in the locality “Aue” in Oberolang. All these burners operated non-stop and had to be re-coated after each burning process. Their construction was relatively cheap but they required a great amount of firewood. The one-and-a-half meters thick wall was built of fire-resistant stones. The vestibule of the lime burner had no roof. It took a whole week to fill the burner. The white and small grained lime stones had to be carried by 8 to 9 people and 4 horses either down from the rivulet Furkelbach or out of the Langtal Valley. The big stones were split up, and a sort of vault (so-called “Schloss” - castle) was erected. At the top of this vault or camera, smaller and more pointed stones were piled up. The stone tower (“Spitz” - peak) was subsequently sealed with a thin layer of mortal. Finally a wooden crux was set on top - a sign of blessing. On this occasion the workmen drank a special wine named “Spitzwein”. The entire process of lime burning lasted for one week. 100 – 140 m³ of firewood was consumed. At the end of this process, the stokehole was covered with stones and the great heat burned the lime stones, and subsequently the burner chilled out. This usually happened over the weekends. On Mondays the burner was opened and the white and burned lime stones could be taken out in layers. Horse wagons carried the lime stones away. Lime from Geiselsberg was of good quality and therefore highly appreciated. With the ceasing of lime burning in 1962, not only an old tradition, which had been kept alive for centuries, ceased to exist, but the farmers also lost a very convenient extra income.

The Baths of Bergfall

“Bad Bergfall” is situated on 1331 m above sea level, at the bottom of the mighty range of Olang´s Dolomites. It is only within a one-hour´s walk from the center of Olang. 
The old hostelry adjacent the baths was erected by Duke Guidobald of Welsberg in 1720.
During the 19th century and until World War II Bad Bergfall was one of the most popular baths in South Tyrol. It is thought that bathing had been practiced already before 1720, as the Baths of “Geiselsberg” and the virtues of the sulfur waters were mentioned in F.X. Knöring´s bathing order of 1700. Bad Bergfall is undoubtedly also one of the most ancient baths in South Tyrol. The sulfur springs of Bergfall were already known to the Romans, as prominent findings of coins, pieces of decoration and jewelry dating back to the 1st cent A.D. demonstrate. Tyrol´s baths were not only appreciated as spas, but they also served as summer residences to nobility and bourgeoisie during hot summers. According to the newspaper “Tiroler Bote”, 650 guests were still visiting the baths in 1938. In World War II the baths were shut down and remained closed after the war. In 1980 the actual owners, the Pörnbacher family, reopened the inn, which had been entirely renovated. In 2002 the completely modernized bathing house was reopened for the public.
The chapel holds a little curiosity: An altarpiece with the patron saints Sebastian and Rochus carrying a board where all the curable diseases are quoted.

Bad Bergfall


The Baths of Schartl
 
“Bad Schartl” was also one of the most popular baths of the region. Its waters were qualified for gastric troubles and skin diseases. The bath hit its peak in the nineteenth century and up the 60s of the last century. It was very popular among the common people and farmers, and a popular destination for the inhabitants of Olang and Bruneck. Today it is in private hands and closed to the public.
Bad Schartl lies on a pass between Olang and Reischach, near a gouge (the German wordk for gouge is “Scharte”), and therefore the Bath was named “Bad Schartl“.