Sadin: Wayside Crosses and Local History

Accommodation and Religious Memorials

The Pettacher Hut at Sadin 8 is available for rent from May to October. If you are planning your trip during this period, check availability for your desired dates. This time frame is a concrete guide when planning your overnight stay. The religious memorials in Sadin offer another perspective on the place: the tree cross, the masonry wayside shrine and the memorial cross differ in their construction, materials and personal histories.

Lauchart Taferl and Lauchart Cross

The Lauchart Taferl is located in Sadin, on the road to the Moosbauer farmstead. It is a cross made of larch wood attached to a spruce. The painted figure of Christ was made from a beechwood board. The materials each have a different role: larch wood forms the cross, the painted beechwood board forms the figure, and the spruce supports it. This makes the Taferl’s construction easy to see.

The Lauchart Cross is a masonry wayside shrine with a steep pyramidal roof covered with wooden shingles. Inside the shrine is a life-size, wood-carved figure of the Man of Sorrows. The figure was transferred there from the former Moosbauer Cross. Its history thus connects the masonry shrine with an earlier location. The Taferl is defined by its tree and types of wood; the Lauchart Cross is shaped by its masonry, shingled roof and transferred figure.

Holzer Cross and Former Routes

The Holzer Cross stands close to the house at Sadin 1 and commemorates Maria Holzer, who died in 2010. Its back panel was made from around 4,500 matchsticks glued to wood. As well as serving as a personal memorial, this back panel is a distinctive material detail: it consists of many individual pieces of wood, and the number is approximate.

The former Moosbauer Cross stood at the Moosbauer farmstead, west of the house. It served as a station for prayer and a resting place for the dead during funerals. The annual Easter blessing of meat for the surrounding residents is also part of this place’s history. The old church and burial route from St. Andrä to Altenmarkt used to pass through Sadin by the Moosbauer farmstead, the old Moosbauer Cross and the farmstead below it known as vulgo Lippitzer or Liebitzer. This historic route adds a former connection between St. Andrä and Altenmarkt to the stories of construction and people.

Culture and Tradition in the Municipality of Weitensfeld im Gurktal

Parts of the historic fortifications are still preserved at Altenmarkt Parish Church. The Weitensfeld Kranzelreiten takes place in the municipality every year at Pentecost and has been recognized as an intangible UNESCO cultural heritage since 2016. If you are planning your trip around the Kranzelreiten, check the exact event dates in advance. Visitors to the municipality can also sample air-cured Gurktal bacon. Architectural history, a recurring Pentecost custom and a culinary tasting thus offer different cultural interests.

Discover more destinations: Micheldorf, Mölbling, Sankt Georgen Am Längsee, Sankt Veit an der Glan, Kraig, Eberstein, Gurk, Glödnitz

Back to the main travel guide: Sankt Veit An Der Glan.