Montansiedlung Werkmeisterhaus

The Pochwerk stands in Böckstein, a village in the municipality of Bad Gastein in Salzburg. It is a two-storey building with a steep pitched roof, once part of the historic mining settlement of Altböckstein. The site is protected as a listed monument. Altböckstein was rebuilt after a devastating avalanche in 1741. By 1746 a new three-wheel stamp mill replaced older equipment, increasing output and cutting costs. Nearby, a modern gold-washing plant raised efficiency further. Water from the Gasteiner Ache powered the whole system through undershot wheels in a parallel mill race. Inside, the house shows a 1780 façade and 1912 doors. Above the entrance is a coat-of-arms stone dated 1758 for Archbishop Andreas Jakob von Dietrichstein. Across the road stands the Säumerstall, while the former ore yard now holds the Direktionsvilla. The building’s interior reflects its later use as a foreman’s house.