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History of St. Pankraz

Even before the Celts, the road over the Pyhrn mountain range in prehistoric times was a traffic route that connected the north with the south.

As the Roman Empire under Caesar Octavianus Augustus in the years 16 - 15 v. Chr. Was extended to the Rhine-Danubian line as the northern border of the Reich and at the same time today's Upper Austria (Noricum) was occupied, they also built the already mentioned road over the Pyhrn as a military road better. It established the connection between Ovilava (catfish) and Aquilea (northern Italy). In addition, hostels and stations were built to stay and change horses.

In a house construction in St. Pankraz (Haslhofer) coins and bricks with stamp "LEG II" (Legio secunda italica) were found. Furthermore, near the today's "Fuchsberg", in the corner of the confluence of the pond with the Steyr, a small fort (Specula) may have been found. There was no doubt that the old Roman road was roughly the same as today's B 138.

Bishop Otto II of Bamberg, the founder of Spital am Pyhrn, received from Ottokar, the Duke of Styria, among other things, a forest between the Steyr and the Pießling with the estate in the village "Swent" (Mansum in villa Swente). As a result, developed - with the typical grubbing names - a "Swant", "Geswant" and the village "Gschwendt", as the old place name was recorded to 1800 in the Urbar and in the official documents and in the Zehentregister of Kremsmünster from 1300 ,

How did the current place name St. Pankraz come into being?

On the square of today's parish church was a chapel, which was dedicated to the icy saint St. Pankratius. This was beheaded at 14 (304) in Rome (the sword was therefore also included as the main symbol in the coat of arms) .In 1462, then the church was built, which was also consecrated again to St. Pancras. Since that time, both the names Gschwendt and St. Pankraz appear in the documentary and official documents to 1800 simultaneously and side by side. So with good reason, the year 1190 can be described as the actual birth of St. Pankraz ("village Swent").