In the Middle Ages the region was still considered wild and inaccessible, so goods and merchandise traffic from the Vienna basin to the South and Southeast and back had for a long time to be diverted through the Pittental. It was only in 1160 that a mule-track was cut over the Semmering, leading through the Greis to the Bärensattel and up to the top of the pass.
Gradually traffic shifted to the new pass, something from which Neunkirchen and Gloggnitz also benefited. Nevertheless, the forested region of the Zerwald, as the Semmering was frequently called at the time, remained sparsely populated.
When the first road over the Semmering was completed in the reign of Karl VI about 270 years ago, another important step had been taken towards opening this heavily forested area. But it took a long time until individual farms and hamlets became communities acquiring significance for tourism.
To begin with, Gloggnitz and Schottwien on the Lower Austrian side of the pass and Mürzzuschlag in Styria mainly profited from this development. Indeed, the busy through traffic earned Gloggnitz the right to hold markets. Trade and industry flourished, too, as front teams of horses had to be obtained for the heavy wagons, and damage to the vehicles could be repaired. However, Schottwien was the final and hence most important relay station, and at the same time the point of departure for the uphill journey ahead. From here on even lighter carts and coaches required front teams of horses. The mountain village also gained in significance as a place to spend the night. First-class inns and a row of stables - at times the front teams consisted of up to a dozen horses - marked the appearance of the village at the time. In keeping with demand, apart from stable hands, road-makers and merchants a number of smiths, cartwrights and saddlers all went about their business. Schottwien was also one of the most important postal stops on the route, and the toll-gate was situated just behind the village.
The gradients of the old pass road, which were extremely dangerous for travellers, were the reason why plans were already made for a new route over the pass at the beginning of the 19th century. But it was only in the years between 1839 and 1841 that the second road connection over the Semmering was rapidly built.
About the same time two important railway lines were constructed, one from Vienna to Gloggnitz, and the other from Mürzzuschlag to Bruck an der Mur. Both started operations in 1842.
For passengers the railway meant not only a major shortening of the duration of the journey, but also an enormous reduction in cost. As a result the volume of traffic exploded. The new road over the Semmering also experienced an undreamed-of boom.
Whereas at times up to 2,500 workers had been employed on the
construction of the old Semmering road, individual points on the
mountain chain soon resembled military camps when work was started
on the missing railway line between Gloggnitz and Mürzzuschlag
according to the brilliant plans of Karl Ritter von Ghega.
The daring pioneer of all mountain railways, the Semmering Railway still enjoys the admiration of the world today. With 16 , partly several-storey, viaducts, 15 tunnels, 142 vertical structures, 129 bridges, artificial rock faces and supporting walls it was built over a construction period of only six years.
Soon the densely forested region was also discovered for tourism. Holiday-makers first frequented Reichenau and Payerbach, which served as summer resorts and points of departure for excursions and mountain tours
Initially the Semmering Pass only possessed two modest inns, "Zum Erzherzog Johann" and "Zum Semmeringbauer".
In 1882 the luxurious "Südbahnhotel" was built, "Panhans" followed six years later, and they were joined shortly afterwards by other monumental buildings in the hotel and gastronomy sector when the "Semmeringbauer" was converted into the "Hotel Stephanie" and the old inn of the same name became the "Hotel Erzherzog Johann". More hotels, three sanatoriums and tourist houses quickly sprang up.
After the First World War many things changed, but the Semmering remained the favourite meeting-place of wealthy circles. The luxury hotels were reopened, the range of recreational facilities expanded, and the infrastructure improved. Several villas were turned into guest-houses and the casino attracted many visitors from home and abroad.
It was worse after 1945. Whereas the region had already been used for purposes other than recreation because of the war, towards the end of the great inferno it became a front-line area for a lengthy period of time, and during the years of occupation it also suffered serious damage. But the "Südbahnhotel" reopened in 1948 and "Panhans" a year later. Between 1956 and 1958 the Semmering road was expanded again and then replaced by a new route
