An epileptic local bandmaster's miraculous recovery led to construction of 1725's echt-Barock, richly gilded Christkindl Pilgrimage Church, 3 km/1.86 mi southwest of the Steyr Innenstadt. Gaze high upward toward the dome fresco, a vision of the Assumption painted by Johann Carl von Reslfeld. Visitors come from far beyond for seasonal viewings of the parsonage's enormous Pöttmesser nativity scene (778 figures!) and a Biblical diorama populated by 300 linden-carved creatures, made mechanically movable by Karl Klauda's intricate system of bicycle chains, gears, and shafts. Deluged by mail during each year's Advent season, the village's tiny post office nevertheless manages to Christkindl-postmark more than two million cards and letters.
Right in town, a former hospital now houses Austria's first Christmas museum, displaying Elfriede Kreuzberger's collection of 14,000 Yuletide decorations dating from as early as 1830, plus doll houses and 200 puppets. As expected, a huge Tannenbaum fir tree stands at midpoint on the Stadtplatz, a setting (strung with thousands of lights) for caroling and trumpet concerts. Narrow, north-branching Enge Gasse ranks as Steyr's swankiest pedestrian lane, favored by shoppers for leather goods, fashion attire, and handicrafts.
