Collection Figdor

Important handicrafts made of metal are on display in the cellar vault of Leogang Mining Museum. They come from the former collection of Dr. Albert Figdor of Vienna. The archaic wrought-iron animal figures bear a special relation to Leogang. They were originally made as votive gifts for St. Leonard, the patron saint of farmers and carters, cattle, prisoners and miners. The devotion of miners to St Leonard goes back to a legend that the saint once freed a prisoner from a dungeon. In the certainty of God\\\'s help and of intercession by Our Lady and St John, there was a tendency from the middle ages on to rely also on the intercession of saints. The miners who lived and worked in close-knit communities formed Christian brotherhoods and took part in processions and pilgrimages, as well as building churches and donating ex-votos.