The kingdom of Arendelle, over which reigns Elsa, inspired by the eponymous character from the tale Frozen by Hans Christian Andersen published in 1844, exists! A magical place that is in Austria, and is actually called Hallstatt.
Christmas magic and Disney tales. The M6 channel has the good taste to broadcast this December 20, for the first time in clear, Frozen 2, sequel to the previous installment which had broken world box office records, bringing in 1.2 billion greenbacks. In France, the first film attracted no less than 5.1 million spectators.
Here is the trailer for “Frozen 2”, to get back into the (frozen) bath …
And when we talk about the Snow Queen, we necessarily think of the fairy and magical land of the kingdom of Arendelle, in the middle of the mountains. A place that makes toddlers dream, and not only elsewhere!
Imagine that this place really exists! Certainly not under that name. In fact, the writers were inspired, without officially saying it, from a small village in Austria called Hallstatt. It is located on the western shore of Lake Hallstättersee, in the Austrian mountainous region of Salzkammergut, at an altitude of 511m. Most of the shops are housed in Alpine houses dating from the 16th century. To the west, a path leads into the Echern Valley, known for its ice caves and the Waldbachstrub waterfall. In 1997, Hallstatt was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
An image is better than a long speech, here is the place in question, absolutely charming:
Even before being the inspiration for the Disney film, Hallstatt rose to fame in 2006 after appearing on a South Korean show. It even has its scale replica, inaugurated in 2012, in Huizhou, in the Chinese province of Guangdong …
But the worldwide success of Disney’s animated films has made Hallstatt’s notoriety worse. Since the release of the films, no less than 10,000 tourists have invaded the small town … Every day. Hell for the 765 inhabitants, who aspire to a little peace. As for the mayor of the village, Alexander Scheutz, he was reduced to asking – not to say begging – any visitors not to come, as reported in January 2020 a Guardian article…
“We want to reduce the number of tourists by at least a third, but we have no way of stopping them” said the mayor, which has nevertheless taken some measures such as closing certain access roads to dry up the flow a little. Tourists must go to the cash desk to use the public toilets installed, for € 1 per passage. Enough to bring in 150,000 € per year. Complicated to miss such a manna …
