‘Frozen’ village in Austria begging tourists to go away: ‘We live here’

nypost.com:

reports the Sunday Times.According to Mayor Alexander Scheutz, the usually quiet village of 750 permanent residents is being taken over by a whopping 7,000 additional visitors every day who want to snap selfies with Lake Hallstatt and the Dachstein Mountains, which allegedly served to inspire settings in the Disney film.The Post reached out to Scheutz for comment.The town, which is noted for its natural beauty, became a Unesco World Heritage site in 1997.But the protection never bothered Instagram-obsessed visitors anyway.Scheutz revealed that increased foot traffic during peak travel times has left several residents wishing the tourists would “let it go” and move on from the little town.Resident Andrea Zimmerman, who lives above the selfie hotspot, claimed that the crowds of people and the noise level have drastically affected both her and her husband’s health.“I am really concerned about my husband.

He had to go back and see the doctors again, he now has problems with his heart,” Zimmerman told the ORF TV network. “And with me, the gastritis is coming back.

So, psychologically, things are going really badly for us.”In an effort to curb the exploding tourism, Scheutz erected wooden “privacy screens” that blocked the breathtaking view, claiming to Upper Austrian News that the best thing to do was to eliminate the sight altogether.However, the local populace resented this plan and took to social media to blast the official’s decision, forcing Scheutz to backtrack on the screens.“It was just a tryout,” said Scheutz in a statement. “We discussed it in the municipal council.

But the plan has now been discarded, there will be no such privacy screen in Hallstatt.”According to the mayor, the wooden screens have been replaced.