Christkindl

The church at Christkindl was built between 1702 and 1725 by Giovanni Battista Carlone and Jakob Prandtauer around a small wax figure of the Christ child that a choirmaster from Steyr had set into a spruce tree after recovering from illness, and which drew pilgrims; the tree stump is still under the high altar. From 1950 a seasonal post office has operated in the village, opening at the end of November and closing on 6 January, franking mail with a Christkindl postmark and running a reply service to children's letters - it handles millions of items a year from across the world, sent in specifically to carry the mark. There is also a large mechanical nativity, the Pöttmesser crib, with hundreds of moving carved figures.

What you actually see

• A tree stump under the altar - the spruce the wax figure was set into.
• The Christkindl post office - open late November to 6 January, franking world mail.
• A mechanical nativity - hundreds of carved moving figures in the Pöttmesser crib.
• A Prandtauer and Carlone church - built round the shrine between 1702 and 1725.

When to go

Late November to early January for the post office; the church is open all year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The post office runs for about six weeks only and queues in December. The village is tiny with almost nothing else. Parking in the season is difficult; walk or bus from Steyr.

Nearby

Steyr's old town is three kilometres away; the Enns and Steyr rivers meet there.