It is on the northern shore of the Wolfgangsee lake (close to the towns of Strobl and St. Gilgen, both in the State of Salzburg) at the foot of the Schafberg mountain.

The railway and the church are among the many St. Wolfgang locations featured in Christmas with Flicka, a 1987 American-Austrian television film starring the operatic mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, which was shot entirely in the town and its environs.

According to legend he threw an axe down the mountain to find the site and even persuaded the Devil to contribute to the building by promising him the soul of the first living being ever to enter the church.

After Wolfgang's canonization in 1052, the church became a major pilgrimage site, as it was first mentioned in an 1183 deed by Pope Lucius III.

[4] St. Wolfgang can be reached via a branch of the B 158 Wolfgangsee Straße federal highway (Bundesstraße), running from the city of Salzburg to Bad Ischl.