Summer retreat in Salzkammergut

The most beautiful time in Austria

"We travelled so slowly because of the beautiful area that we have only been here for two days," writes Alexander von Humboldt, German explorer and the greatest naturalist of his time, after a journey from Linz across Upper Austria to Salzkammergut in 1797.

So it is not surprising that the oldest roots of the summer retreat lie in this region. From as early as the beginning of the 19th century, city dwellers would move into their summer residences on Traunsee or one of the many other lakes for the warmer months.

For Upper Austria’s Salzkammergut, the summer retreat becomes economically significant, as Emperor Franz Joseph regularly sojourns at Bad Ischl from the middle of the 19th century on and out of the 86 summers of his life, only three does he not spend here. Empress "Sisi" is also said to have fallen in love not only with the emperor but also with the region on her first stay.

The elite of Viennese society - artists, doctors, politicians and industrialists - attach great importance to being close to their monarch, even in the summer. Above all, the Jewish bourgeoisie feel a high level of connection to the Habsburg monarchy and Austria. People would proudly don traditional costume and spend several months near Bad Ischl with their wife, children and staff in tow, transforming the salt town of Gmunden and its surroundings into a stylish little Vienna-by-the-lake.

Of course, people would still work during their summer retreat and this or that deal would be made in a relaxed atmosphere with a view of the blue water of the lakes.

The presence of the emperor opens the door to the wide world for Bad Ischl. Personalities such as Marie von Ebner Eschenbach, Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms, Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Gustav Mahler as well as numerous foreign monarchs spend their summer retreat in Salzkammergut.

This is the beginning of an early kind of tourism, which is still of significant economic importance in the region today. In the 20th century, visitors include Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings, Susi Nicoletti, Alfred Gerstenbrand, Karl Heinrich Waggerl as well as Hannelore and Helmut Kohl. And even today, Bad Ischl is a meeting place for the aristocracy, especially in August, on the occasion of the emperor's birthday.