Bad Ischl

Bad Ischl (Austrian German baːt ˈɪʃl̩) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the river Traun in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden Ahorn, Bad Ischl, Haiden, Jainzen, Kaltenbach, Lauffen, Lindau, Pfandl, Perneck, Reiterndorf and Rettenbach. It is connected to the village of Strobl by the river Ischl, which drains from the Wolfgangsee, and to the Traunsee, into which the stream empties. It is home to the Kaiservilla, summer residence of Austro-Hungarian monarchs Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth. In 2024, Bad Ischl will be one of the European Capitals of Culture – the third city in Austria after Graz (2003) and Linz (2009). Humans have lived in the Bad Ischl area since the time of the pre-historic Hallstatt culture; documentary evidence of the settlement dates from a 1262 deed, it which it appears as Iselen. In 1419 Archduke Albert V of Austria established the local seat of the Salt Chamber (Salzkammer) at Wildenstein Castle, and Ischl was granted the privileges of a market town in 1466 by Emperor Frederick III. A first salt mine was opened in 1563, a salt evaporation pond ( Saline) followed in 1571. When in the early part of the 19th century brine became medically popular in Continental Europe, Ischl soon turned into a fashionable spa resort - notable guests included Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich (1773-1859), Archduke Rudolf of Austria (1788-1831) and Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (1802-1878). The Hotel Post, opened in 1828, was the first one in the whole Salzkammergut area. In 1849 Franz Karl's son, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria chose the town for his summer residence. On 19 August 1853 the engagement between Franz Joseph and Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi) took place at the Seeauerhaus, Esplanade No. 10, which since 1989 has been the location of the Museum der Stadt Bad Ischl. In 1854, the Emperor's mother, Archduchess Sophie, gave him the Kaiservilla (Imperial Villa) as a wedding present.