Bad Ischl ...
... spa, salt and romance
Quote of the week
It’s a good idea always to do something relaxing before making an important decision in your life. – Paulo Coelho
Bad Ischl is a spa town in Upper Austria, at the river Traun, and in the centre of the romantic and beautiful Salzkammergut region. We arrived on a hot day in August to visit the famous town. We found a parking for our van in the middle of the city, close to everything we wanted to see, reachable by foot. The parking could also be used for staying over night.
Bad Ischl’s oldest history goes back to the Hallstatt culture (12th to 6th century BC). Its importance grew when a salt mine was opened here in mid 16th century. In the early 19th century salt had become popular also in medicine in Continental Europe, which turned the town into a fashionable spa resort. Many prominent visitors have enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. The romantic part of its history happened in 1853 when Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I met Elisabeth (Sissi) of Bavaria. He was supposed to be engaged with her sister, but fell high over heels in love with Elisabeth. However romantic their meeting seems to have been, the marriage was an unhappy one. Maybe she should have followed Coelho’s advice above?
“Marriage is an absurd institution. One is sold as a fifteen-year-old child and makes a vow one does not understand and then rues for thirty years or more and cannot undo.”
Elisabeth on marriage; source: Hamann, Brigitte: Elisabeth. Kaiserin wider Willen, München 1981, p. 85
The Kaiservilla (Imperial villa)
Next to the parking place we found the entrance to the Kaiservilla and park. This was the summer residence for the family and the house was given as a wedding present to the couple by the Emperor’s mother. The family enjoyed the months they spent here and the Emperor even called it “Heaven on Earth”. It is a beautiful villa and open to the public by a guided tour. Although luxurious for the time, it has a cosy and personal style so you can easily imagine to live there. Half of the house is now closed as it is the residence of Franz Joseph’s and Sissi’s great-grandson Archduke Markus Emanuel Salvator.
The tour took us to Franz Joseph’s office where he, on 28 July 1914, signed the declaration of war against the Kingdom of Serbia, one of the actions leading towards World War I. Shortly afterwards he left the villa, never to return. It was not allowed to take phots so unfortunately no images from the visit.
After the guided tour we enjoyed a coffee with cake in the outdoor cafe, overlooking the magnificent marble fountain in front of the house. The area around the fountain is decorated with sculptures from Chines artist Ai Weiwei, part of the exhibition of his works around the park. After coffee we strolled up the path to Empress Elisabeth’s Cottage. It was a wedding present from Franz Joseph, and built in 16th century Elizabethan (Tudor) style. A wonderful villa, surrounded by a veranda with ironwork, covered in vine. It has a very romantic character and one can understand that Sissi liked to spend her time here.
If you want to know more about the Habsburgs, Sissi and how Europe went to war in 1914, I can recommend three books I have reviewed on my blog.
The Habsburgs by Andrew Wheatcroft
The Lonely Empress by Joan Haslip
The Sleepwalkers - How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark
Lehár festival
This time of the year there is a Lehár festival in town. We did not have the opportunity to see one of his operettas, but got tickets for The Begging Student by Carl Millöcker, his greatest masterpiece. It was a pleasure to listen to the light and engaging music of the Austrian operettas from the 19th century. It was performed in the ‘Kongresshalle’.
Breakfast at café Zauner
The next day started with a breakfast at Café Zauner. A traditional famous Austrian coffeehouse. The Austrians are famous for their coffee house culture and it is a fantastic experience to go to one of these places. In Vienna there are a lot of famous ones. I wrote about that the coffee culture in an earlier newsletter on the subject: The pleasure of a cup of coffee, or let’s take a fika. We had a wonderful breakfast with a variety of typical things to eat to enjoy the early morning meal. The Imperial style of the café took you back to past times.
To be continued
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That villa is lovely but I like Elisabeth's cottage best. Your breakfast looks wonderful. YOu're sure that was breakfast? Wow~