Bad Ischl, like the other salt-mining communities of the Salzkammergut region, has a lengthy history as a centre for producing the "white gold". The name Ischl is derived from the Celtic Iscla or Iscula, which appears in a document of the year 829 as the name of the river that runs past the Imperial Villa. Salt mining has been the central economic activity from prehistoric times right to the present day. For at least three thousand years the salt was mined by hand, and then, at considerable risk to life and limb, transported in flimsy boats down the fast-flowing River Traun to Lake Traun and the Danube.
The first reports recorded describing the beauty of the Salzkammergut region dates back to the end of the 18th century. The noble Viennese doctor Franz de Paula Augustin Wirer, was drawn by the beauty of the area's mountains and decided to take up residence in the heart of the Salzkammergut region. At the time, this virgin area was known for its brine baths which were prescribed to the salt mine workers and had amazing therapeutic results. Since brine was abundant in Ischl, Dr. Wirer and a local physician Josef Götz decided to introduce healing baths in the town. Healing baths were becoming very fashionable and so the two doctors became very successful. Dr. Wirer had an excellent reputation in Vienna and was often called to the Emperor's sick bed. As a result, in the summers the royal family followed him to Ischl. He received the title of "Hofrat" and was appointed the Archduke's personal physician.
For over two years, the Archduke Franz Karl and the Princess Sophie struggled to conceive a child. Dr. Wirer suggested to the royal family that the brine baths would promote fertility and after a prolonged stay at the health resort, Princess Sophie gave birth to a son in 1830 whom she named Franz Josef. In the summer of 1831 Archduke Franz Karl and Archduchess Sophie brought their infant son Franz Josef to Ischl, where he celebrated his first birthday - and another 80 birthdays in the following years. To this day, the Emperor's Birthday is commemorated in Ischl with great ceremony on 18 August every year. That baby was to succeed his childless uncle Ferdinand in 1848 as Emperor Franz Josef I and ruler over all the far-flung crown lands of the Austrian Monarchy. But almost every summer of Franz Josef's 86 years was "a heavenly sojourn in Ischl", in his own words.
In 1853, twenty-five years after the birth of Franz Josef, his mother gave a ball in his honor to celebrate his birthday. She invited the Duchess Ludovica of Bavaria and her daughters, Helene and Elisabeth. At this event, Elisabeth and Franz Josef met and fell in love. The day after the birthday ball they were engaged. From this time on, the imperial court spent its summers in Bad Ischl and turned the health resort into the political focus of the time. It was here, in Bad Ischl, that Franz Josef signed the treaty that sparked World War I.
The Imperial Villa in Ischl, the Emperor's summer residence, was described by Franz Josef I as "heaven on earth" for himself and his family.
The Villa was originally a wedding present from his mother, Archduchess Sophie, on the occasion of his marriage in 1854 to his teenage Bavarian cousin Elisabeth. Their engagement had taken place in Ischl the previous year. "Sisi", as she was known to the family, became renowned as Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, the most famous beauty of the 19th century, and still fascinates a world-wide public. Franz Josef built a personal Cottage for her in the Imperial Park in English 16th-century "Elizabethan" style. The Villa and its estate are still redolent with memories of Elisabeth.
The Imperial Villa was also a stage on which the great powers of the 19th century carried out their diplomatic manoeuvrings. It was here, on 28 July 1914, that Franz Josef signed the declaration of war on Serbia that was to escalate into two global conflicts and change the world.
Still a haven of peace and tranquillity, and still occupied by the Habsburg descendants of Franz Josef and Elisabeth, the Imperial Villa retains the ambience of a bygone age in the 19th century, and its association with great people and events. It does not take much imagination to visualise the crowned heads and major statesmen of the world who were received here, or the world-famous composers, writers and artists who flocked to Ischl in the wake of the Emperor's court during the decades of that glorious Indian summer of imperial Austria around the year 1900. This website tells the story.
The Lehártheater is one of the oldest theatres in Austria. It is exclusively booked for concerts.
Every year in August Bad Ischl hosts a gala concert commemorating the birthday of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria at the Kongresshaus. Enjoy orchestral works and anecdotes from the time of the Emperor, as well as a tribute to the composers Ralph Benatzky and Emmerich Kálmán.
At the Art-Deco-Salon at "Zauner", the famous pastry shop (founded in 1832), you are surprised with sweet delicacies and a musical highlight - operetta melodies.
