Bad Ischl

At the turn of the last century, Bad Ischl was the place to recuperate in nearby forests, traditional alpine meadows, mountain peaks, or to enjoy a summer's holiday.

Cures for respiratory and cardiovascular ailments have been successfully used there for over 175 years. The first to make medicinal use of the salt baths of Ischl was Dr. Josef Götz, who opened his first bathing salon there in 1823. He communicated his discovery to Professor Franz de Paula Augustin Wirer of the world-famous Vienna Medical School. Wirer, who was Rector of Vienna University and personal physician to Austrian Emperor Franz I, enthusiastically adopted the new treatment for his prominent imperial patients.

The Habsburg Archduke Franz Karl and his wife Sophie, of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty, visited Ischl regularly. After their marriage the imperial couple had waited two years in vain for children, who would be the heirs to the Habsburg throne. Court physician Dr. Wirer recommended the saline baths of Ischl as a therapeutic treatment. She began taking regular health cures in Ischl and gave birth to the future Emperor Franz Josef in 1830.

With the Royalty taking their cures in Ischl, the remote salt village became a fashionable spa and the whole region developed into a huge recreational landscape. A summer residence there was from then on a social "must", not merely for the greatest names of the Austrian empire, but also for the crowned heads and nobility of Europe. In 1853, Bad Ischl was the very place where Franz Joseph met his future wife.

Archduchess Sophie organized a birthday ball for her oldest son and Duchess Ludovica of Bavaria attended the festivity together with her two beautiful daughters Helene and Elisabeth. The story gave rise to the enormously successful Sisi films, a highly romanticised bio-pic of the Empress Elizabeth of Austro-Hungary who was lovingly dubbed “Sisi”.

Today, Bad Ischl still is one of the country's most fashionable spas. The town still reflects a certain imperial conceit in its architecture, much of it left over from the heyday of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. One may stroll through the resort and experience old traditions as they were long ago, but now carefully renovated and modernized.

Tourismusverband Bad Ischl

Auböckplatz 5, 4820 Bad Ischl
Tel.: +43 (0)6132 27757
Fax: +43 (0)6132 27757-77

e-Mail: office@badischl.at
Web: http://www.badischl.com

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