Museums
Kaiservilla
Inside the rooms of the Kaiservilla, the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy comes back to life. Travel back in time and experience the atmosphere of the time.
Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Sisi spent around 60 summers here. On display are mementos such as his unique collection of hunting trophies, with his private quarters too open to visitors. Tip: take a look inside the photo museum with its varied exhibitions
Opening hours: until the end of October from 9.30 until 16.45, tours every 30 minutes.
Photography Museum in the Marmorschlößl
If you look upwards from the Kaiservilla, you will see hidden behind trees on a hill in the north-west of the Kaiserpark the Marmorschlößl. This romantic castle was built for Empress Elisabeth, and was her private retreat or 'Tea House'. It was also the place where she met her closest friends, and where she wrote her poems.
Opening hours: April until the end of October from 9.30 until 16.45, tours every 30 minutes.
Photography Museum in the Marmorschlößl
Housed in the former hotel in which the engagement took place between Emperor Franz Joseph and Sisi and located directly on the Esplanade, the museum describes the past and present history of Bad Ischl.
The museum is unique, open all year, and is an important cultural and tourist attraction in Bad Ischl. It recounts the history of the Salzkammergut and Bad Ischl in particular in an impressive, entertaining and scientific way, and also describes various historical events of international importance.
Special exhibitions such as the crib exhibition at Christmas time add to the museum's attraction.
Lehár Villa
This striking villa is situated on the right bank of the Train and is where Franz Léhar lived and wrote his famous operettas. The rooms have been left totally unchanged. Numerous gifts from admirers as well as personal items serve as reminders of the villa's former inhabitant. Sophie Lehar's apartment has been carefully restored and now includes three additional rooms dedicated to operetta composers Franz Lehar and Oscar Straus. Also open to visitors in the villa is the Red Living Room and the bathroom.
Opening hours: 1 May to 30 September between 10.00 and 17.00, closed on Tuesdays
Museum of Vehicle Engineering
The collection in the Museum of Vehicle Engineering provides an overview of the technical developments over the last few decades in the fields of civil, military and agricultural engineering.
For fans of model construction, the museum also includes a small collection of lovingly-constructed and painted vehicle models.
Once a month (between April and October) an informal market is held in the parking lot of the museum, where vehicle engineering enthusiasts meet to trade items and exchange experiences.
On 4 October, 2008 it will be the scene of the 33rd Salzkammergut Old-timer Vehicle Parts Market, with cars, motorcycles, scooters and spare parts for all vehicle makes on offer.
Anzenaumühle Open-Air Adventure Museum
Between the old salt market town of Lauffen and the health resort of Bad Goisern lies Anzenaumühle Open-Air Museum. The museum consists of a farmhouse divided up into a residential part and a stable, as well as an adjoining mill and sawmill. The mill, bakery and smoking kitchen were still being worked until 1960. The bread once known as "Anzenaumühlnerbrot" is still baked here from time to time as a reminder of the olden days.
Opening hours: May to September
Gmundner ceramics – fire, clay and earth
Just like 300 years ago, ceramics are still manufactured by hand at the Gmunder Ceramics Factory.
Each item from the factory is therefore unique and fulfils all the contemporary requirements for ceramics.
During the guided tours of the factory, visitors can look over the shoulders of the potters and ceramic artists and see at first hand how a lump of clay is transformed into a hand-painted and unique Gmunder ceramic item. Before it reaches the customer, each item is handled more than 60 times.
Interesting sights that date back to the time of the monarchy
Memorial to Archduke Rudolf, Prince Bishop of Olmütz, in the Rudolfspark
This monument was constructed after the death of the archduke in 1831. The park surrounding the monument was named the "Rudolf Garden". The steam baths opened in 1836 were also named after him. They stood at the site where the left wing of the Kaiser-Therme now stands and were pulled down in 1930.
Other reminders of Rudolf include the Rudolfsbrunnen fountain in Kaltenbach near the base station of the Katrin cable railway. With its 5-metre-high water jet, it was once one of the resort's main attractions. The fountain was constructed in 1825, when the archbishop was recovering from a debilitating illness in Ischl.
In 1830 Wirer had a tree-lined boulevard constructed in the town, the "Sophiens-Esplanade", and a commemorative stone put up for the Archduchess, the mother of Emperor Kaiser Franz Joseph I.
In 1841 a patient who made a successful recovery at the resort paid for a cast zinc statue of Fortuna holding the ball of luck in her left hand to be constructed at the start of the Esplanade (next to the bridge). It stands on a marble plinth inscribed with the following:
The say the greatest blessing alive
is to be healthy;
I disagree.
An ever greater blessing is to regain one's health.
At the other (former) end of the Esplanade stands a small column with the inscription "Franz Carl Promenade" (next to the Café Zauner).
The monument to Franz Paula de Wirer stands in the Kurpark, previously called the Wirerspark. The larger-than-life bust of Wirer is enveloped in a toga. The stork in the background is a reminder of the fact that women have come to Bad Ischl over the centuries to cure themselves among other things of infertility. The monument was unveiled in the presence of Wirer on 18 July, 1839.
