18 August in Bad Ischl - the birthday of Kaiser Franz Josef

Kaiser Franz Josef and his brothers owe their appearance in this world to Bad Ischl

After five unsuccessful pregnancies the physician recommended the saline baths of Ischl as a therapeutic treatment to Sophie, the wife of Archduke Franz Karl. After various treatments in Ischl, Sophie bore four sons. Because Sophie's first three sons arrived only after she had begun taking regular health cures in Ischl, they were popularly known, even in court circles, as the "salt princes".

The future Emperor Franz Josef was born in Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna  on 18 August 1830.

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.  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.

To this day, the Emperor’s Birthday is commemorated in Ischl with great ceremony on 18 August every year, with red carpets on the streets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fauna of Salzkammergut

Small and big, all very different and not all of them get into the pictures-some prefer to hide....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music in St. Wolfgang

Music is an indispensible part of St. Wolfgang.

Twice a week on Thursday and Saturday there are concerts in the main square. There are two bands in the village-"the green ones" and "the blue ones" (by the color of the uniform). As they come from diffrent professions (playing music is their hobby though they do it very professionally) their styles of performance are different and the choice of plays is different too. As they play, little kids always step in front to dance, amusing the public, and it is always a special fun to follow the band as they leave the square and march to the premises of the fire brigade to leave their instruments.

Summer Nights are held on a bi-weekly basis and several groups play in different corners of the village.

Concerts of classical music are given by the "Salzkammergut Salon Quintet" established and run by Mr. Franz Zimmerman who also founded the Wolfgangsee marathon which has by now become a long-lasting tradition. The musicians play wonderful music and Mr. Zimmerman who introduces the misic pieces speaks German and English and has a very elegant sense of humor. They play every Tuesday in the Michael Pacher Haus.

An Operetta Evening is another opportunity to listen to the music on a Friday night, also in the Michael Pacher Haus. The program of the first part changes from week to week, but the second part is always the same - pieces from the "Im Weissen Rossl"  (the "White Horse Inn") operetta the action of which is set the White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang.

 

  

 

 

Koppenwinkel

Koppenwinkel  is a small, clear lake, fed by water rising from the ground sources.

The unsuaul thing about it is that it gets filled with water only in spring. In winter there is no water in it.
Koppenwinkel is a  "Glücksplatz"- it was classified as one of the Places of Happiness in Salzkammergut.

It takes about 30 minutes to walk there from the center of Obertraun (the supermarket), or 10 minutes by bike .