The history of Bad Ischl

The village was first mentioned in a document in 1262 as "Ischelen provincia", but there is evidence that the area of today's Bad Ischl was already inhabited in the Hallstatt and La Tène periods. Individual artefacts have also been found from Roman times, such as a gravestone that can be seen today on the outer wall of the Catholic parish church.
The name "Salzkammergut" was first mentioned for the area around Ischl in 1656 and refers to a region that was of particularly high economic value to the Habsburgs due to its salt mining.

Ischl experienced a boom as a spa town in the 1820s, when doctors first sent guests here for treatment and relaxation. The phenomenal spa success of Archduchess Sophie and her husband Franz Carl meant that the market soon became one of the most popular health resorts in the monarchy. From then on, a summer holiday in Ischl was a social "must". Noble hotels and country houses were built and the infrastructure developed rapidly to meet the demands of the spoilt guests.
From 1849 to 1914, Ischl was the summer residence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and experienced a social and cultural heyday. In 1853, Franz Joseph became engaged to Elisabeth (Sisi) in the Seeauerhaus, today's museum of the town of Bad Ischl. As a wedding present, the couple were given a summer villa - later to become the Imperial Villa.

World history was written in Bad Ischl on 28 July 1914. Emperor Franz Joseph wrote the manifesto "To my people" in the imperial villa, in which he declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia. This was to be the beginning of the First World War.
Apart from a bomb dropped on Perneck, Bad Ischl survived the two world wars unscathed.
Incidentally, the "Bad" has only been part of the town's name since 1906, when it was elevated to the status of a town in 1940.

Bad Ischl's fortunes have always been guided by white gold. "In sale et in sole omnia consistunt" ("Everything is based on salt and the sun") can be read as an inscription on the Ischl drinking hall. No wonder, as the history of salt goes back a long way: due to its proximity to Hallstatt, the oldest salt mine in the world, trade in the white gold flourished early on.

In 1821, the Viennese physician Dr Franz Wirer came to Ischl and learned about the successes of the saltworks physicist Dr Josef Götz, who had been testing the effects of brine baths on sick saltworks workers since 1807. The following year, the first 40 or so (foreign) spa guests arrived. 1823 can be regarded as the actual founding year of the first Ischl spa. The brine bathing parlour (Tänzelbad) built by the saltworks treasurer Michael Tänzl in his house on the River Traun had to be extended after just two years. Many of the first spa guests were high-ranking personalities and so it was that in 1824 the then State Chancellor Prince Metternich was welcomed to the small market town in the Salzkammergut.

Ischl soon rose to become a spa town of European importance. Due to the growing number of spa guests every year, Franz and Magdalena Koch built the first hotel in the Salzkammergut, the Posthof, in 1827. The theatre was also built at this time.
The stay of Archduchess Sophie and her husband Franz Carl was a decisive event for the future of the spa town. On the advice of Dr Wirer, they both took advantage of the mineral brine baths in Ischl. The cure was so successful that the previously childless imperial family soon had the offspring they had longed for. The first son and later Emperor Franz Joseph. Maximilian, the future Emperor of Mexico, followed two years later. Karl Ludwig was born in 1833 and Ludwig Viktor in 1842. They went down in history as the "salt princes" because they owed their existence to the Ischl salt water cure.

In addition to the imperial family, a number of famous artists also chose Ischl as their summer residence. Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss, Johannes Brahms and Franz Lehár, among others, regularly spent their summer holidays here. Many of them probably also sought to be close to the local court, apart from the various cures.
The uniqueness of the landscape and the many opportunities for country walks and mountain tours were at least as important as the health cures for those seeking relaxation. The townscape of Ischl changed enormously at this time. The poor village became a spa and health resort with an urban character that was known the world over. Spas, noble hotels and elegant summer villas now characterised the centre.
After Ischl had already received the word "Bad" in its name in 1906, the market town was recognised as a spa town by the provincial government in 1920.

The Bad Ischl Operetta Festival was founded in 1961 under the name "Internationale Gesellschaft - die Operette". Bad Ischl, where many representatives of the golden and silver operetta had their summer residence, was the most suitable place to pay homage to operetta. Franz Lehár, honorary citizen of the town, wrote his great world successes here.

Mayor Franz Müllegger and director Josef Flandera were in charge in the early days. Professor Eduard Macku took over as musical and artistic director and artistic director, holding these positions until 1995 and consolidating the great success of the Ischl Operetta Festival. A few years after its foundation, the company was transformed into an association, which today has around 300 members.
What started out as concert performances has evolved over the years into staged performances. Bad Ischl became more and more important as an operetta town and became part of the international festival calendar.

During all these years, the Kurhaus in Bad Ischl was available for performances. Although not an ideal theatre, the intimacy of the space was popular with audiences.
After two years of extensive renovation, the new Kongress & TheaterHaus was officially opened in 1999 with Franz Lehár's "Paganini". Taking into account the historical structure of the building, a theatre space was created with an orchestra pit, understage, laced floors and all the necessary ancillary rooms, allowing the Bad Ischl Operetta Festival to take on major challenges in the new millennium.
Dr Michael Lakner took over the directorship and management on 19 January 2004. He renamed the festival the "Lehár Festival Bad Ischl". This has given Bad Ischl an unmistakable image as a festival town in addition to its reputation as an imperial city.
Awards such as the nomination for "Opera House of the Year 2006" in the trade magazine OPERNWELT, as well as for "Best Overall Performance of a Stage 2006" due to the competent programme of the LFBI in the trade magazine "DIE DEUTSCHE BÜHNE" in August 2006 and finally the German Record Critics' Award 2006 for the CD production of the Lehár operetta "EVA" shown at the Lehár Festival 2005 are striking proof of the high artistic level of the festival.

On 25 October 2011, the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl was presented with the Salzkammergut Award for special tourism achievements to coincide with its 50th anniversary as part of the "120 years of the Salzkammergut Transport Association" jubilee.

With the Ischl premiere of the musical classic "MY FAIR LADY" and the long-awaited revival of "DIE UNGARISCHE HOCHZEIT" by operetta hero Nico Dostal, the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl celebrated a festival summer with 22,000 enthusiastic visitors in 2015.

In place of Dr Michael Lakner, who will take over as artistic director of Bühne Baden from May 2017, Thomas Enzinger was introduced as the new artistic director in summer 2016.

Construction of the Kurtheater began in 1826 on the site provided by Dr Franz Wirer. The grand opening took place on 28 April 1827 with a "festive dilettante performance of Kotzebues, der blinde Gärtner". On 1 November, Ischl took over the theatre, which was later affectionately referred to as the "little castle". After an extension in 1865, the theatre could seat around 400 people at performances.

In the second half of the 19th century, the Ischl theatre became a remarkable jewel in the Austrian theatre landscape. From 1827 to 1947, regular theatre and operetta performances took place during the summer months.
The theatre offered a balanced, almost metropolitan repertoire. The repertoire ranged from plays to operas and operettas. From the works of Ferdinand Raimund and Bauernfeld to Grillparzer's "Sappho" and Anzengruber's "Pfarrer von Kirchfeld", the premiere of Schnitzler's "Anatol", from Rossini and Nicolai's "Lustige Weibern" to Konradin Kreutzer's "Nachtlager" and Kalman, the programme also included plays by Oscar Straus and Robert Stolz.

The presence of members of the aristocracy, and later the Emperor and his court, made the theatre increasingly interesting for both the audience and the actors.
Artistic greats such as Max Devrient, Johann Nestroy, Alexander Girardi, Josefine Gallmeyer, Hansi Niese and Katharina Schratt, to name but a few, appeared on stage at the Ischl theatre. Johann Strauss and Franz Lehár were among those who conducted several times.

During the two world wars, theatre performances became less and less popular and so the first film was shown in 1921. After the Second World War, the "Bad Ischler Künstlergemeinschaft" provided a final highlight. Theo Lingen, Siegfried Breuer, Paul Kemp, Susi Nicoletti and Lotte Lang performed. Hilde Wagener and O.W. Fischer made guest appearances and there was a song recital with Maria Cebotari.

Edmund Eysler's "Goldene Meisterin" was performed for the last time in 1947.
Most of the theatre is still in its original state today. The exterior of the theatre was partially altered by the demolition of the courtyard entrance in Kaiser-Franz-Josef Straße next to the Hotel Post and the addition of a sports shop. The auditorium was reduced from 3 to 2 tiers.
Today, the theatre is used as a cinema for the town of Bad Ischl and as a venue for readings, concerts, cabaret and theatre performances.

The Lehár Theatre has been closed since 2020 and is to be rebuilt and renovated.