Gmunden Things to Do

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When in the Town Square, I couldn't help being drawn to the renaissance styled 16th century Town hall with its ceramic chimes from the famous Meissen factory, painted with the Gmunden pattern (green flames).
There are only 19 ceramic chimes worldwide, so its worth having a look at and staying for them to play

The Glockenspeil bells hang in the balcony of city hall facade.

What looked to me to be a Lighthouse, is the office for buying tickets to rent Electric boats, Paddle boats and sailing boats.

Boats can only be hired in fair weather from 9 -8pm from Friday to Sunday from May.

Electric boats cost 8 euro half hour, and 13.50 euro for an hour
Paddleboats cost 6 euro half hour and 9.50 for an hour.
Sailing Boats for a half day are 50 euro and a full day 70 - 90 euro.

It wasn't open for business, probably because the day wasn't the best.

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The day we were at Gmunden, the market was being held in the Market square. I always enjoy these, especially seeing the local food being cooked into different dishes for sale. There were a few stalls selling snacks, one of them was my photo. This lady had quite a queue and was doing a roaring business. Must be good food!

A trip on the Gisela (the oldest coal-fired paddle steamer in the world) is certainly a unique attraction in Gmunden. The 52-meter (170-foot) long Gisela was built in Vienna and then taken apart and transported to the Traunsee, where it was reassembled for its maiden voyage in 1872. It has been ploughing through the waters of the Traunsee ever since.

The Gisela even transported Emperor Franz Joseph to his cool summer retreat in the heart of the Salzkammergut region every year. (Gisela, not coincidentally, was the name of his first daughter.) In fact, the Habsburgs used it as a transport link between Vienna and Salzburg--at the time there were no roads between Gmunden and Bad Ischl--and an especially luxurious "Kaiserkabine" (Emperor's Cabin) was designed for their exclusive use.

It seemed in 1980 that the Gisela was soomed to an ignoble death as, dilapidated and rusting, it appeared in imminent danger of breaking up. Only an initiative of the Association of fFriends of Gmunden saved it fromt he scrap heap. First of all the ship was declared an historic moument. Later, when the necessary funds were allocated, it was restored to its original grandeur. My brother-in-law worked on rebuilding the engine in the mid-80's. He and his fellow students at the time, were assigned this task in their engineering department.

Traunsee is my favorite lake in Austria because there are so many nice mountains around. Gmunden is a nice village and on the townhall there are bells, making a melody several times every day, that is nice. I also like the old steam-boat on Traunsee, it is called Gisela.

Do not miss looking at this beautiful building in the town square. It is the Rathaus - Town Hall, and is the third in Gmunden's history.

The Town Hall (1756) with its beautiful stucco decoration, was once the centre of the salt trade. Above the second story there is the town's coat of arms, displaying the major characteristics of Gmunden, such as fish, a salt container, a mountain a green lake and a salt boat. Right at the top there is a clock flanked buy the red, white, red shield and the coat of arms of Upper Austria and the imperial double eagle.

The Schiller Linde Baum (Schiller Basswood tree) is one of the most prominent trees along Gmunden's Esplanade and has special significance. I photographed it in the winter, and as such, I'll have to go back in summer to get a picture of it in bloom. There is an inscriptoin at the base of the tree which reads, "Was auch draus werde -steh' zu deinem Volk, Es ist dein angeborner Platz", which means, roughly translated, whatever happens, be true to your people, this is the place of your birth. It also states that the tree was planted in 1905.

This is one of the most popular summer resorts in the Salzkammergut, perched on the northern rim of the Traunsee with pine-green mountains forming the backdrop. Gmunden is located 169km (105 miles) southwest of Vienna, 40km (25 miles) southwest of Linz, and 76km (47 miles) northeast of Salzburg.

The lake beaches are some of the best in the whole area, and in summer you can enjoy a wide variety of lakeside activities, from swimming and sailing to windsurfing and water-skiing, as well as tennis and horseback riding. For the experienced, it's also possible to do a little mountain climbing. For those in the mood for less strenuous activity, there are folkloric performances and discos, or you can just relax in a wine tavern or an outdoor cafe. The tourist office will supply details.