Salzkammergut

The Salzkammergut lies on the Alpine chain at the borders of the federal provinces of Upper Austria, Salzburg and Styria and is noted for its numerous lakes and mountains.
As its name indicates, the region is famous for salt extraction and was a royal estate (Kammergut) owned by the Habsburg rulers. During the course of the nineteenth century, the Salzkammergut with its beautiful landscape developed into a tourist region where the social elites of the Habsburg Monarchy spent their summers, following the example of Emperor Franz Joseph, who spent his summer holidays in Bad Ischl.