Kaiservilla — Attraction in Bad Ischl

he earliest traceable ancestor of the Habsburg dynasty was a Count Guntram “the Rich”, whose name first appears in records dating from the year 952. The family name is derived from that of their original castle, the Habichtsburg (Hawk’s Castle), built around the year 1020 in what is now the Aargau Canton of northern Switzerland. The story that has been handed down in the family is that Guntram’s grandson Radbot, Count of Altenburg, one day lost his favourite hunting falcon (Habicht), and after a long search eventually found the bird near the top of the Wülpelsberg, a hill beside the river Aare. He immediately recognised the defensive potential of the strategic hilltop site, with its long-distance view in every direction, and as a result built his castle there in partnership with his brother-in-law, Wernher I, Bishop of Strasbourg.

merian_habsburg_1642_2About the year 1100 the name of the Habichtsburg, and of its owners, became shortened to the more convenient form of Habsburg, which was used throughout the family’s entire recorded history thereafter. The Habsburgs eventually lost the last of their Swiss lands (including the Habsburg castle) in the early 15th century, but their centre of interests had shifted eastwards to Austria long before. In 1273 Rudolf, Count of Habsburg, was elected German King. Five years later, after he had defeated Ottokar II, King of Bohemia, in a battle at Dürnkrut in Lower Austria on 26 August 1278, he took the Austrian lands under his own administration. Austria and its associated crown lands were ruled by Habsburgs from that date until 1918, an incredible dynastic reign of 640 years by a single family.

At the height of their power the Habsburgs ruled most of continental Europe (with the exception of France and Switzerland) from the Netherlands in the west to the Ukraine in the east, from Poland in the north to Italy and the Balkans in the south, as well as Spain and Portugal with their huge colonial empires in Africa, Latin America, the Pacific and Asia. This expansion throughout Europe was mostly achieved, not by conquest, but by a shrewd policy of dynastic marriages. In 1521 the Habsburg global empire was divided into Spanish and Austrian halves.

During almost six and a half centuries of Habsburg rule the dynasty produced no fewer than 18 emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (from Friedrich III in 1452 to Franz II in 1806, when the Empire came to an end) and of Austria (from Franz I in 1804 to Karl I in 1918) as well as innumerable kings, princes, dukes, archdukes, counts and other rulers of their far-flung imperial lands.

As with every other empire in history, though, its zenith marked the start of a decline. The Spanish Habsburg line died out in the year 1700. The Austrian line continued to rule the Holy Roman Empire (founded by Emperor Charlemagne a millennium earlier in the year 800). However, when Napoleon’s French armies were overrunning Europe at the start of the 19th century, Emperor Franz II in 1806 declared the Holy Roman Empire to be at an end. In 1804 he had already declared himself Franz I,...

Unfortunately i have to give this beautiful place a two star rating 👎🏾simply because the waiter who was there today dressed in a white shirt at the restaurant next to the entrance RUINED THE DAY FOR ME. I was looking forward all winter to finally visit this place in the summer and i wanted to see it before bringing my husband next time but i guess we won't be coming. We will go to Schönbrunn once more.

The man at the restaurant- He made no effort at all (by the way he could be the owner or some kind of manager not sure but he was working alone) and was just FLAT OUT UNNECESSARILY RUDE to me. It wasn't even busy just 2 tables with like 4 people total.

After paying for a walk in the park- i decided to sit down for a coffee- He was out smoking with a colleague and noticed me looking around for service but said NOTHING. I was circling the place for a good 3 minutes or so but he just giggled with a female companion (also dressed in white) he had been smoking with her as they watched me (They were making fun) A simple "I will be with you in a second" would be fine. We all understand when someone is on break. Some of us work too and understand the importance of breaks.

After he came- i politely greeted him and made it known to him that i was waiting and looking around for long (NO APOLOGY) Or even a polite,"Oh yeah- i saw you. Was not sure if you were a guest" Or something along those lines - he just reluctantly took my order.

In Austria it's standard practise to give coffee with water- I had to ask for the water. I let him know that i would be sitting outside on the terrace he clearly DID NOT WANT TO BRING THE COFFEE OUTSIDE- so he signalled me to take it myself.

I have my bag, my sun glasses and my hat all in my hand- i am paying for the coffee- the least he could do is bring it outside. So at this point i requested for a tray- where i could atleast carry both coffee and glass of water without breaking anything.

Not sure why i was treated like that but it was so impolite especially because i was RESPECTFUL, POLITE and spoke GOOD GERMAN as a sign of extra politeness.

If the management sees this comment - i think the man working service in the restaurant earlier today 3rd June 2023 at 3pm could do your name better justice. I felt very...

I visited this beautiful place with my English partner during our holiday in this region.

You need to pay for a guided tour if you want to visit the inside of the villa which was the home of the famous empress Sissi and her husband Emperor Franz Josef.

As we bought the tickets, we were told that the guided tour would be partly in German and partly in English. I am reasonably fluent in German but my partner doesn't speak a word of it.

When the guide was about to start, I asked again and he said that he will conduct the visit in German only. I said that in this case, I will translate to my partner from time to time. He said okay.

As I started to translate in English (very discreetly in my partner's ear, away from the guide), he asked me to stop as I was apparently disturbing him (I wasn't!). He said that my partner could ask questions in English at every break..How does it make sense to ask questions when you have not understood anything???

Utterly disappointed that they force you to pay extra for a guided tour in German, and then cannot be bothered to accommodate by explaining in English. The guide could speak English and we were 20% of the audience!

If Austria wants to attract foreign tourists (other than Germans), they will not achieve that with this kind of...