Gmund in Karnten

Gmünd is a walled town of a few thousand people at the mouth of the Maltatal, with two castles - the old one ruined above and the newer Renaissance one in the town - a market square, gates and a wall largely intact. Its outsized claim is automotive: Ferdinand Porsche moved his design office here during the war and afterwards, and between 1948 and 1950 the first cars badged as Porsche, the aluminium-bodied 356 series, were hand-built in a converted sawmill in Gmünd - about fifty of them - before production moved to Stuttgart. A private Porsche museum in the town holds cars and material from that period. The town has also positioned itself as an artists' town with workshops and galleries in the old buildings.

What you actually see

• The first Porsches - the hand-built Gmünd 356 cars of 1948 to 1950.
• A private Porsche museum - vehicles and material from the Carinthian years.
• An intact walled town - gates, wall and two castles in a small compass.
• Artists' workshops - galleries and studios in the old buildings.

When to go

April to October; the museum has seasonal hours. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The museum is private and modest by comparison with Stuttgart. The town is very small. The sawmill where the cars were built is not itself the museum site.

Nearby

The Maltatal and the Kölnbrein dam are up the valley; Spittal is south.