Lake Altaussee

The Altausseer See lies in a closed bowl under the Trisselwand and the Loser in the Styrian Salzkammergut, about two square kilometres of very clear cold water with a level path running the whole way round in about two hours. The village has been a salt town since the Middle Ages, and the mine in the mountain above is the reason the place appears in twentieth-century history: from 1943 the Nazis used the worked-out chambers, which hold a stable temperature and humidity, to store art looted across Europe - thousands of works including the Ghent Altarpiece and Michelangelo's Bruges Madonna - and the mine was mined with explosives at the end of the war before local miners and others prevented the demolition. The mine runs tours covering both the salt and that history.

History

Like other lakes of the inner Salzkammergut, Altaussee had a dam at its outlet for floating timber, which held back water to drive logs down the Traun; it is first recorded in the forest survey of 1561, was rebuilt in wood in 1633 and in dressed stone from 1781, and a boom to gather the logs is said to date from around 1300. The last timber drive on the Altaussee Traun was in 1882, the dam was probably swept away by a flood in 1899, and the last traces of the boom were removed when the shore was strengthened after the floods of 1897 and 1899; the shores and wetlands have been protected since 1959 (Wikipedia, Lake Altaussee).

Highlights

• A clear closed-bowl lake - under the Trisselwand, walkable right round.
• The salt mine tours - the working chambers and their wartime use.
• The art depot story - where looted European works were stored and nearly destroyed.
• A shore path - level, about two hours for the full circuit.

When to go

May to October for the lake; the mine runs most of the year. Half a day.

Good to know

The water is very cold even in high summer. Mine tours book out in season and go underground at around eight degrees - bring a layer. Village parking is limited.

Nearby

Bad Aussee, the Grundlsee and Hallstatt are all close.

Key facts