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In the Habsburg monarchy, people didn’t just go on vacation, they went on summer retreats. This often week-long relaxation in the countryside, at the lake or by the sea was a specialty of the old Austria. Aristocrats and wealthy bourgeoisie traveled to the countryside with the comforts of the city and combined the advantages of well-kept nature with urban sociability. The Salzkammergut, Lake Wörthersee, Trieste and Abbazia are just a few of the old Austrian dream destinations.
New means of transportation made faster travel possible
The multi-ethnic empire of the Habsburgs represented a culturally and socially unique cosmos. The nostalgic glorification of this era began even before the end of the Habsburg Empire and continues to this day, especially in places associated with one of the most beautiful achievements of the Danube Monarchy – the summer resort. This documentary shows all the facets of this summer pleasure, which was primarily enjoyed by the aristocracy and upper middle classes, with its roots in the Biedermeier period and which was indulged in – albeit on a more modest scale – until the interwar period: from the most popular destinations of bygone days to the special travel culture and the means and routes of transportation.

The fin de siècle became the pinnacle of the summer retreat. People traveled to the countryside with the comforts of the city in order to combine the advantages of well-kept nature and urban conviviality in an open-air salon. People raved about Trieste, the Riva in Pola and the mild climate of Abbazia. Back then, people discovered Lago di Garda and Lake Wörthersee and conquered the peaks of the Alps. Travel in the old Austria was inextricably linked to the development of the empire’s transport infrastructure.
The Salzkammergut is considered the cradle of the summer resort. The spa business on Lake Traunsee was deeply connected with the Austrian imperial family and its proximity to Ischl, where Emperor Franz Joseph spent his summers. To this day, places like Gmunden have managed to retain much of the flair of days gone by. While members of the national and international aristocracy dominated at Lake Traunsee, the rest of the Salzkammergut was soon developed by the upper middle classes.