Ebensee
Encyclopedia
Ebensee is a market town
in the Traunviertel
region of the Austria
n state of Upper Austria
, located within the Salzkammergut Mountains at the southern end of the Traunsee
. The regional capital Linz
lies approximately 90 km (55.9 mi) to the north, nearest towns are Gmunden
and Bad Ischl
. The municipality also comprises the Katastralgemeinde
n of Langwies, Oberlangbath, Rindbach, Kohlstatt and Roith.
held by the House of Babenberg from 1192, until in 1254 King Ottokar II of Bohemia
finally allocated it to his Austrian duchy
. Ebensee itself was first mentioned in a 1447 deed.
From 1596 on Emperor Rudolph II of Habsburg
had a salt evaporation pond
erected near the settlement, supplied with brine
being delivered via a 40 km (24.9 mi) long pipeline from the salt mines around Hallstatt
. Ebensee therefore was the primary production centre for salt in Austria. Historically, the site was chosen because of the rich forests, whose wood was used to boil the salt out of the brine. In 1883 the Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay
established soda
works of the Solvay
company at Ebensee. Although a former industrial center in the larger Salzkammergut
region, it has recently fallen on bad fortunes with the closure of some of the larger factories.
research centre after the RAF Operation Hydra
attack. It was part of the Mauthausen network
. Slave laborers were worked to death digging tunnels for armaments storage. The camp was liberated by American soldiers in May 1945. Due to the extremely high death rates, Ebensee is considered one of the most horrific Nazi concentration camps.
Used as a Displaced Persons camp
after the war, the area is today site of a memorial and a museum.
, the Offensee and the Langbathsee. The Traunsee is large enough to be used for boating, while the other two lakes are smaller, surrounded by mountains, and used only for bathing; both are protected natural areas. On the shore of the Langbathsee is a 19th century hunting lodge erected at the behest of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
.
Since 1927 an aerial tramway
built by the Bleichert
engineering company runs up to the summit of the Feuerkogel mountain. Other tourist attractions include the Gasselhöhle show cave
and a a small skiing area with about ten lifts.
Parts of the 1968 Where Eagles Dare
film were shot in the Ebensee area.
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
in the Traunviertel
Traunviertel
The Traunviertel is an Austrian region belonging to the state of Upper Austria: it is one of four "quarters" of Upper Austria the others being Hausruckviertel, Mühlviertel, and Innviertel...
region of the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n state of Upper Austria
Upper Austria
Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
, located within the Salzkammergut Mountains at the southern end of the Traunsee
Traunsee
Traunsee is a lake in the Salzkammergut, Austria, located at . Its surface is approximately 24.5 km² and its maximum depth is 191 metres. It is a popular tourist destination, and its attractions include Schloss Ort, a medieval castle....
. The regional capital Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
lies approximately 90 km (55.9 mi) to the north, nearest towns are Gmunden
Gmunden
Gmunden is a town in Upper Austria, Austria in the district of Gmunden. It has 13,202 inhabitants . It is much frequented as a health and summer resort, and has a variety of goat, lake, brine, vegetable and pine-cone baths, a hydropathic establishment, inhalation chambers, whey cure, etc...
and Bad Ischl
Bad Ischl
Bad Ischl is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden Ahorn, Bad Ischl, Haiden, Jainzen, Kaltenbach, Lauffen, Lindau, Pfandl, Perneck, Reiterndorf and Rettenbach...
. The municipality also comprises the Katastralgemeinde
Katastralgemeinde
A Katastralgemeinde , a German word , is a cadastral subdivision of municipalities in the nations of Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Italian provinces of South Tyrol, Trentino, Gorizia, Trieste, and in Slovenia.A cadastral community records property ownership in a cadastre,...
n of Langwies, Oberlangbath, Rindbach, Kohlstatt and Roith.
History
With the Traunviertel, Ebensee since 1180 belonged to the Duchy of StyriaDuchy of Styria
The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...
held by the House of Babenberg from 1192, until in 1254 King Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II , called The Iron and Golden King, was the King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He was the Duke of Austria , Styria , Carinthia and Carniola also....
finally allocated it to his Austrian duchy
Archduchy of Austria
The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire...
. Ebensee itself was first mentioned in a 1447 deed.
From 1596 on Emperor Rudolph II of Habsburg
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria...
had a salt evaporation pond
Salt evaporation pond
Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns or salt pans, are shallow artificial ponds designed to produce salts from sea water or other brines. The seawater or brine is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be subsequently harvested...
erected near the settlement, supplied with brine
Brine
Brine is water, saturated or nearly saturated with salt .Brine is used to preserve vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses, or for pickling foodstuffs, as a means of preserving them...
being delivered via a 40 km (24.9 mi) long pipeline from the salt mines around Hallstatt
Hallstatt
Hallstatt, Upper Austria is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria. It is located near the Hallstätter See . At the 2001 census it had 946 inhabitants...
. Ebensee therefore was the primary production centre for salt in Austria. Historically, the site was chosen because of the rich forests, whose wood was used to boil the salt out of the brine. In 1883 the Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay
Ernest Solvay
Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.Born at Rebecq, he was prevented by acute pleurisy from going to university...
established soda
Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...
works of the Solvay
Solvay (company)
Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company with its head office in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium. It was founded in 1863 by Ernest Solvay to produce sodium carbonate by the solvay process. Since then the company has diversified to two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics...
company at Ebensee. Although a former industrial center in the larger Salzkammergut
Salzkammergut
The Salzkammergut is a resort area located in Austria. It stretches from City of Salzburg to the Dachstein mountain range, spanning the federal states of Upper Austria , Salzburg , and Styria . The main river of the region is the Traun, a tributary of the Danube...
region, it has recently fallen on bad fortunes with the closure of some of the larger factories.
Nazi Concentration Camp
In 1943, the SS established Ebensee concentration camp (codename "Zement") near the town, a planned emergency location for the PeenemündePeenemünde
The Peenemünde Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the Army Weapons Office ....
research centre after the RAF Operation Hydra
Bombing of Peenemünde in World War II
Operation Hydra was a Royal Air Force attack on the Peenemünde Army Research Center on the night of 17/18 August 1943. It began the Operation Crossbow strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany's V-weapon programme...
attack. It was part of the Mauthausen network
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
. Slave laborers were worked to death digging tunnels for armaments storage. The camp was liberated by American soldiers in May 1945. Due to the extremely high death rates, Ebensee is considered one of the most horrific Nazi concentration camps.
Used as a Displaced Persons camp
Displaced persons camp
A displaced persons camp or DP camp is a temporary facility for displaced persons coerced into forced migration. The term is mainly used for camps established after World War II in West Germany and in Austria, as well as in the United Kingdom, primarily for refugees from Eastern Europe and for the...
after the war, the area is today site of a memorial and a museum.
Politics
Seats in the municipal assembly (Gemeinderat) as of 2009 elections:- Social Democratic Party of AustriaSocial Democratic Party of AustriaThe Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...
(SPÖ): 18 - Austrian People's PartyAustrian People's PartyThe Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in terms of ideology...
(ÖVP): 9 - Citizens' List for Ebensee (Independent): 8
- Freedom Party of AustriaFreedom Party of AustriaThe Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...
(FPÖ): 2
Tourism
Ebensee is surrounded by three picturesque lakes, the TraunseeTraunsee
Traunsee is a lake in the Salzkammergut, Austria, located at . Its surface is approximately 24.5 km² and its maximum depth is 191 metres. It is a popular tourist destination, and its attractions include Schloss Ort, a medieval castle....
, the Offensee and the Langbathsee. The Traunsee is large enough to be used for boating, while the other two lakes are smaller, surrounded by mountains, and used only for bathing; both are protected natural areas. On the shore of the Langbathsee is a 19th century hunting lodge erected at the behest of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
.
Since 1927 an aerial tramway
Aerial tramway
An aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...
built by the Bleichert
Bleichert
Adolf Bleichert & Co. was a famous German engineering firm.It was founded in 1874 by Adolf Bleichert and began to build bicable aerial tramwaysfor mining in the Ruhr. With important patents, and dozens of working systems in Europe, Bleichert...
engineering company runs up to the summit of the Feuerkogel mountain. Other tourist attractions include the Gasselhöhle show cave
Show cave
Show caves — also called tourist caves, public caves, and in the United States, commercial caves — are caves that are managed by a government or commercial organization and made accessible to the general public, usually for an entrance fee...
and a a small skiing area with about ten lifts.
Parts of the 1968 Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Upper Austria and Bavaria....
film were shot in the Ebensee area.