Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Eating
C1
Sights & Activities
MUSEUM
K-Hof
(
www.k-hof.at
; Kammerhofgasse 8; adult/child €6/2; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun, closed Tue Sep-May)
The K-Hof
museum complex is a double act with one of Austria's most unusual and refreshing mu-
seums, the
Museum for Sanitary Objects
. The museum complex gives a fascinating insight into
the history of the region. The exhibition covers ceramics manufacture (for which Gmun-
den was famous in its early years), salt, fossils, and the life of the 15th-century astro-
nomer Johannes von Gmunden, whose theories influenced Copernicus.
The museum integrates into the building the Gothic St Jakob's, Gmunden's first
church. The sanitary objects collection is monumental and includes a toilet regularly
mounted by the royal
Po
(bottom) of Kaiser Franz Josef in his hunting lodge near
Ebensee.
Seeschloss Ort
CASTLE
(
www.schlossorth.com
; Orth 1)
Flanking the lake on the eastern side, a pretty nature re-
serve known as
Toscana Park
forms a backdrop to Seeschloss Ort. This lakeside castle is
believed to have been built on the ruins of a Roman fortress. It dates from 909 or earlier
(rebuilt in the 17th century after a fire) and has a picturesque courtyard, a late-Gothic ex-
ternal staircase and sgraffito from 1578.
CHURCH
Pfarrkirche
(Kirchplatz)
North of the Rathausplatz lies the 12th-century Pfarrkirche, a Gothic church
later remodelled in baroque style and with an altar (dating from 1678) by the sculptor
Thomas Schwanthaler (1634-1707).
