Gmunden#

Gmunden, Upper Austria, town in the district of Gmunden, alt. 440 m, pop. 13,133, area 63.50 km2. Climatic health resort (since 1862), tourism (155,769 overnight stays). Situated on the northern shore of lake Traunsee, where the river Traun flows out of the lake. - District Commission, District Court, District Office of Agriculture, Job Centre, Office of Financial Affairs, Office of Weights, Measures and Surveying, District Office of Construction Work, forestry enterprise of the Oesterreichische Bundesforste AG (Austrian Federal Forests), District Office of the Chamber of Agriculture, Chamber of Commerce, hospital, regional insurance office, administrative centre entrusted with all matters concerning recreation, health and rehabilitation facilities, conference centre, theatre, observatory, office of the Salzkammergut newspaper, run-of-river power station (opened in 1968, 48,000 MWh), cable car to Gruenberg mountain (alt. 984 m), Austria´s oldest electric tram (since 1894), airfield (municipality of Gschwandt), sports complex. School types: Bundesgymnasium and Bundesrealgymnasium secondary schools, boarding school for girls run by the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross Order, 2 vocational schools, Vocational Training Institute, International Summer School. Nature reserve in the area around the Traunstein mountain (1,691 m). In 1991, 9,295 persons in gainful employment; 64% employed in the service sector (mainly in social and public services, commercial and trade industries (esp. sports gear), banks and insurance companies). Production industries: Cement works, ceramics and china factories (sanitary ware by OeSPAG and "Gmunden" pottery), manufacturing of menswear, food industries, machine and tool production (Energie AG Oberoesterreich), production of biomass heating stations, construction industries, printing works. - Until the 19th century, Gmunden was the most flourishing trading town (especially in salt) in the Salzkammergut region province of Upper Austria; parish church, basilica from the first half of the 14th century (frescoes 1520-1530), 1713-1718 redecorated in Baroque style, high altar with the Three Wise Men by T. Schwanthaler (1678), ornamented tombstones from various centuries, Capuchin monastery (1636-1639), Protestant church (1871-1872), neo-Gothic interior; hospital church (1340 and 1890), town hall. Museum in the former treasury (Brahms room, cribs and other regional crafts and exhibits from the 17th and 18th centuries, archives and Hebbel estate), Cumberland Palace (nursing home); Ort Castle on Lake Traunsee (first documentary mention in 1138) with Gothic core (rebuilt after 1634) and a chapel from the 17th century; Part of castle buildings is situated on a small island in Lake Traunsee and can be reached via a bridge; the parts of the castle from the 17th century were renovated and refurbished in the 19th and 20th centuries. A unique ceramic carillon is displayed in the loggias of the town hall. Customs: "Gloecklerlauf", Dreikoenigsfahrt (boat trip over Lake Traunsee at Epiphany); funfair on the shores of the lake in July, festival of lights in August.

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