K-Hof

Top choice in The Salzkammergut


A double act that combines with one of Austria’s most unusual and refreshing museums, the Museum for Sanitary Objects (Klo & So), the K-Hof museum complex gives a fascinating insight into the history of the region. Exhibits cover ceramics manufacture (for which Gmunden is still famous), salt, fossils and the life of the 15th-century astronomer Johannes von Gmunden, whose theories influenced Copernicus.

The museum also contains, rather oddly, much of 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.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Salzkammergut attractions

1. Pfarrkirche

0.11 MILES

North of the Rathausplatz lies the 12th-century Pfarrkirche, a Gothic church later remodelled in baroque style. The altar, by the sculptor Thomas…

2. Schloss Weyer

0.58 MILES

This palace contains a good collection of Meissen porcelain, silver and jewellery, and has specialised temporary exhibitions dedicated to the same.

3. Seeschloss Ort

0.63 MILES

This castle, set just beyond the lake's edge and reached by a walkway, is believed to have been built on the ruins of a Roman fortress. It dates from 909…

4. Fischerkanzel

5.07 MILES

Carved in 1753 as part of the Pfarrkirche, this pulpit depicts the miracle of the fishes from the New Testament. It's a rather glam and glowing baroque…

5. Gustav Klimt Zentrum

9.78 MILES

High-tech multimedia exhibits provide an overview of symbolist painter Gustav Klimt's life and works on the Attersee, which for Klimt fans is comparable…

6. Gustav Klimt-Themenweg

9.8 MILES

This 2km-long lakeside trail has information boards with prints of works by Gustav Klimt. The Vienna Secessionist painter spent regular spells on the…

7. Kaiservilla

16.36 MILES

Franz Josef’s sprawling summer residence, the Italianate-style Kaiservilla, was an engagement present for him and his princess-to-be, Elisabeth of Bavaria…

8. Lehár Villa

16.65 MILES

This pink villa was the home of opera composer Franz Lehár and is a picture of late-Imperial-era Austria in all its stuffy glory. Left exactly as Lehár…