History

A short history of the Parkhotel

Up until the middle of the 19th century, Pörtschach was a sleepy little fishing village. The main forms of transport were barges and ships that sailed on Lake Wörthersee. Emperor Franz Joseph visited Pörtschach for the first time on September 9, 1856, accompanied by his wife, Empress Sissi. The lake and the mountains were illuminated in honour of the Emperor and fireworks were launched.

It was not until the completion of the private Imperial and Royal Southern Railway (Südbahn) in 1864 that Lake Wörthersee became “connected to the big, wide world” as they put it then.  

Many travellers from northern Italy, which then was part of the Monarchy, saw how wonderfully peaceful the location was and chose to spend time here. This not only led to local landowners setting up tourist establishments; it also led to wealthy guests, mostly aristocrats and business people, buying plots of land on the lakefront to build villas to use as their summer residences.

In 1872, the Viennese porcelain manufacturer Carl Ernst David Wahliss, bought the entire Wörthersee spa property estate. He established the great hotel empire “Etablissement Wahliss” which included the castle “Schloss Velden”.
He built a total of 13 hotels in Pörtschach as well as leisure facilities (bathing amenities, tennis courts) and he turned the Pörtschach peninsula into a nature preserve. Wahliss employed local architects who used construction materials typical for the region – local wood, stone from the local quarries and of course the famous “Pörtschach marble” for the more prestigious projects. His villas were magnificent buildings admired by everyone and they lay the foundation for the Wörthersee architecture that is held in such high esteem today. The “Etablissement Wahliss’” Villa IX was considered to be a particularly fine example. It was the most beautiful and most luxurious hotel on Lake Wörthersee.

In 1889, Emperor Franz Joseph paid another visit to Pörtschach. Carl Ernst David Wahliss had the opportunity of showing the Emperor his “Etablissement”. The Emperor was very impressed by the tourism enterprise and, in particular, by the Villa IX which stood on roughly the same sport as the Parkhotel Pörtschach does today. In honour of his close ties to the Imperial Family, Wahliss not only had a bust erected depicting Emperor Franz Joseph, he also held annual celebrations in honour of the Emperor, the “Kaiserfests”, which took place on both the eastern and western bays of Lake Wörthersee. The porcelain manufacturer Wahliss supplied many of the world’s monarchs. He owned an auction house in London and was represented in Paris and Tokyo.

The “Etablissement Wahliss” in the Alpine lakeside and climatic spa resort was a popular spot to stay on the journey to and from the Monarchy’s winter retreats further south. Lake Wörthersee was recommended by doctors for weak children (follow-up convalescence after Grado), for people with nervous disorders of all kinds and for convalescent patients returning from the spa towns of Carlsbad, Marienbad and Franzensbad. It was always busy in the “Etablissement Wahliss”. There were musical and cultural events as well as leisure activities every day. Many famous artists from the Imperial Opera visited and performed here.

After the death of Carl Ernst David Wahliss, the family only managed to keep the hotel empire a short time. It soon changed hands and other parts of the sizeable estate were sold too.  

When the British troops entered Austria in May 1945, some of their frontline soldiers had their quarters here and the entire peninsula area was off limits for local people. The buildings, having been confiscated as German property, were in desperate need of restoration and  by the time the British left, they were in a very sorry state indeed. In 1953, after lengthy negotiations, the local council was able to buy back the estate from the German Ministry of Finance. It was subsequently sold to a company that planned to build a new hotel and spa on the site. However, since nothing happened during the agreed construction period, the property was signed back over to the local council. It was the construction company, Wayss & Freytag – Simplexbau, that finally built a hotel after buying the property in 1959. The plans for the Parkhotel Pörtschach that still stands today were drawn up by the architect Kurt Kröfer and it was opened on July 1, 1963. Wayss & Freytag originally engaged an outside company to run the hotel but they later ran into financial difficulties. In 1969, Hans Pruscha, a wholesaler of petroleum and its derivatives, later well-known for his garages, came to the rescue and in 1972 he became sole owner.

Over the next few years the Parkhotel Pörtschach was redesigned and an indoor swimming pool was added. The hotel has been family-property since then and it is owned by the Vienna-based List Group which also owns the “Hotel Eden” in Seefeld.

For lovers of architecture, the Parkhotel Pörtschach is a symbol of the 1960s and many regard it as a cult object. The building is perfectly stylised and “sixties” details can still be seen from the doorknobs to the light fittings on the terrace.

The Parkhotel Pörtschach is the leading hotel on Lake Wörthersee –
it enjoys the finest location and has the longest tradition. Countless eminent visitors and major conferences, such as the 1998 EU-conference,
testify to the virtues of this hotel.