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Bad Aussee is a town in the Austrian state of Styria, located at the confluence of the three sources of the Traun River in the Ausseerland region. Bad Aussee serves as the economic and cultural center of the Styrian part of the Salzkammergut lakes region. With a population of 5,086, the town is said to be the geographical midpoint of Austria, symbolized by a stone monument in the centre of town.
Together with other Alpine towns Bad Aussee engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Bad Aussee was awarded Alpine Town of the Year 2010.
Prehistoric artifacts were discovered in the nearby Salzofenhöhle cave. The town began to flourish in the Middle Ages, when salt works started operating in the late thirteenth century. Bad Aussee was designated a market town in 1295. The Romanesque and late Gothic Stadtpfarrkirche St. Paul (parish church) dates from the thirteenth century and contains a Gothic Madonna from 1420. The sacrament house dates from 1523. The Spitalkirche (hospital church) on Meranplatz square was erected before 1395 and contains two Gothic altarpieces with movable wings from the fifteenth century and frescoes.
Other important historical buildings include the Kammerhof, which was built before 1200. Until 1926, it housed the salt administration for the region. Charming houses that date from the fifteenth century surround the Kurpark and the harmonious center of town. Bad Aussee was the birthplace of Anna Plochl, a postman's daughter who became the wife of Archduke Johann of Austria, whose economic, cultural, and educational impact on Styria and the Salzkammergut is still remembered by the people. A statue of the beloved archduke stands in the centre of the Kurpark in Bad Aussee.
The town was built up and around the salt industry.
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