Where is the TEDx Event?

The TEDx event takes place in the Gemeindeamt of Altaussee. This is the municipal office of the town, where the folks of Altaussee meet and make critical decisions about the future of this beautiful area. It is located in the center of the town, with a beautiful view on the Loser and a 5 minutes walk to the famous Lake Altaussee.
 
Altaussee is a village in the middle of the Alps between Vienna and Munich, and a cultural hotspot in the southern region of the German-speaking nations of Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. It is a picturesque place in the mountains, similar to Davos in Switzerland hosting the World Economic Forum. Many of Altaussee’s residents have their business and headquarters in Vienna and homes in Altaussee.
 

The community of Altaussee links back to the stone age and really took off when the Celts began building the salt mines (hence the name of the region „Salzkammergut“, i.e. salt chamber area). That is why villages like Hallstatt and Altaussee look back at over 7,000 years of continuous settlement. Altaussee became more visible on the Austrian map when the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef the I. built his summer castle (like Windsor Castle, UK) in Bad Ischl, next to Altaussee. Since then, the area was a magnet not just for the Austrian/German aristocrats but also became very widely known by artists, scientists, and influential people, because of its location and sceneries https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKmmWp6bBz8. Sigmund Freud, Ego Schiele, Victor Frankl, Gustav Mahler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal started to build the next layer of the Altaussee community a century ago and created a very unique culture of combining and discussing art and sciences.

Also, in pop culture, Altaussee was mentioned prominently. In 2014, the Hollywood movie “The Monuments Man” with George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Bill Muray told the story of retrieving the art treasures stolen from the Nazis and hidden in the salt mines. And in 2015, Altaussee was an essential location in the James Bond movie „Spectre“.

 

Gemeindeamt Altaussee
Altaussee with Lake Altaussee

How to get there?

   From Vienna and Lower Austria:
Vienna – Altaussee: about 300 km
 From Germany:
Munich – Altaussee: about 230 km
 From Southern Austria:
Graz – Altaussee: about 160 km
Arrival by car A1 Westautobahn * Exit Regau * Gmunden * Bad Ischl * Bad Aussee * Altaussee
A8 Munich – Salzburg *
A1 Westautobahn * Exit Thalgau * Bad Ischl * Bad Aussee * Altaussee
A9 Pyhrnautobahn * Exit Liezen * Stainach * Trautenfels * Bad Aussee * Altaussee
Arrival by train Vienna West Station * Attnang-Puchheim * Bad Aussee Munich * Salzburg * Attnang-Puchheim * Bad Aussee  Graz * Stainach/Irdning * Bad Aussee