Description of the attraction
The Marble Palace is located in the northeastern part of the Kaiser Park in Bad Ischl and at one time served as the summer residence of the Austrian Kaiser Franz Joseph I and his wife Elisabeth of Bavaria, known as Sissi.
Elizabeth loved to retire within the walls of the palace to write poetry, plan travel, and receive especially close friends. After the end of the Danube monarchy, the building remained in the private property of the Kaiser's descendants.
After the First World War, it served a variety of purposes, but without the necessary restoration it fell into increasing decline. In 1975, the owner of the palace, Markus Habsburg-Lorraine, signed an agreement, according to which the right to use the marble palace was transferred to the state of Upper Austria for 50 years. The land authorities pledged in exchange to carry out the necessary restoration work and return the building to its former splendor.
Since 1978, a museum of photographic art has been located within the walls of the building. The gem of the museum is the collection of the work of the famous photographer Hans Frank, which was previously kept in Salzburg. The exposed old cameras are of no less interest to visitors. In parallel to the permanent exhibitions, there are also successive exhibitions that tell about the history of photography. In general, more than 10,000 people annually visit the museum.
