With his latest baking book “Der süße Zauner”, master confectioner Josef Zauner provides insights into his best-kept recipes.

Stories by Alfred Komarek round off the work, because summer holidays in Bad Ischl and the Salzkammergut couldn’t be sweeter.

In the countries of the monarchy and beyond, a summer without Bad Ischl was a waste of time, and a spa treatment without treatment at Zauner was even more so.

While salt laid the foundation for Ischl's flourishing spa business, sugar, which was no less therapeutically valuable, sweetened the spa guests' healthy life. There were more guests in those years than ever before: Ischl experienced the most glorious era in its history. Because with the emperor - Franz Joseph proposed to Sisi here -, spa and confectionery, well-known artists, writers and composers also moved in. Alfred Komarek brings this cultural and social golden age back to life, closely interwoven with the history of the Zauner confectionery.

With texts and anecdotes about Ischl by Nikolaus Lenau, Karl Kraus, Adalbert Stifter and others – and 21 summer recipes by Josef Zauner for coffee and dessert, including the legendary Schratt Gugelhupf.

Josef Zauner
Josef Zauner, born Josef Ferner in Tamsweg/Lungau in 1948, completed his apprenticeship as a confectioner at Zauner in Bad Ischl. He was adopted in 1987 by Hildegard Zauner, the heiress of the dynasty. He continued the tradition and the Zauner legacy and took over the management of the company, which he still holds today. The master confectioner became known as a TV chef in Bavaria and Austria, is the author of cookbooks and a visiting professor at the Japan Cake and Confectionery College. He is one of the best-known confectioners - he attaches great importance to this job title.

Alfred Komarek
Alfred Komarek, born in Bad Aussee, wrote numerous novels and TV scripts and worked as a presenter (including »LiteraTOUR«/ServusTV).

Book details:
ISBN-13 9783710403774
144 pages / 170 mm x 235 mm
Publisher: Servus
Austria: EUR 28.00
Germany: EUR 28.00
Switzerland: CHF 37.90

In the almost 192-year history of Zauner, which dates back to 1832, countless specialties have been developed for special occasions. As the year of the "European Capital of Culture 2024" drew closer, the Zauner family was certain: an extraordinary, sweet temptation had to be created for this unique (cultural) event in our rural region!

Just in time for the start of the Capital of Culture year 2024, Managing Director Philipp Zauner presents the sweet speciality of the Capital of Culture, the “Europa Cake 2024”.

The creation reflects the interpretation of “Europe” by the House of Zauner in a double sense, based on the Greek mythology surrounding the goddess “Europe”:

Ingredients from all over the world are combined in Bad Ischl to create a sweet temptation and then sent all over the world. Almonds from California and Turkey, chocolate from Africa and Central America and salt from Austria all find their perfection in this unique cake creation.

Philipp Zauner: "In our eyes, gathering a wide variety of ingredients of the highest quality, which are then combined by hand in the heart of the Salzkammergut to create a wonderful dessert and then sent to the most diverse countries in the world, clearly reflects the great European idea. Internationality through import and export has always been a priority in the region. At the same time, our new creations contain an important part of our identity: salt from Hallstatt, which has shaped an entire era and region and is an important part of ours today."

The “Europa cake” from the Zauner confectionery combines pleasant orange notes with fine, creamy caramel and delicate chocolate coating.

In addition, the precious salt from Hallstatt can also be found in a tenderly melting romance with caramel in the salt-caramel truffle balls created for the European Capital of Culture.

The cover of the sweet creations shows the goddess "Europa", who was abducted by the father of the gods Zeus in the form of a bull and swam to Crete. The cover was designed by the Bad Goiserer illustrator and graphic artist Wolfgang Menschhorn.

The products related to the year of the “European Capital of Culture” are now available in the online shop of the Zauner confectionery at www.zauner.at and in the two Bad Ischl cafés.

"The Salzkammergut is one of the flagships of tourism in Upper Austria. The new hotel 'Grand Elisabeth' brings important bed capacity and thus additional tourist impulses not only for Bad Ischl, but for the entire region. It is all the more gratifying that the concrete implementation of this flagship project is now starting," says Economic and Tourism State Councilt Markus Achleitner on the occasion of today's groundbreaking ceremony in Bad Ischl. "Due to their close ties with the regional economy, investments in the tourism industry have a high multiplier effect on jobs, income and added value - both during construction and during ongoing operations. This is all the more important in these challenging times.", State Councillor Achleitner underlines the great importance of the 37 million euro hotel project.

132 rooms will expand the tourist offer in the Salzkammergut from 2025

The future hotel "Grand Elisabeth" will have 132 rooms and suites. It is scheduled to open at the end of February 2025. "DaThe new hotel will enrich the tourist offer not only in the 'imperial city' of Bad Ischl, but also in the entire Salzkammergut. It should appeal to both classic holidaymakers and create new offers for congress tourism," emphasises State Councillor Achleitner. "The whole region will benefit from year-round operation, for example, shuttles for ski tourists to Gosau and Feuerkogel are planned in winter“, emphasizes State Councillor Achleitner.

"We are delighted that Bad Ischl will be getting an additional, urgently needed hotel in February 2025. The demand for accommodation in the upscale 4-star segment in Bad Ischl is high“, emphasizes Mag. Herbert Ackerl on behalf of the investors from the owner company Bad Ischl HE GmbH on the occasion of today's groundbreaking ceremony.

"The Zauner family is delighted to see the groundbreaking ceremony for this important project: for almost 30 years, tourism professionals and representatives of the municipality have agreed that Bad Ischl urgently needs more beds. Now the foundation stone is being laid. We are trying to create a house that we can identify with in the long term and that will be run just as stylishly as our existing Bad Ischl establishments.“, emphasize Philipp and Josef Zauner from the Konditorei Zauner Bad Ischl, also a shareholder of the owner company Bad Ischl HE GmbH.

From September 2023, 132 rooms of the future 4-star hotel will be built, as well as the hotel infrastructure, i.e. a restaurant, wine shop, seminar rooms, wellness area with sauna and indoor pool, fitness room and underground car park. The hotel, designed as a conference and tourist hotel, will be open all year round and will offer upscale suites in addition to spacious standard rooms.

The location of the Grand Elisabeth, right next to the Congress and Theater House, is ideal for seminars, congresses and events and offers a perfect complement to the existing premises, which host operetta festivals, musical and theater productions, ballet and dance shows as well as concerts by international jazz and pop stars.

Bad Ischl was the summer residence of the Austrian emperor. The historic imperial villa naturally shapes the historical image of this town. Many historic villas and buildings make Bad Ischl a hotspot for historians and history lovers. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) made Bad Ischl world famous, of course also through the Sissi films. And Empress Sisi, who gave the Hotel Grand Elisabeth her name and who is portrayed by world star Romy Schneider, is encountered at every turn in this wonderful town.

original carriage from the Sissi films

By the way, the original carriage from Ernst Marischka’s Sissi films will decorate the entrance area after the hotel is completed. The 120-year-old vehicle was donated in 2020 by the Zauner family together with Herbert Ackerl and Josef Öhlinger It was restored and returned to its original condition. After more than 400 hours of work, it will be presented to the public for the first time on August 13th as the highlight of the carriage parade in Bad Ischl.

Hotel project “Grand Elisabeth” at a glance:

Start of construction: beginning of September 2023

Opening: end of February 2025

Facilities: 132 rooms and suites

Restaurant, lounge, wine bar, seminar rooms, sauna, fitness, park, two underground car parks (1st underground car park: 120 spaces in the hotel, 30 spaces outside; 2nd underground car park at the congress center: 170 spaces inside and outside)

Investment: 37.5 million euros total investment costs

Photos: (c)Hörmandinger, (c)Land OÖ / Daniela Sternberger, (c)Hinterwirth

On August 1, 1963, Josef Zauner laid the foundation for an unprecedented career when he began his pastry chef apprenticeship with the former imperial court purveyor and court confectioner Zauner in Bad Ischl. Today, 60 years later, as senior boss, he still warmly welcomes the numerous guests in the Grand Cafe in Pfarrgasse or in the Zauner Esplanade restaurant on the Traun.

Master confectioner Josef Zauner has had a significant impact on the history of this traditional business, which has been in existence since 1832. With great sensitivity, he knew how to carefully guide the company into the present. Even today, "the Zauner" is considered the epitome of Austrian coffee house culture. He has now successfully handed over management to his son Philipp and knows that he is in good hands.

Zauner's professional life was eventful. In 1972 he passed the German and Austrian master craftsman examinations. His numerous stays abroad earned him the reputation of being an ambassador of Austrian dessert culture, which he underlined with numerous gold medals for his gourmet delights at international competitions. In Japan, the master confectioner from Bad Ischl has been a popular guest professor at the confectionery school for decades. As a television chef and confectioner, he delighted viewers on ORF and Bavarian Radio. Bad Ischl Tourist Association Zauner served as chairman from 1998 to 2003. In 2021 he received the Golden Medal of Honor of the State of Upper Austria, a year earlier the Lifetime Achievement Award by the gourmet magazine Falstaff. The Zaunerstollen, of which 170,000 pieces leave the impressive display case in Pfarrgasse every year and find delighted buyers all over the world, is even immortalized on an Austrian postage stamp.

Passing on his extensive knowledge of confectionery was always a matter close to Josef Zauner's heart. Around 150 apprentices were trained under his leadership - 150 young people who, by completing their apprenticeship at the world-famous confectionery, gained a highly qualified professional education and often had the path paved for an international career.

The Ischl flagship company is not running out of projects. With the recently completed employee residence (formerly Hotel "Stadt Salzburg) with 28 accommodations, the company invested in the future and presented itself as an attractive employer. The bakery generously remodeledin order to better cope with the increasing demand from the online shop and as an investor of the Grand Elisabeth hotel project Behind the Congress and TheaterHaus, the economic development of Bad Ischl is further promoted.

At a celebration at the Auszeit-Alm in Bad Ischl, Josef Zauner was awarded the WKOÖ Silver Business Medal by the Vice President of the WKOÖ, Leo Jindrak, for his services. "This is a high award from the WKO, which only very few business personalities in the district have received so far," said a delighted Jindrak and his professional colleague.

Zauner also wants to make a contribution to the 2024 Capital of Culture. He is the chairman of a cooperation that will revive and celebrate the cultural heritage of confectionery in the Salzkammergut. The epicenter can be found in Ischl's Pfarrgasse.

“We warmly congratulate Josef Zauner on this high award from the WKOÖ, which recognizes his decades of commitment, both in the region and abroad!”, says Robert Oberfrank, head of the WKO Gmunden.

The former imperial and royal purveyor to the court is investing in expanding the production area (bakery) and storage capacity, modernizing the packaging, mailing and administration departments and creating more spacious employee areas.

Postal delivery and online shop as driving forces

In recent years, demand for the online shop has increased rapidly. "The sharp increase in demand in the online shop segment is mainly due to the fact that we launched our online shop back in 1995. This laid the foundation for this important and sustainable building block of our company at an early stage," says Josef Zauner.
"Today we strive to make our range in the online shop as extensive and varied as we do in our well-known cake buffet. Our constantly changing range for Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, etc. is extremely popular and our extremely fast processing of orders is what sets us apart. In this way, we are responding to this modern trend and yet remaining true to our line as a down-to-earth craft business," says Philipp Zauner.
Sales in the shipping segment have developed consistently positively in recent years; in order to continue to meet this trend, Zauner is now creating additional, modern production, storage, administration and packaging areas on an area of around 1,500 square meters.
In order to offer more comfort to the constantly growing workforce, the lounge and changing areas are being enlarged and redesigned.

New jobs in the center of Bad Ischl

"In the short term, we expect to create 5 - 10 new jobs, which will be created immediately in the center of Bad Ischl after the project has been completed. It would be much easier to implement this project on a greenfield site, but we have decided against this because our headquarters and the town of Bad Ischl are very important to us: We are therefore pursuing a sustainable strategy of developing our company in the heart of the town and constantly creating new jobs here," Philipp Zauner

The workforce of the former court confectioner will therefore increase to over 160 employees.

Ongoing operations as a challenge

The construction project is being implemented in the "heart" of the company during the summer high season. Managing ongoing business as best as possible is becoming a challenge. "Over the past decades, we have gained a lot of experience in carrying out renovation work while operations were ongoing. That is why I am optimistic that we will be able to implement this project smoothly and without any loss of quality in our products," Josef Zauner.

The new areas are scheduled to go into operation in November 2023.

The former Imperial and Royal Court Confectionery Zauner has embodied Austrian coffee house and pastry culture for more than 190 years and is also an institution full of history and tradition.

"We are very pleased about the partnership with Salzburg Cathedral, especially since we, as a family business, feel very connected to tradition and try to value tried and tested things“, Philipp Zauner, Managing Director of Konditorei Zauner.

The fine chocolate creation is wrapped in a bow that shows the historic baroque building. It is now available in a 100g version in the shop of the Salzburg Cathedral available.

We are happy to create individual products and designs that meet your needs or corporate identity! Please contact us at info@zauner.at

What began in 1982 as an improvised presentation of Christmas baked goods and gingerbread, as there was no more room in the display case at the time, quickly developed into a unique experience in the run-up to Christmas: from the beginning of November, the front area of the venerable main building in Pfarrgasse is all about Christmas baking. The confectioners at the court confectionery bakery demonstrate their creativity every year with elaborately produced showpieces, while the attention to detail is evident in the lovingly hand-made and packaged baked goods.

"The presentation of our products has always been a matter close to our hearts, because when the highest quality raw materials are produced in a distinctive handcrafted manner, then this sweet speciality deserves high-quality packaging. That's why we come up with sophisticated, unique packaging every year, especially at Christmas time," says Susanne Zauner, who is responsible for the decoration, packaging and presentation of Zauner products.

"I am extremely proud of our wide selection of Christmas baked goods that we create in late autumn each year. This selection is certainly unique in our industry. I am particularly pleased to see the many smiling faces in the café when our bazaar is set up - it creates an incomparable atmosphere that is difficult to describe. The fact that we are now stocking it for the 40th time and at the same time developing our range a little further every year is entirely in line with our company philosophy: staying true to the tried and tested, but remaining open to the new," says Managing Director Philipp Zauner.

The Christmas bazaar can be visited from now until the Christmas holidays every day from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the main building of the Zauner confectionery (Pfarrgasse 7, 4820 Bad Ischl). The staff of the confectionery and the Zauner family look forward to seeing you!

On Sunday, July 3, 2022, the specially prepared cake for the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl created coffee blend presented by the performers of the 2022 season!
Director Thomas Enzinger, Brigitte Stumpner and Philipp Zauner were particularly pleased that the long-standing collaboration between the traditional Ischl companies is now also being given a culinary face in the form of the festival coffee!
“Director Thomas Enzinger asked us to create something very special for this year’s festival. We were of course happy to follow his suggestion: We teamed up with our coffee partner Nussbaumer from Gmunden and created an exclusive coffee roast for the 2022 festival. Because there are already plenty of festival wines, pralines or chocolates, but there is only one festival coffee in Bad Ischl," Philipp Zauner (Managing Director of Konditorei Zauner).

The beans are roasted in the heart of the Salzkammergut, and the green coffee for this special blend comes largely from the best growing areas of the Central and South American highlands.
"In order to guarantee direct trade, I am in personal contact with our coffee farmers, some of whom I have already been able to visit in their growing areas. In this way, we constantly strive to ensure transparent supply chains," says Marlene Drack, Austria's youngest coffee roaster and junior manager of the Nussbaumer roastery.
The fourth generation family business Nussbaumer stands for tradition and honest craftsmanship. The beans are roasted in Gmunden on Lake Traunsee using a gentle drum roasting process.

You can purchase this special treat at the Zauner Confectionery and at the Congress & TheaterHaus Bad Ischl!

The Lehár Festival Bad Ischl & the Konditorei Zauner recommend:
A cup of “Wachmacher” & “For a Kreuzer Nickerl-Batz!”!
Enjoy!

After five months of construction, the final work on the future employee residence of the Zauner confectionery in the heart of the town of Bad Ischl has been completed. 28 employee accommodations are now ready for occupancy and offer enough space for the team of the traditional court confectionery.

The former city hotel "Stadt Salzburg" was purchased in the summer of 2021 and quickly converted into an employee residence, which now offers space for recreation, relaxation and leisure contacts. The two locations of the Zauner confectionery can be reached on foot in two minutes, there are sufficient parking spaces, public transport connections are excellent and at the same time the location offers the perfect starting point for leisure activities in the heart of the Salzkammergut.

Employee House as a Milestone in Company History

"The implementation of our own staff house in the town centre of Bad Ischl is of course a big step for our family business, one that we don't dare to take every day. We are now extremely pleased that it has been completed, as we see the offer to our team as an important building block for our success! If a traditional company wants to grow steadily and continuously, offers like this are a basic requirement," Philipp Zauner.

“Providing living space has simply become a must in our industry – but I see it as an immense saving for employees and enormous added value for the company, making jobs in the catering industry even more attractive,” says Josef Zauner.

Of course, the 1,800m² of usable space includes Wi-Fi, cable TV, in-room refrigerators, a laundry room, and shared kitchen, dining, and lounge areas.

For over a year now, the finest highland Arabica varieties from Nussbaumer in the traditional cups of the Konditorei ZaunerUsing a gentle drum roasting process, the beans are roasted and refined by hand by Marlene Drack, Austria's youngest coffee roaster, in the heart of the Salzkammergut.

In 2019, the traditional Gmunden family business also built a school in Guatemala, thereby contributing to the development of the region from which the finest Nussbaumer blends originate.

Visit to the "Nussbaumer School" in Guatemala

The “Nussbaumer School” was completely built in the summer of 2019 in the small mountain village of Lampocoy in Guatemala by the Nussbaumer company financed and built by local coffee farmers and parents of the children who now attend the school.

The Guatemalan government continues to give education and health a low priority. The Ministry of Education does provide computers and learning programs, trains teachers and pays them, but only if school buildings are available. Unfortunately, the government does not take care of building them.

So some time ago, the team around Marlene Drack decided to take care of the construction of a school in Lampocoy, which was so urgently needed for the children in the region.
Now Marlene had the opportunity to see the school for the first time. The school also has a small kitchen where meals are cooked for 280 schoolchildren every day. For many children in Guatemala, the school often offers the only hot meal of the day.

Many components influence the quality in the cup

For Marlene Drack, in addition to the highest quality of the beans, their origin, the people behind them and their fate are also important. At the end of February, the young roaster therefore set off on a trip to the countries of origin, Guatemala and Costa Rica. The highlands of Central America have ideal geographical and climatic conditions for growing first-class coffee.

When she visited various coffee farms, which are also green coffee suppliers to the Gmunden company, she was able to gain interesting insights into their daily work and the difficulties that the farmers have to contend with. Strongly fluctuating coffee prices on the world market, pests and bad weather presented the coffee farmers with major challenges during this year's harvest. Nevertheless, they were able to achieve first-class quality again this year and are already confident about the next harvest.

Not only does Marlene Drack benefit from trips to the origins such as these as a roaster, who can thus ensure the quality of her products and at the same time deepen her knowledge of coffee cultivation and processing, but also the producers, who, through personal contact, get an impression of the appreciation that their product is given in Europe.

The coffee farmers were particularly pleased with the Zaunerstollen that Marlene had brought with her.

The aromatic Nussbaumer coffee is available as an exclusive Zauner house blend for home use: To the shop

In keeping with Zauner's company philosophy of upholding tried and tested products and dealing with the past with care, we are now highlighting a product that was created in the Zauner bakery around 1886: The original Ischler tart.

This is next to the Original Zaunerstollen Like no other dessert for a sweet piece of Bad Ischl history! It has already gained fame far beyond the country's borders in 1958, when it was Richard Kurth (the then bakery manager and head of the Zauner confectionery) at the World Exhibition in Brussels and was awarded the gold medal. Now we have created a befitting packaging for this traditional dessert!

"We all look back on a turbulent time that was very challenging, that forced one thing or another to a standstill, but never paralyzed our creativity. So we went into our archives and looked into the history of the Zauner confectionery. When we looked at the original Ischler tart, we quickly noticed that it is already known far beyond the borders of Austria and has become a permanent part of every cookie plate at Christmas time. What is not so well known, however, is that this product was actually created in the Zauner house; the original recipe dates back to 1886. It is now time to give the original Ischler tart the importance it deserves, because it is certainly part of our sweet Bad Ischl identity!" Philipp Zauner, Managing Director of the Zauner confectionery.

The Ischler tart combines fine truffle cream with crispy shortcrust pastry and a wafer-thin coating of crispy chocolate coating; finely chopped pistachios add the finishing touch to this product.

Even today, the original Ischler Törtchen is baked according to the original recipe, which is kept in a safe at Zauner’s.