Tourism group reopens historic Bad Fusch spa resort

ORF reports that the former Bad Fusch spa resort in Fusch an der Glocknerstraße, in the Pinzgau region, is slowly reopening after decades of decline. The local tourism association is renovating the snack station and restoring access to hiking trails.

The drive along the Badstraße remains rough. In the resort’s heyday, wealthy visitors travelled along it in luxurious horse-drawn carriages, and some were carried uphill by hand.

The remote Weichselbachtal valley was closed to the public for many years because of the risk of rockfalls. After more than 50 years, all three historic springs are now accessible again via a circular trail.

The reopening has attracted both local residents and visitors. The operators of the snack station say up to 100 hikers visit on weekends and as many as 70 on weekdays.

Visitors come for the quiet, untouched natural surroundings, the thermal springs and the history of the former mountain spa resort.

From farmers’ spa to luxury resort

Bad Fusch’s history dates back to the 15th century, when it served as a farmers’ spa for agricultural workers from the heavily marshy Oberpinzgau who were suffering from malaria.

The resort reached its height in the 19th century, when it was regarded as a peer of Bad Gastein in the Pongau region. Guests including Prince Archbishop Friedrich VI Schwarzenberg and writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal bathed in the Fuscher healing springs. Romantic painters such as Georg Pezolt and Friedrich Loos also came to the picturesque mountain resort.

Today, only a hotel ruin remains as a reminder of that period. The site had already fallen into serious disrepair by the 1950s. In the 1990s, it was given to the Society for Religious Customs, an offshoot of the Catholic fundamentalist Engelwerk movement.

Plans to turn Bad Fusch into a pilgrimage site ultimately failed, partly because of opposition from the Archdiocese of Salzburg. The proposed site was to be called Maria auf den Trümmern, or Maria among the ruins.

Gradual reopening

The Society for Religious Customs still owns most of the land and is now allowing the area to reopen step by step.

The tourism association invested a low six-figure sum in rebuilding the snack station at its previous location and constructing a sewage treatment plant. The religious society leases the land to the tourism association, which in turn sublets the hut to Jonnie Tash and Andy Rose.

The two British operators run the snack station and maintain the walking and hiking trails. Watering cans point visitors towards a pond, while rubber ducks hidden in trees and on signs form part of a family-friendly treasure hunt. The landowners tolerate the additions.