Kainz house

The venerable main house Kainz lies right on the jetty in the very heart of Hallstatt. Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt's main building sits ensconced in the historic centre below the Catholic and opposite the Protestant church.

A unique flair

Besides rooms, house Kainz is also where you will find reception, our restaurant "Im Kainz" and the Heritage.Sauna.

 

For centuries, the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt has hosted guests and connoisseurs of culture in its luxurious rooms, windows or balconies and patios looking out across Hallstatt and the lake, and has brought to life Hallstatt’s singular flair.

 

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How everything began...

Traditions, customs and stories are afforded great significance in Hallstatt. You will come to recognise this time and again during your stay with us, just as you’ll come to learn about many of them on your outings. But we’d like to tell you the story of our lakeside hotel before you arrive for your stay.

 

Kainz house – origins and history in 10 facts

 

The year is 1770. Ignaz Stephan Seeauer assumes proprietorship of his father’s house including salt works, at the time known as Kramser Salt Works House.

 

In the early 19th century, tourism brings the first visitors to Hallstatt, and the Seeauer family wishes to chip in. Ignaz’s heir Franz Karl Seeauer, together with his mother, begins running an inn with rooms alongside the salt works. The inn is opened by his mother.

 

In 1850, the old Seeauer house is given over fully to the inn, with Franz Karl Seeauer soon raising it to Hallstatt’s best-running business. The house would later become known as Kainz house.

 

Only a few years later, Franz Karl Seeauer purchases a brewery, henceforth serving guests in the inn beer of his own making. The inn’s prominence spreads, attracting ever more tourists, counting among them such celebrities as Professor Friedrich Simony. Professor Simony is known throughout Austria for his research and exploration of the Dachstein region.

 

By now, the year is 1884/85. Franz Karl Seeauer acquires two houses neighbouring his inn and, together with his son Carl, begins expanding the house. Hotel Seeauer is born.

House Kainz
Haus Kainz - Eingangsbereich
Haus Kainz - Rezeption
Haus Kainz - Terrasse
Haus Kainz - Ansicht vom See

Carl Seeauer in the end decides to move to Bad Ischl to become manager of the Kaiserin Elisabeth hotel. He sells Hotel Seeauer and the inn in Hallstatt in 1899 to two brothers – Ladislaus and Rudolf Straschilek (who would later become Kainz).

 

At this point, nobody would have guessed that the inn and hotel would a couple of decades later return to the Seeauer family estate – through the marriage of a Seeauer heir to a Kainz maiden.

 

In 1961, Hotel Seeauer – the building adjoining Kainz house – is demolished to make way for a road construction project. The project falls through, however. Kainz house remains intact, but falls into disuse.

 

In 2001, a project is called into life in Hallstatt to renovate historic, unused Hallstatt buildings and form them into a hotel. It will take years of talks, a gruelling hunt for investors and extensive project planning until in 2009 construction finally begins on what will be Hallstatt’s first 4-star hotel – the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt.

 

The two managers, Peter Scheutz and Simone Lenz (managing director), today look back upon more than ten years of successful business. And they’re keen to keep up the good work for many more to come. Be our guest for a while and become part of the great story yourself.

Three reasons to choose the main house Kainz:

  • Check in, stay the night, dine, relax – it’s all here, in one house
  • Unwind in our attic sauna with view of the church
  • Take up residence right at the heart of events
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