Villa Karbach

An expedition to art and nature from Traunkirchen to the Karbach quarry on the eastern shore

From the exhibition in the Villa Pantschoulidzeff – built by the famous architect Theophil Hansen – with a magnificent view of Lake Traunsee and Traunstein, this expedition takes you by boat across the lake to the “wild” Salzkammergut: the destination is the Karbach quarry, an industrial site in the middle of a picturesque mountain world on the secluded eastern shore of Gmunden. On their tour, guests are accompanied by experienced guides and encounter a symbiosis of nature, industrial culture and works of art.

Where the real and the bizarre meet, “bizarre realism” comes into the world. This term was coined by the Ebensee writer Walter Pilar. At Villa Pantschoulidzeff, he and other artists are showing works of unconventional power. Pilar’s main work “Karbach-Hochalter” can be admired in the garden room. In the Salon, Bedroom and Cabinet, guests can experience works that are fascinating and irritating, humorous and serious at the same time. On display are dives, root worlds, headstands and an endless necklace.

The journey to the Karbach quarry is made by boat. White limestone was quarried here from 1890 to 2005, “the mountain was transported across the lake” (according to Pilar) and processed into soda in Ebensee. The route leads to the plant near the lake, where guests encounter artistic interventions – such as an alchemical laboratory in the workshop, a sound performance with singing stones in the sorting plant or an alpenglow underground.

Opening hours

Questions to: info@villakarbach.at