
Perneck, on the Radgrabenstrasse
About 200 years after the opening of the Ischl salt mine, the Ludovika Tunnel was opened in 1747. Originally named after Empress Maria Theresia, it was later named after the third wife of Emperor Francis I, Maria Ludovika.
In 1808 and 1814, the imperial couple Emperor Franz I and his wife Maria Ludovika visited the site. Francis I was the first Emperor of Austria and went down in history as the victor over Napoleon in 1814. A commemorative plaque was attached on each of the two granite obelisks on the occasion of the visit.
This tunnel entrance was the visitor’s entrance of the first salt mine visitors.
Latin Inscription left side
Franciscus I.
Austriae Caesar,
Liberator Europae,
Pater Patriae,
Ferdinandus
Magnus Dux Etruriae,
Antonius et Theresia
Principes Saxoniae,
Perlustraverunt
Salinarum Montes
Anno Domini MDCCCXIV
Translation:
Francis I,
Emperor of Austria,
Liberator of Europe,
Father of the homeland,
Ferdinand
Grand Duke of Tuscany,
Anthony and Maria Theresia
King of Saxony,
visited
the salt mines
in 1814.
Latin Inscription right side
FranCIsCVs I
AVstrIae Caesar
aVgVstVs pIVs
benIgnVs
et
LVDoVICa
aVgVsta
popVLI aLtera parens
VIsItaVerVnt
VnIVersaLI appLaVsV
saLIs JoDInas.
Translation:
Franz I
Emperor of Austria
The noble and devotional
beneficent
und
Ludovika
The noble
another parent to the people
visited
with much jubilation
the salt mines.
more