Villa Schratt
Steinbruch 43
Steinbruch 43
The villa was named after Katharina Schratt (1853 - 1940), an actress at the Hofburgtheater in Vienna. Schratt never owned the villa, but spent many summers in this house in Ischl between 1889 and 1914.
The villa, at the time named “Villa Felicitas“ (Villa of Luck), was commissioned in 1855 by the spa physician Dr. Mastalier as a country style guest house on a big, undeveloped piece of land on the road to Pfandl. Later, the villa was owned by the Koch family, owners of the former “Kaiserin Elisabeth” hotel.
Emperor Franz Joseph and Katharina Schratt were close friends, both in Vienna as well as in Ischl. Franz Joseph’s wife Empress Elisabeth approved and supported this friendship. There was a walkway between the villa and the Imperial villa, and one could enter and exit the imperial garden through a small garden gate. Franz Joseph often visited for breakfast, and Schratt treated him with her famous bundt cake, the so-called Schratt-Guglhupf. Just in case the cake failed, Schratt used to order a duplicate of the cake at “Zauner”, the local pastry shop. Up to the present day, guests can order an original Schratt Guglhupf at Café Zauner.
The Emperor was not the only one who felt comfortable in the Schratt Villa. World-famous artists like Johann Strauss, Richard Tauber, Franz Lehár und Alexander Girardi visited regularly and with pleasure.
In 1924, the villa was owned by Mimi Kött. The famous operetta singer and vaudeville artist was known for her extravagant performances.
Helene Löhner, wife of librettist Dr. Fritz Löhner-Beda, owned the villa in 1932. He was friends with Lehár (see also “Löhner-Beda commemorative plaque”). Löhner-Beda was expropriated during the Nazi period and murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
After the war, actor and cabaretist Maxi Böhm bought the villa from Löhner-Beda’s estate, and turned the house into a B&B. Böhm and his family spent many summers in Ischl.
Since 1964, the villa has been owned by the Viennese opera singer Linda Plech and her family.
The Schratt Villa also used to be a gourmet restaurant (1989 – 2006), run by chef Günther Gaderbauer and his wife Sabine. During this time, the villa became famous again. One went “to the Schratt” to dine in style.
