Ferienhort am Wolfgangsee

The Ferienhort am Wolfgangsee stands beside the Abersee in Sankt Gilgen, a quiet village in the Salzkammergut. The site includes a large building designed by architect Franz Schönthaler, set on forty hectares of woodland and meadows with two kilometres of lake shore. Since 1911 it has housed summer camps for children and young people. The camp was founded in 1888 by the lung specialist Leopold Schrötter Ritter von Kristelli to give poorer pupils a healthy holiday away from the city. Today the non-profit organisation runs several programmes each summer, with over eleven hundred participants. A social fund helps children from less well-off families join the camps. Visitors find dormitories for up to fifty-five young people in each group, a dining hall and a large assembly room. The lakefront offers space for rowing and sailing with a fleet of fifteen boats. Paths wind through the grounds, leading to quiet spots beside the water where campers can swim or simply rest.