Feuerwehrmuseum Bad Ischl

A brief history of the Bad Ischl Fire Brigade

As far as fire safety was concerned, Bad Ischl was already far ahead of its time in the 18th century. A devastating fire in the market square on 21 July 1865 ultimately led to the founding of Bad Ischl’s first fire brigade. Over the decades, this was to be followed by 10 further fire brigades and fire stations (although the Eck fire station was subsequently disbanded). The Bad Ischl Volunteer Fire Brigade, as the third-oldest fire brigade in Upper Austria, was also involved in the founding of the Upper Austrian Provincial Fire Brigade Association.

In 1990, under the leadership of Chief Fire Officer Josef Stadler, the history of the Bad Ischl Fire Brigade was compiled to mark the 125th anniversary of the Bad Ischl Volunteer Fire Brigade, and a museum was established in the fire station at the Bad Ischl Main Fire Station. Here, one can find documents of great historical interest, some of which date back to the period before the fire brigade was founded. The original appeal to the people of Ischl, issued after the market fire of 1865, urging them to volunteer for the Volunteer Fire Brigade, is also among the collection. In addition, numerous photographs, items of equipment and apparatus are on display as historical artefacts, providing an insight into the development of the fire service in Ischl.

As the fire station building at the Bad Ischl main fire station is due to be renovated, the museum has been relocated to 18 Kaiser Franz Josef Straße, into the former Weinzierl car showroom. The two archivists, E-OBM Josef Stadler and E-BI Manfred Zeppezauer, together with E-HBI Gerhard Kössler, spent countless hours of voluntary work reorganising the exhibition for this move.