Altaussee is a municipality with 1,879 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Styrian Salzkammergut in Austria. The municipality is located in the Liezen district (Liezen judicial district) and covers 92 km² of large parts of the Ausseerland and the Totes Gebirge. The place at the foot of the Loser is particularly known as a health resort and is located directly on Lake Altaussee.
The settlement history of Altaussee dates back to around 200 to 400 AD, with salt mining playing a major role in the development of the place. After the end of the Roman period, Slavs settled in Ausseerland, who were gradually assimilated by Bavarian settlers from the 8th century onwards. In the Middle Ages, the municipal area was initially part of the Grauscharn-Pürgg rulership, then the Pflindsberg rulership. In the course of the 19th century, tourism appeared in the form of summer resorts and subsequently replaced mining as the most important economic factor. During the Nazi era, the place was incorporated into the Upper Danube administrative unit (Upper Austria), and in 1948 it returned to Styria. From 1943 to 1945 there was an art depot in the Altaussee salt mine for Austrian and German art objects and Nazi-looted art from all over Europe.
Altaussee is now one of the communities with the highest number of overnight stays in the Liezen district. The Altaussee salt mine is the largest salt mining site in Austria.
Source: Wikipedia