High award for master confectioner Josef Zauner – 60 years in the profession

On August 1, 1963, Josef Zauner started his apprenticeship as a confectioner at the former k. u. k. Hofzuckerbäcker Zauner in Bad Ischl laid the foundation for an unprecedented career. Today, 60 years later, as senior chef, he still greets the numerous guests in a friendly manner at the Grand Cafe in Pfarrgasse or at the Zauner Esplanade restaurant on the Traun River.

Master confectioner Josef Zauner has played a major role in shaping the history of this traditional business, which has been in existence since 1832. With a great deal of tact, he was able to lead the company carefully into the present. Thus, “der Zauner” is still considered the epitome of Austrian coffeehouse culture. In the meantime, he has successfully handed over the management of the company to his son Philipp and knows that he is in good hands.

Zauner’s professional life was eventful. In 1972, he passed the German and Austrian master craftsman examinations. His numerous stays abroad earned him the reputation of an ambassador of Austrian dessert culture, which he underpinned with numerous gold medals for his gourmet delights at international competitions. In Japan, the master confectioner from Bad Ischl has been a welcome guest professor at the confectionery school for decades. As a television chef and pastry chef, he delighted audiences on ORF and Bayrischer Rundfunk. Zauner was chairman of the Bad Ischl Tourism Association from 1998 to 2003. In 2021 he received the Golden Badge of Honor of the Province of Upper Austria, and a year earlier the lifetime achievement award from the gourmet magazine Falstaff. The Zaunerstollen, of which 170,000 pieces leave the impressive showcase in Pfarrgasse every year and which finds delighted buyers worldwide, is even immortalized on an Austrian stamp.

Passing on his extensive knowledge of confectionery has always been a matter close to Josef Zauner’s heart. Under him, about 150 apprentices were trained – 150 young people who, by completing their apprenticeship in the house of the world-famous confectioner, obtained a highly qualified professional education, often paving the way for an international career.

The Ischl showcase company is not running out of projects. With the recently completed employee residence (formerly Hotel “Stadt Salzburg) with 28 accommodations, the company invested in the future and presents itself as an attractive employer. Currently, the bakery is being generously remodeled to better handle the increasing demand from the online store and as investor of the Grand Elisabeth hotel project behind the Kongress und TheaterHaus, the economic development of Bad Ischl is being further advanced.

Josef Zauner was now presented with the silver business medal of the WKOÖ by the vice president of the WKOÖ, Leo Jindrak, at a ceremony at the Auszeit-Alm in Bad Ischl on account of his services. “This is a high distinction of the WKO, which so far only very few entrepreneurial personalities in the district have received”, Jindrak was pleased with his professional colleague.

Zauner would also like to make a contribution to the 2024 Capital of Culture. Thus, he is chairman of a cooperation that will revive and celebrate the cultural heritage of confectionery in the Salzkammergut. The epicenter can be found in Ischl’s Pfarrgasse.

“We congratulate Josef Zauner very warmly on this high award from the WKOÖ, which recognizes his decades of commitment, whether in the region or abroad!”, congratulates Robert Oberfrank, Head of WKO Gmunden.