Kaiserbründl-Sauna in the Central-Bad Vienna Weihburg-Gasse 18-20

Central Bathhouse Vienna (opened in 1889 as Central-Bad Wien, Zentralbad Wien, and also known as Kaiserbründl) is a bathing establishment in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

History

The Centralbad (today: Kaiserbründl) for the last 120 years is generally regarded as the oldest and most distinguished bathing-establishment in Vienna. The unusually deep well of the building itself was already in use in Roman times for the small fortification at a bridge (proven through the discovery of coins dating back to the Emperors Heliogabalus and

Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...

). This building structure, later known as ''Weihenpurgkh'', formed part of a separate fortified small suburb outside Vienna until 1156. In the Middle Ages and until 1880 this area was the centre for textiles (''der alte Ramhof''), the first document mentioning a ''padstubn'' (“bathing room”) in this house dates back to 1369.

Building

Between 1887 and 1889, the house was built by the famous Viennese architects Anton Honus, Anton Lang (the father of

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

), Albert Constantin Swoboda and the brothers Edmund and Franz Czada and the interior received its present look in 1894. During the late 19th century the Centralbad (then the only bath in the city centre) gained a very great social reputation.

Simon Baruch Simon Baruch (July 29, 1840 – June 3, 1921) was a physician, scholar, and the foremost advocate of the urban public bathhouse to benefit public health in the United States. Early life and education Simon Baruch, the son of Jewish parents Berna ...

, the famous pioneer in the field of hydrotherapy and founder of the public bathing system of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, called the Viennese Bath "the most substantial, elegant and complete bath in the world." Among its regular guests was the

Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria Archduke Ludwig Viktor Joseph Anton of Austria (15 May 1842 – 18 January 1919) was the youngest child of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria, and as such was the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I. H ...

, a brother of the emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the Grand title of the Emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg m ...

, who was famous for his love of male beauty. The name ''Kaiserbründl'' has been chosen in remembrance of the visits of three imperial majesties in another Vienna bathhouse, the Roemisches Bad (Roman Bathhouse, opened in 1873) at

Praterstern Praterstern is a major square in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna, Austria . The square features the column to Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff. Located and named after it are the Wien Praterstern railway station, and the connecting Prater ...

. Visitors of recent years include

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

and the now missing Aeryn Gillern.Aeryn M. J. Gillern Missing in Austria
an
''GONE'' – Movie about Gillern
The movie had been shown as well at the

Viennale The Vienna International Film Festival, or Viennale, is a film festival taking place every October since 1960 in Vienna, Austria. The average number of visitors is about 75,000. Traditional cinema venues are ''Gartenbaukino'', ''Urania'', ''Metro ...

-Festival Vienna
Viennale-Tagebuch
on 23 October 2011. File:Grundrisz Souterrain.png, Ground plan Souterrain File:Grundrisz Parterre.png, Ground plan Parterre File:Grundrisz Mezzanin.png, Ground plan Mezzanin File:Aufrisz Central-Bad.png, Elevational view ::::::Blueprints as supplement of Anton Honus’ essay: ''Das Wiener Zentralbad''

Notes

External links

Wall painting by Stefan Riedl

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiserbrundl Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt Tourist attractions in Vienna Infrastructure completed in 1889 Moorish Revival architecture 1889 establishments in Austria 19th-century architecture in Austria