Central Bathhouse Vienna

Kaiserbründl-Sauna in the Central-Bad
Weihburg-Gasse 18-20
Pool for men in the Central Bathhouse 1889; old advertising brochure (c. 1910)
Pool (2009)
Old Cabin
The women’s Bath (Entrance)

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

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). 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 1887-1889, the house was built by the famous Viennese architects Anton Honus, Anton Lang (the father of Fritz Lang), Albert Constantin Swoboda and the brothers Edmund and Franz Czada and the interior received in 1894 its present look.

During the late 19th century the Centralbad (then the only bath in the city centre) gained a very great social reputation. Simon Baruch, the famous pioneer in the field of hydrotherapy and founder of the public bathing system of New York, called the Viennese Bath "the most substantial, elegant and complete bath in the world."[1] Among its regular guests was the Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria, a brother of the emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, who was famous for his love of male beauty.[2] The name Kaiserbründl has been chosen in remembrance of the visits of three imperial majesties[3] in another Vienna bathhouse, the Roemisches Bad (Roman Bathhouse, opened in 1873) at Praterstern.[4]

Visitors of recent years include George Michael and the now missing Aeryn Gillern.[5]

Blueprints as supplement of Anton Honus’ essay: Das Wiener Zentralbad

Notes

  1. ↑ Patricia Spain Ward: Simon Baruch: rebel in the ranks of medicine, 1840-1921, University of Alabama Press, 1994, S. 168.
  2. ↑ "But now occurred the mentioned time and again and often completely wrong in the Central incident described in the Weihburggasse, an institution which has survived to this day as a meeting place of homosexuals, was at that time but not exclusively attended by homosexually inclined. There are many variations of the action. Reduced to simple terms, one could describe the situation as follows: Louis Victor tried to close contact with an attractive young man to produce and received a slap. The scandal could not be hushed up, and soon became widely known. Supposedly Louis Victor, who know how we went out of his disposition not a big state secret, 'with his royal carriage plus lackeys' several times a week to be driven into the Central Baths. [...] Homo erotic excursions of state as it were. Would not put it past him already. Maybe he had some of his famous clocks with them as gifts of love for the cute young 'friends'." (Translation by Google, after the original German version: "Nun ereignete sich aber der immer wieder erwähnte und oft völlig falsch beschriebene Vorfall im Zentralbad in der Weihburggasse, einer Institution die sich bis heute als Treffpunkt Homosexueller erhalten hat, damals aber nicht ausschließlich von gleichgeschlechtlich Veranlagten besucht wurde. Es gibt viele Varianten des Geschehens. Auf einen einfachen Nenner gebracht, könnte man die Situation so beschreiben: Ludwig Victor versuchte näheren Kontakt mit einem attraktiven jungen Mann herzustellen und erhielt eine Ohrfeige. Der Skandal konnte nicht mehr vertuscht werden und wurde rasch in weiten Kreisen bekannt. Angeblich soll Ludwig Victor, der wie wir wissen aus seiner Veranlagung kein großes Staatsgeheimnis machte, “mit seinem Hofwagen plus Lakaien” mehrmals wöchentlich in das Zentralbad gefahren sein. [...] Homoerotische Exkursionen als Staatsakt sozusagen. Zuzutrauen wäre es ihm schon. Vielleicht hatte er auch einige seiner berühmten Uhren bei sich als Liebesgaben für die netten jungen 'Freunde'.") Helmut Neuhold: Das andere Habsburg: Homoerotik im österreichischen Kaiserhaus, Tectum: Marburg 2008, p. 158.
  3. ↑ The visitors had been Franz Joseph I of Austria (12 August 1873), Pedro II of Brazil (13 March 1877) and Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (8 and 13 July 1878). F. Czeike, Historisches Lexikon Wien, 2004, Bd. 4, S. 690.
  4. ↑ Roman Bathhouse Vienna.
  5. ↑ Aeryn M. J. Gillern Missing in Austria Archived April 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. and GONE – Movie about Gillern. The movie had been shown as well at the Viennale-Festival Vienna (Viennale-Tagebuch) on 23 October 2011.

Media related to Central Bathhouse Vienna at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 48°12′21″N 16°22′29″E / 48.20583°N 16.37472°E / 48.20583; 16.37472

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