Kaiserhaus Baden

Spa guests from all over the world have been drawn for centuries to the spa town of Baden in the search for healing and refreshment. They bathe in sulphureous water, are wrapped in warm towels, stroll around the Pump Room or indulge in a little flirt in the Kurpark and doze and sunbathe in the Lido. “Aufbaden” is the bath session, when guests get used to the beneficient waters, then comes “Abbaden”, “après-bathing”, the slow wind-down.

The exhibition “Aufbaden–Abbaden. Spa Culture in Baden” dips into fascinating spa stories going back to the eighteenth century, divulges remedies and lets people from today’s Baden have their say. Historical travel guides, spa lists, artistic engravings, sulphur stones, bizarre gymnastic and therapy apparatuses, early film footage, photographs and bathing costumes reflect the development of spa culture. And they document radical changes not only in medical history but also society.

One of eleven of the richly traditional spas in Europe, Baden has since 2021 been on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list of the “Great Spa Towns of Europe”.

The building on Hauptplatz, Baden, was purchased by Emperor Francis I in 1813; almost every succeeding year he came to Baden with his family on their summer health vacation.