Central Bathhouse Vienna


Central Bathhouse Vienna is a bathing establishment in Vienna, Austria.

History

The Centralbad 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. 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, the first document mentioning a padstubn in this house dates back to 1369.

Building

Between 1887-1889, the house was built by the famous Viennese architects Anton Honus, Anton 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 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." 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. The name Kaiserbründl has been chosen in remembrance of the visits of three imperial majesties in another Vienna bathhouse, the Roemisches Bad at Praterstern.
Visitors of recent years include George Michael and the now missing Aeryn Gillern.