From bathhouse to art house
The Arnulf Rainer Museum is located in an architectural gem. Where art lovers now come and go, spa guests once bathed: in the "Women's Bath" – the largest and most beautiful bathhouse in the historic spa town of Baden near Vienna. Of Baden's many spas, the Women's Bath is the only one in which the historic spa architecture, including pools and changing rooms, has been preserved to this day. It is omnipresent during a visit to the art museum.
Why is the bathhouse called “Women’s Bath”?
Contrary to what the name might suggest, the women's bath was not a bathhouse exclusively for female spa guests. The name has historical roots: In the 13th century, a chapel called the "Frauenkirche" (Church of Our Lady) stood on the site of the women's bath.
A building through the ages
Bathing culture has a long tradition in the spa town of Baden, thanks to its numerous sulfur springs, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021. The women's baths, designed by the architect Charles de Moreau, always aspired to be contemporary. Thus, at its foundation stone laying in 1821, practicality, economy, a return to a certain simplicity of the building, and the avoidance of decorative elements were at the forefront of the architectural design.
Half a century after the opening of the women's baths, the technical facilities and interior design no longer met contemporary requirements, and so a new renovation began in 1877. To accommodate their formal functions, the bathing pools were covered with marble panels, and a large hall was created in the center of the building. This hall is now called the Hall of Mirrors.
Charles de Moreau
The clearly structured building of the women's baths, dating from 1821, is based on a design by Charles de Moreau, one of the leading architects of French Classicism.
Together with the Baden city architect Anton Hantl, he was responsible for the design of the new bathhouse, the "Frauenbad." Moreau's other works included the Dianabad and the Palais Palffy on Wallnerstrasse, as well as the former Imperial and Royal National Bank on Herrengasse in Vienna. Hantl executed the town hall and Weilburg, the most important buildings of the 19th century in the city of Baden.
"Creating new from old"
For almost 100 years, the building remained unchanged and operated as a modern bathing facility. It was not until the 1970s that bathing operations ceased. For several years, the women's bath building was used as an international exhibition center until 2009, when it finally became the Arnulf Rainer Museum.
The women's bath underwent further renovations, with Arnulf Rainer's motto "Creating new things from old" being implemented by the Viennese architectural team Lottersberger-Messner-Dumpelnik, while the characteristic building remained intact.