5000 years of Baden
The Roman Health Resort of "Aquae"
Historical Overview of Baden
For millennia now, the hot sulfuric springs have been the economic base
of this city on the slopes of the Thermal Alps. The higher altitude settlements
along its western and northern edge extend back to the late Neolithic
period (Baden Culture). After the province of Pannonia was instituted
some 2000 years ago, Baden became a Roman health resort (brick artifacts
from the Xth and XIVth Legion, votive stones, remains of houses). It is
designated on the Itinerarium Antonini (a road map from the 3rd century
AD) as Aquae. After the Great Migrations, it reappeared in 869 as Padun
(Palatinate Carloman).
In the 15th century, Baden experienced a moderate yet steady upturn in
its fortunes. This phase ended abruptly in havoc and destruction when
the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus invaded the area in 1477 and 1482.
To help Baden recover economically, Friedrich II granted it a city charter
in 1480.
The next two centuries saw the city reeling from one blow after another:
the Turkish Wars (destruction in 1529 and 1683), the Reformation and Counter-Reformation,
the Plague (1713) and a devastating fire (1714). In the 18th century the
city took ambitious steps to develop as a health resort, acquiring the
Roman Spring and the Herzoghof. The early 19th century was a time of the
"back to nature!" movement and long, languid summers in the
country. About this time, something happened that would have a lasting
effect on Baden's fortunes. Emperor Franz I (II) began spending his summers
here and continued doing so from 1796 to 1834. Baden was elevated to the
emperor's summer residence. He was soon followed by the court, the high
aristocracy, the moneyed aristocracy and the art world. They built luxurious
palais here or took apartments. The list of well-known people who lived
and worked in Baden during this period is long: Emperor Franz I, the Archdukes
Karl, Wilhelm, Anton, Eugen, Rainer, Empress Maria Luise (spouse of Napoleon
I), the Duke of Reichstadt, Grillparzer, Schwind, Mozart, Schubert, Lanner,
Strauss, Millöcker, Zeller, Komzak. Perhaps the greatest of them
all, however, was Beethoven. He towers over the rest like a lonely summit
in all eternity, inexorably linked to the city by the Ninth Symphony and
the Missa solemnis, large parts of which he composed in the Beethoven
House in Baden. The city can thank this influx of guests and a devastating
fire in 1812 for its Biedermeier character and its first golden age. Architecturally
the big name was J. Kornhäusel. The death of Emperor Franz I was
a hard blow for Baden, but soon thereafter the Southern Railroad was built
(1841), opening up new opportunities. By the end of the 19th century Baden
had become the "noble" spa of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It
attained its current size on the incorporation of Leesdorf, Gutenbrunn
(1850) and Weikersdorf (1912).