Baden bei Wien - Austria

In this last month I've tagged and swapped more than usual in order to received UNESCO cards from sites I was still missing. It has been awhile since I received so many new sites in such a short period of time. It almost feels like in the old days. 

This card, with a matching cancellation postmark, was sent by Anita.

Baden bei Wien in Austria, is one of the 11 spa towns from 7 european countries, which were added to the World Heritage List last year. 

The Romans valued the warm healing springs of Baden so much that they even named the location after these springs: ‘Aquae’, or ‘Bäder’ in German. The spring tapped into by the Romans continues to bubble away today and is also open to visitors. This is also the case for the 13 other sulphur thermal springs in the city area; these carry warm ‘yellow gold’ to the surface from a depth of around 1000 meters, which reaches up to 36°C. However, Baden gained its reputation as a health resort around 1,700 years after the Romans discovered the spring. Empress Maria Theresa frequently visited Baden. The Theresiengarten (now the spa park) and the Theresienbad (now the site of the casino) were also named after her at the time. From 1796 to 1835, when Emperor Franz I and his court spent every summer in the spa town, Baden was even labelled as the secret capital of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy for a few months each year. Everyone who was anyone in Vienna, only 26 km away, followed the emperor and travelled to noble Baden for the spa treatment, including the nobility, the rich bourgeoisie and, of course, numerous artists. - in: https://www.lower-austria.info

 

Foto: Bwag

The Kurhaus was built in 1885-86 on the site of the old Theresien and Ursprungs baths as well as the old pump rooms. In terms of function, it replaced the Redoutensaal (ballroom), which was demolished in 1908 to make room for the new Stadttheater. Nowadays, the Kurhaus serves as the Congress Casino, which was built in 1934 - as the first year-round casino - and moved to the present Kurhaus location in 1968; renovated in 2007, it is currently the second largest casino in Europe. The ballroom, which was altered in 1934, was returned to its original appearance in 1999. - in: https://www.tourismus.baden.at