Bad Gastein is a fashionable health resort and a winter sports
community in the Gastein Valley. Gastein is located in the Gastein
Valley in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The place owes its
reputation as a health resort to the unique radon thermal springs.
In the middle of the Hohe Tauern National Park in the Salzburg
region, Bad Gastein is 1,000 m above sea level. Its characteristic
townscape with the buildings from the "Belle Epoque" blends in
harmoniously with the natural surroundings. The Austrian world
health resort offers relaxation and recreation, combined with an
ideal mountain climate and Gastein thermal water.
Guaranteed
snow, attractive slopes, cross-country trails of all levels of
difficulty characterize Bad Gastein. In summer there are hiking
trails, running and Nordic walking routes, bike and bike tours in
and around the Hohe Tauern National Park.
On the Stubnerkogel -
year-round accessible 2 140-meter suspension bridge at almost 2,300
m above sea level and the Glocknerblick viewing platform, an
adventurous rock path on the Stubnerkogel.
In Bad Gastein's
thermal spring park, the thermal water gushes impressively and
completely naturally from the rock.
Zirbenzauber am Graukogel -
The Graukogel is known for its particularly beautiful and ancient
stone pine, some trees are almost 400 years old.
Gletschermühle
- natural monument in the center of Bad Gastein.
Church of St. Mary Mother of the Good Council |
Christophoruskirche/ Christophorus Church
Gastein Museum - The museum, which was redesigned in 2011, focuses
on the thermal water, the history of the spa, the Gastein customs
and the picture gallery.
Imhof Show power plant Nassfeld in
Sportgastein - In the show power plant models of various machines
from the gold rush time are exhibited, which are explained in detail
during an interesting tour.
Villa Karlstejn
Villa Karlštejn was built in 1907 by the
Italian master Angelo Comini. Today, within the walls of the
building, there are tourist apartments, allowing guests of Bad
Gastein to immerse themselves in the historical atmosphere of this
small Austrian town.
Town name
The town was called Wildbad or Wildbad Gastein in
the last few centuries. From 1906 to 1996 the community was called
Badgastein. On January 1, 1997, the spelling was set to Bad Gastein.
The name "Gastein" goes back to two Indo-European roots and means
either "gray river" or "spraying river". The oldest still existing
document with the name "Gastuna" can be found in 963 in a
certificate of the noble Rosmuot.
Baths and spa facilities
In the beginning, the bathing facilities were communal pools, in
which bathers passed the time with breakfast and board games. For
the successful spa cures of the Middle Ages, long bathing times and
the generally long cure duration of six weeks were required. The
Gasteiner Heilstollen is also supposed to offer natural help with
rheumatic diseases as part of radon balneology.
In the Middle
Ages, word of the healing power of the Gastein thermal baths spread.
Despite the primitive bathing facilities and accommodations at the
time, princes and noblemen took long and arduous journeys to the
thermal springs. The thermal water was led from the springs to the
inns in open wooden gutters, later in wooden well pipes. The
medicinal water was brought to the neighboring Bad Hofgastein by
means of barrels and horse-drawn carts before a thermal water pipe
was built in 1830.
Gastein Convention
On August 14, 1865,
the Gastein Convention was passed between Austria and Prussia in Bad
Gastein, which regulated the condominium over the duchies of
Schleswig (administered in Prussia) and Holstein (administered in
Austria) acquired as a result of the German-Danish War in 1864.
Mining
The centers of gold mining in the Hohe Tauern are
located in the Böckstein district. The most important gold supplier
at all times was the Radhausberg. In 1557, 830 kg of gold and three
times as much silver were brought into the Salzburg silver trade
(purchase monopoly of the sovereign) from Gastein and Rauris. The
mining of precious metals was nationalized in 1616. This operating
period, now referred to as "Aryan", lasted until 1865/1868.
After the state shutdown, private investors took over the mining and
founded the first Radhausberg union, which lasted until 1904/1905.
Then the Swiss tunnel builder Karl Imhof (1873–1944) became
interested in mining, found a financier in the Swiss tobacco
producer Fritz Mayer and founded the Second Radhausberg Society. The
economic success remained low. Production was inactive from 1926 to
autumn 1937. After a brief engagement by the English Edron Trust,
the German mining company Preussag started mining at the end of
March 1938; Although this did not achieve any success, it was
responsible for the creation of today's Gasteiner Heilstollen. Today
the Böcksteiner Montanmuseum and the Via aurea association remember
this time.
Post war history
After the Second World War, a
DP camp was set up from requisitioned hotels in Bad Gastein for
Jewish, so-called displaced persons, most of whom had been moved
from the DP camp on the grounds of the Ebensee concentration camp to
Bad Gastein. The camp, in which up to 1,300 people lived at times,
was closed in March 1946.
After the First and Second World
Wars, Bad Gastein was no longer able to assert itself as a
fashionable health resort for the upper classes. Winter sports
tourism was established as compensation from 1946. In addition,
rehabilitation clinics run by health insurers and wellness hotels
have increasingly settled due to the alleged healing properties of
the radon-containing thermal water.
For many years, the tourist infrastructure of the place has
increasingly shifted from the historical core to the station area.
Due to its level location, the location on the main road and the
immediate vicinity of mountain railway stations (winter sports), it
is more attractive and convenient for tourists to reach. The
Felsentherme, also located there, which was facing bankruptcy due to
ailing facilities, was extensively modernized by November 2017. Due
to changed leisure habits (the summer season, which used to be
dominant, was replaced by the winter season) and completely outdated
buildings (many hotels had not been modernized since the 1970s and
had insufficient heating facilities), the former Belle Époque
hostels were increasingly decaying. The Grand Hotel Gasteinerhof,
which only had three bathrooms, closed in 1987, and the owners of
the renowned Grand Hotel de l’Europe, once one of the largest and
most exclusive luxury hotels in Europe, had to file for bankruptcy
in 1988. Since then, the multi-storey house has been used as an
apartment building, with most of the owners only being there a few
weeks a year. The casino moved out in 2015. Between 2001 and 2005
the Viennese real estate entrepreneur Franz Duval acquired five
historic buildings that characterize the center (Haus Austria,
Kongresshaus, Hotel Straubinger, Badeschloss, k. U. K. Post office)
for a total of five million euros. Since then, the properties have
fallen into disrepair, and son Philipp Duval, who inherited the
property in 2013, did not present any redevelopment plans either.
However, the Viennese architect Franz Wojnarowski announced in
February 2017 that there were potential buyers who, like himself,
were striving for "an architectural combination of old, classicist
building tradition and modern new buildings". Wojnarowski held 50
percent of some of the old buildings on Straubingerplatz, Philipp
Duval the other half. Duval was the sole owner of the House of
Austria and the desolate congress center and, according to the
municipality, had "broken off all contact".
Since investments
in the tourist future of the town center were uncertain for years,
there were attempts to temporarily use the "eyesore" artistically
and to inspire guests for the "morbid charm" of the area. The Summer
Fresh Art Festival has been held in July since 2010 and since 2011
artists have been invited to work in studios in the listed power
plant at the foot of the waterfall and to live in hotels for a few
weeks. In this context, the press referred to avant-garde
performers, high-quality restaurants and described Bad Gastein as a
“stronghold for creative and crazy people”.
At the beginning
of November 2017, the State of Salzburg bought the vacant historical
ensemble on Straubingerplatz with the Hotel Straubinger, the
Badeschloss and the post office building, which was in need of major
renovation, for 6 million euros and financed an initial, makeshift
renovation. In November 2018, the buildings were sold on to the
Munich-based Hirmer real estate group for 7.5 million euros, subject
to the stipulation that at least one 4-star superior or a 5-star
hotel would be built no later than three years after the necessary
permits had been obtained. A 520 meter long pedestrian tunnel and a
new multi-storey car park should solve the traffic problems in the
center by 2021. The number of overnight stays has risen
significantly, regardless of the in-town ruins. In 2018 they were
1.2 million per year compared to 850,000 in 1990. In February 2019,
there was even talk of a new “gold rush mood”.
Geography
A special feature is the location of the center,
which was created on the steep slopes around the waterfall and is
characterized by very steep and narrow streets. Multi-storey houses
were built on these cliffs to save space, so that the appearance of
the village is reminiscent of a city (“skyscraper village”). The
difference in altitude between the spring park and the train station
is around 80 meters. It is possible to overcome part of the height
difference from the town center to the station area by using the
parking garage lift (11 floors).
By plane
Air travelers can reach Bad Gastein via the airports
Salzburg (IATA code: SZB, 97 km), Munich (IATA code: MUC, 266 km),
or Innsbruck (IATA code: INN, 191 km).
By train
The
Tauernbahn station, which was typical of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, is located near the Stubnerkogelbahn valley station.
The trains are operated by ÖBB, all express trains on the route stop
in the town.
Occupied counter times are: Mo-Fr 7:00 a.m. -
12:25 p.m. and 1:25 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Sa 8:00 a.m. - 12:25 p.m. and
1:25 p.m. - 5:45 p.m., Sundays and Sundays. Public holidays 10:00
a.m. - 12:25 p.m. and 1:25 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
By street
Coming from the Salzburg area, take the A10 toll road south to
Bischofshofen and the Gasteinertal exit, continue on the Austrian
federal road B311 to Lend and turn off onto the B167 into the
Gasteinertal. Continue via Bad Hofgastein to Bad Gastein.
The
toll-free journey from the north in the route via Lofer and on
well-developed federal roads, but with some through-town traffic, is
from the Munich - Salzburg motorway, exit Traunstein-Siegsdorf in
Germany and further on the B306 (D) via Inzell, Schneizlreuth
(border ), B178 (A) to Lofer, from there you can continue on the B
311 to Lend at the entrance to the Gastein Valley. Distance from the
Traunstein motorway exit approx. 134 km.
Coming from the
south, Bad Gastein is reached via the Mallnitz Tauern lock.