The Hotel Badeschloss is a former public health resort and a former hotel at Straubingerplatz 4 right next to the Gastein waterfall in the municipality of Bad Gastein in the St. Johann im Pongau district in the state of Salzburg. It is a listed building. After it had been vacant for years, the roof structure burned down completely on March 27, 2013 after a fire.
The raised bathing palace with two-winged staircases was built
between 1791 and 1794 according to plans by Wolfgang Hagenauer on
behalf of the Salzburg Prince Archbishop Colloredo. The classical
serpentine portal was built in 1794 based on a design by Anton Högl.
In 1807 the castle was converted into a public health resort. In
1857 the building was demolished up to the first floor and rebuilt.
The German Kaiser Wilhelm I stayed here for the first time in 1863,
and then came here annually, with one interruption in 1866, until
1887 for his summer spa stays. From 1912 it was a military spa
before being converted into a hotel in the 1920s.
After it
had been used, it stood empty for a few decades and had been in the
possession of the Viennese real estate investor Franz Duval since
1999, who let it fall into disrepair. On March 27, 2013, the roof
structure was destroyed by flames, the cause, according to the
police, was arson.
On November 14, 2018 it was announced that
the Hotel Badeschloss had found a new investor. The new investor is
the Munich-based “Hirmer-Immobilien-Gruppe”. With the assignment
contract, the buyer undertakes to set up a commercial hotel in the
4-star superior or 5-star category within three years of obtaining
the necessary permits. This is to ensure that the historic center of
Bad Gastein does not fall into disrepair.
The
building is a four-storey, seven-axis structure over a rectangular
floor plan. The portal is decorated with borders and pilasters.
Above it is an inscription from 1794.
The
symmetrical double staircase leading to the bathing castle housed a
shop belonging to the jeweler Julius Hügler, which was integrated in
1924/25 according to plans by Hans Prutscher.