Sauerhof

The Sauerhof stands in Baden, a spa town south-west of Vienna. Built in the 12th century as a fortified farm, it became a royal residence when Emperor Maximilian II bought it for his son Rudolf II. After a Turkish attack in 1683 left it in ruins, the estate passed through noble hands until 1820, when Joseph Kornhäusel designed a grand hotel with baths, a restaurant and a chapel set in an English landscape garden. The house welcomed famous guests such as Beethoven, Weber and Salieri, who dined in the Sauerhof-Traiterie. In 1863 Erzherzog Albrecht turned it into a military convalescent home with ninety beds and twelve apartments. During the world wars it served as a military hospital, first for the Austro-Hungarian army and later for the Wehrmacht. After 1945 the building stood empty until 1972, when the town bought it and sold it to new owners who reopened it in 1978 as the Grand Hotel Sauerhof. Visitors today find a large yellow building on a sloping garden site near the centre of Baden. The hotel’s public rooms still show Kornhäusel’s Biedermeier style, with high ceilings and tall windows. The surrounding park contains old trees and paths that once led to a wooden bathing pavilion. Though the hotel closed in 2014, the building remains a landmark in the town’s spa quarter.