Join us for a visit to the house where Beethoven spent at least three out of his fifteen summers in Baden bei Wien. Beethoven had baths in the summer resort town of Emperor Franz and his family, together with the Austrian nobility including the composer's patrons.
The three summers between 1821 and 1823 at Rathausgasse 10 resulted in the essential parts of the 9th Symphony which is today known also as the European anthem, Ode to Joy. As regards the baths, Beethoven wrote to his brother: “... it is not possible to speak with any certainty about a real improvement in my state of health, but I do believe that the power of the baths will, if not eliminate, at least suppress the evil...”.
Today, the Beethovenhaus Baden is a a very interesting museum. Since autumn 2014, the house sports a new kind of museum with visitors experiencing the composer's life and work in a new way. The compositions that Beehoven created in Baden, including the Ninth Symphony, are made tangible and audible in a very interesting way. In a separate exhibition room, the fourth movement of the symphony can not only be heard, but also seen and read. You can explore he basic principles of listening to music and the phenomenon of sound in a hearing laboratory!
In the Biedermeier rooms you will see a fortepiano on which Ludwig van Beethoven played several times. It was made by one of the most famous Viennese piano makers, Conrad Graf (1782 -1851) in the Biedermeier period and donated to the city of Baden in 1895. After extensive restoration, if you are lucky, you can hear the grand piano at a concert.
The museum plot was first mentioned in the land registry, the Herzogbad's guarantee book in the early 16th century and the building is one of the oldest inhabited houses in Baden. The Baden Men's Choir attached a memorial plaque to the street façade in 1872.
The museum shop is large and you will find there both musical gifts to the kids and something more serious for the true music lovers. The museum has a new lift that makes is accessible to all. There is also an accessible loo.
There is no café in the building but there are several cafés and restaurants at the central square at the Trinity Column, Dreifaltigkeitsäule and around, all worth a visit during your lovely stroll in Baden after the museum visit. You might also wish to complete your Beethoven museums with our previous reviews of the Beethoven Museum and the Pasqualatihaus in Vienna.
Beethovenhaus Baden
Rathausgasse 102500 Baden