Description of the attraction
The Arnulf Rainer Museum of Art is located in the center of the Austrian city of Baden, approximately 500 meters from the main train station and the spa park.
This museum was opened relatively recently - in 2009. It is dedicated to contemporary art and especially to Arnulf Reiner, a renowned painter born in Baden. However, it is worth noting the building itself, which houses the museum. This is a former bathhouse known as Frauenbad.
It is believed that the first hot springs in Baden were known back in Roman times, and the first Christians began to build religious structures on the site of these springs. For the first time, the chapel on this site was mentioned only in 1297 - it was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and was called Frauenkirche. At the same time, a large Augustinian monastery arose around this church, and several centuries later the first baths were built here, which received their name in memory of the medieval church - Frauenbad.
Among the famous visitors to these baths, it is worth noting the numerous crowned persons, for example, the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire Ferdinand I and Matthias, the Emperor of Austria Franz I and the King of Saxony Frederick Augustus III. The modern building of the former bathhouse was built in the years 1877-1878 and is distinguished by its amazing facade made of risolite and decorated with powerful Tuscan columns and a neoclassical frieze.
As for the museum collection, it presents mainly contemporary art - painting and graphics, sculptures, photographs and various installations. Some exhibitions combine several genres of art at once, including even music and literature, which is a typical phenomenon in Austrian modern culture.
