Baden, Town of Roses
A spa resort. A show-place for classic early 19th century architecture. The former summer residence of the imperial family. Baden, in the Vienna woods, is all these things.
But because of its mild climate, the town is particularly suited to rose growing, and the best time to visit Baden-bei-Wien is during the annual rose festival, in the middle of June. The focus of the rose festival is th eight-hectare Doblhoff Park, with its famous rosarium. For two weeks 20,000 blooms will fill the air with their fragrance.
The festival kicks off on the second Saturday each June. The opening ceremony takes place on a stage on one side of the lake. Visitors can either sit at a table at one of the cafes lining the opposite bank, or stroll along the lake shore while enjoying the show.
During the day you either admire the rosarium or visit the park's baroque Orangerie for special displays of aromatherapy and flower arranging.
The residents of Baden have embraced the festival, and on the third Sunday each June various families open their private gardens to the public for free.
The Linhartsberger family garden
The beautifully landscaped garden of the Linhartsberger family was divided into sections, designed like a separate rooms, each with a statue or sitting area as a focus and often framed in rose bushes.
A contrast was the small but romantic rose garden of the Schörg family.
Their place boasts a picturesque doorway, complete with witch's broom
and a series of charming arbours, one of which held a table laden with strawberries and almond pastries.
These glimpses of private life are a reminder that Baden-bei-Wien is a
peaceful and romantic small town, where time seems to have stood still.
It's a town with style, thanks to the Hapsburgs, who moved their court here every summer between 1803 and 1834. The greatest architects of the time designed villas here for the nobility and it still has the greatest number of millionaires of any Austrian town.
Baden is also famous for its water, as the name indicates ('Baden' means 'bathe' in German). The town has 14 natural hot springs, full of healing minerals, with temperatures of up to 36 degrees, used since Roman times to treat rheumatic complaints.