Felsenbad Gastein

***Article written by Julian Mändl*** Over decades Bad Gastein, a small mountain village nestled deep in the eastern part of the Austrian Alps, held the title of being one of the most fashionable and mundane spas in Europe and was a recurring meeting place for international society. This cultural upswing culminated around the fin de siecle when it soon became the annual venue for visits by Kings and Kaisers alike of all the monarchies in the German-speaking sphere. With grand society came grand architecture. The countless multi-story hotel complexes in the style of classicism and art nouveau made it the purest architectural and urbanistic self-representation of the monarchy, rivaled only by the imperial architecture of Viennas Ringstrasse or Munichs Residenz palace. It was during this period that several of Gastein's most important buildings were erected, which to this day – although no longer in their former glory – make up the unique charm of the spa town. Friedrich Achleitner, a renowned critic defined the architectural fascination unbrokenly in the fact that in an alpine, partly wild-romantic topography a metropolitan architecture was built, which represents the greatest conceivable contrast to the natural scenery. That was, however, before this homogenic Zuckerbäcker-style of urban structure was broken irrevocably in form of several uniquely identifiable, wildly utopian brutalist buildings erected by the architect Gerhard Garstenauer to overcome the constant state of economic decline afflicting Gastein since the two world wars. In an unprecedented effort a city council tried to rejuvenate and revitalize a run-down alpine spa of former global importance with the help of modern architecture.