Fortyseven in Baden

21 November 2021

Mario Botta (1943), an architect from Tessin, worked on this project for 15 years. The bathing complex Seventyfour along the banks of the Limmat River is 160 metres long and has eleven saunas and eight water pools.

Fourteen springs bubbling from the earth provide the water. The complex is not a water theme park. The beneficial and healing effect of the spring water is the main focus. The name also refers to this use: the sulphur water from the springs has a maximum temperature of 47 Celsius.

Baden was already prominent in Roman times because of its thermal baths. The Roman name was, therefore, Aquae Helveticae, Helvetic waters. For this reason, the legionary camp Vindonissa (today’s Windisch) was established there. It became a Roman city, including the still visible Amphitheatre. The Vindonissa Museum pays extensive attention to this history.

Baden became the largest spa centre in the Middle Ages north of the Alps. After the occupation of the Habsburg Aargau by the Confederation (Eidgenossenschaft) in 1415, Baden became the meeting place of the Confederation’s Tagsatzung (States General). The presence of the springs played an essential role in this decision.

Residenz and Brasserie Bad Schwanen

However, the great heyday was in the 19th century. Investors built huge hotels and spas along the Limmat. Some of them, the Verenahof, Ochsen and Bären, still exist.

The Grand Hotel, three times as big (!) as the current new complex of 160 metres, was demolished in 1944. The casino, Kurtheater, Kurpark and Kursaal in the centre of the city are reminders of the grandeur of the Belle Époque.

After the First World War, the health resorts in Switzerland and Baden declined. The old Roman quarter on the Limmat, with splendid hotels and Spas, sank into a deep sleep.

The initiative of investors in 2006, the creativity and craftsmanship of the architect, the involvement of the Denkmalpflege and Heimatschutz, and the commitment of local authorities, companies and citizens have reawakened the Sleeping Beauty of Swiss spas.

On the banks of the Limmat River, the Bagni Populari Association (Verein) has even revived the old tradition of hot springs accessible to all.  Aquae Helveticae still seems to be an appropriate name.

(Source: www.fortyseven.ch).