Kaiserhaus Baden

The Kaiserhaus is currently closed!

The history of the imperial house of Baden - a non-imperial residence of the Habsburgs
"I have inspected the house we are to occupy and must frankly confess to you that I find it both uninhabitable for this year and incapable of practical improvement". Empress Maria Ludovica wrote this sentence to her husband, Emperor Franz I, after she was shown the new quarters for the imperial family's annual séjours in Baden on June 10, 1813. The protest was to no avail. The princely Esterhazy palace, adapted for Nicholas II by French architect Charles Moreau, became the imperial residence.
Francis I had the building purchased "for my use" and remained loyal to it until his death.
The house gained world-historical significance during the First World War, when in 1917 and 1918 the army high command of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was stationed in Baden. Monarchy was stationed in Baden and Emperor Karl I commanded his army from the second floor of the Imperial House. After that, the imperial house fell into a deep sleep.
Today, the revitalized palace shines in new splendour and the imperial apartment on the second floor serves as a sophisticated setting for exhibitions.