St. Augustine’s Monastery Augustinerkloster
A short entry dated July 3, 1698 in the Grand Embassy’s Travel Journal (“Jurnal”) says, “The headman went to Teplitsy”. The author meant Baden, Austria, a town located 26 km away from Vienna. According to the Expenditure Books of the Royal Treasury Chamber, the Tsar went to Baden together with Alexander Menshikov. The first and second ambassadors Franz Lefort and Fyodor Golovin arrived there a day later, on the 4th of July. These are the dates according to the Julian calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, Peter stayed in Baden from July 12 or 13, 1698.
The Ceremonial Protocol of the Habsburg Court (Ceremonialprotocolle 1698, HHStA-Wien) also contains an entry dated July 14 reporting that the Tsar stayed in Baden, that the first and second ambassadors went to see him and that they would not come back before Friday: “Hat selbiger Vermelt: weil(en) Seine Beede herren mit gesandten auff Baaden Verraist (woselbst sich auch der Czaar Befindet) und Vorm Freytag nicht zurückkommen würden…” (Fol. 432/v.). Peter’s stay in Baden was also mentioned by the Venetian ambassador to Vienna Carlo Ruzzini in his letter to the Venetian doge: “…lo stesso terzo ambasciatore che dicendo venir in quell‘ hora dai bagni di Baden, dove si fermava tuttavia il Czar con gli altri ambasciatori”.
The Russian Tsar stayed there for several days, probably until the 15th or 16th of July, but the precise date of his departure is unknown.
The city was famous for its sulfurous springs with waters containing calcium, sodium, magnesium, sulfate and chloride which were successfully used both for treatment of various diseases and body recovery. The name Baden derives from the German verb “baden” (to bathe). Since 1480 to this day, the coat of arms of the town has had an image of a man and a woman in a bathing tub on it.
Most probably, Peter I together with Lefort, pater Wolf, Menshikov and the first and second ambassadors lived in the Augustinian Monastery which usually served as accommodation for Leopold I and his family during his visits to Baden. The building was located at 3-5 Frauengasse in the old historical center of the city.
The St. Augustine’s Monastery (Augustinerkloster) and its church Frauenkirche Maria die Glorreiche were founded in the 13th century. It was first mentioned in documents in 1285. Baden was heavily damaged during the Second Siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Turks in 1683, and it took several years to restore the Monastery due to a lack of funds. It is not known exactly what springs Peter visited in Baden, but it is quite likely that one of them was the Frauenbad which was located next to the monastery complex. In 1821, the façade of the pavilion was rebuilt in Classicism style. Currently, the pavilion houses a modern art exhibition hall. The monastery was abolished in 1811-1812. A new real high school founded in 1863 moved into the building after its reconstruction in 1867 and has been occupying it to this day. The school complex is a monument of architecture.
City residents have a legend stating that during his stay in Baden, Peter I lived in a private house at 8 Frauengasse (across the street from the monastery). The house still has the ceiling with two-headed eagles and its occupants are sure that it was here that the Russian Tsar stayed. An investigation of the house found out that the gypsum figures of eagles were not two-headed but single-headed and that they are dated from the second half of the 19th century. So, the eagles had no connection with Peter I, but the legend itself shows the surviving memory of the Russian Tsar’s stay in Baden.
The history of the monastery also remembers the stay of Friedrich August I, Elector of Saxony, and the future King of Poland August II, who adopted Catholicism in Baden in May 1697. We do not know whether pater Wolf discussed conversion to Catholicism with Peter, but we can suggest that it was not by chance that the monastery had been chosen as accommodation for the Tsar.
A memorial sign dedicated to the stay of Peter I in Baden was created by artist Minna Antova as part of the “Zeit. Fenster” (Time. Windows) project and was inaugurated in 2014.
