Bad Hall: Culture, Theatre and Spa Park

Bad Hall combines a varied cultural offering with a spa park and other leisure activities. When choosing a hotel, it may help to first decide what you want to focus on during your stay: local history and museums, a performance or time outdoors. Each place and activity has its own character, which you can factor into your travel plans.

Forum Hall and the history of the spa town

Forum Hall brings three museums together under one roof. The building presents around 20,000 exhibits across 2,000 m² of exhibition space. This means several museums and an extensive exhibition can be found in one place. The 90-minute guided tour “In the Footsteps of the Salt Boilermakers” offers another perspective on Bad Hall’s history. It explains how Bad Hall developed into a bathing and spa town, covers the effects of iodine-bromine healing water and ends at the Forum Hall town museum. Dates are listed in the 2026 tourism programme; check for a suitable date before your trip.

One historical starting point was the discovery of iodine in the Sulzbach Valley, at what is now Tassilo Spring. This was followed by the opening of Bad Hall’s first bathhouse in 1829. In 1855, Bad Hall was designated an Upper Austrian state spa. These dates mark two distinct milestones in its development: the first bathhouse and the later designation as a state spa. This means the history of the bathing and spa town cannot be tied to just one point in time.

Municipal theatre and church art

Bad Hall Municipal Theatre has around 400 seats. It is the venue for the operetta festival and also hosts musical productions. Its capacity gives a clear idea of the size of the venue, while operetta and musical represent two different kinds of stage production. If you would like to include a performance in your trip, check the current programme and specific dates.

Another cultural highlight is Bad Hall’s parish church, a Neo-Gothic building. Otto Schirmer drew up the plans. The colourful stained-glass windows depict the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary and were made by Carl Geyling’s Erben of the Wiener Werkstätte. The building’s architectural style and the specific subjects of its stained-glass windows are both noted here. For a culture-focused stay, the church offers a different perspective from the museums or theatre programme.

Spa park, golf and travel

Bad Hall’s spa park has shady paths and a profusion of flowers. Its paths and garden setting give it a character of its own alongside the museums, church and theatre. Bad Hall is also home to the 18-hole Herzog Tassilo golf course. The park and golf course cater to different leisure interests that you can take into account when planning your stay.

For travel by regional bus, the “Ehem. Bahnhof Bad Hall” terminal is a useful landmark. It is served by regional buses from Wels, Steyr, Linz and other places. If you are planning your trip around a bus connection, check the latest services before travelling.

Discover more destinations: Dietach, Sankt Ulrich Bei Steyr, Sierning, Aschach An Der Steyr, Ternberg, Laussa, Wolfern, Adlwang.

For the higher-level travel overview: Steyr-Land.