Bad Vöslau (; Central Bavarian: Bod Vöslau) is a spa town in the Lower Austria federal state of Austria. It is also known as the cradle of the Austrian red wine cultivation. Population (2008): 11,190. Geography Bad Vöslau is located 35 km south of Vienna on the slope of the Vienna Woods mountains to the Vienna Basin. The Thermenlinie fault line running there is the cause of several thermal springs. Municipality Structure The municipality is composed of three localities and cadastral communities, namely Bad Vöslau (cadastral community: Vöslau), Gainfarn, and Großau. History Traces of colonization dating back to the Neolithic period have been found in the area. In the Roman era the place was part of Pannonia province. Already then the thermal springs were used. The name “Vöslau” (as in: Adololdus de Veselove) was first found in a written document of Klosterneuburg Monastery dating from 1136. In that time, the place was only a castle that was encircled by a ditch. It was destroyed by King Matthias Corvinus in 1483, but was subsequently rebuilt. It became of great significance during the Reformation movement. During the Counter-Reformation the parish of Vöslau was incorporated in neighbouring Gainfarn parish. In the 18th century, the Vöslau lordship was purchased by the influential Fries family. Count Johann von Fries, whose vineyards were situated around Vöslau, was the first to grow red wine on a large scale in this region. Under the Fries family, Vöslau took a boom. The old castle was expanded and remodelled in Baroque style. After Count Moritz von Fries had gone bankrupt in 1826, Giorgios Sinas acquired Vöslau palace and lordship, but sold it to Johann Heinrich von Geymüller the Younger just one year later. In 1833, Geymüller established the Vöslau worsted factory (Vöslauer Kammgarnfabrik), which became a major source of employment in Vöslau until it had to be closed down in 1978. In 1841, the Southern Railway to (then) Neunkirchen was opened, so that Vöslau could now be reached by train via (now) Bad Vöslau railway station. In the second half of the 19th century, tourism became another major economic sector. Wealthy families used to spend the summer months in rented houses with their entire households. For this purpose, villas were built on the slopes west of the village centre. In 1822, a first public bath was opened; large portions of it were built anew 1869–73 by architect Theophil Hansen. On