Hermann Tamussino

Hermann Tamussino was an Austrian Bauhaus architect working in Mödling. One of his best remembered buildings is the municipal swimming pool, which is still situated between art nouveau villas and residential buildings. Built by the municipality in 1928 despite financial problems, the municipal construction was at that time one of the finest spas in Lower Austria. He also submitted the design plans to the 1932 Los Angeles Art Competitions in the category Architecture. In winter 1928 the related ice rink was opened, where prominent figure skaters such as World and European Champions Karl Schäfer and Fritzi Burger showed their skills. Moreover, hockey games, art shows, and public contests were held almost every night.

In the style of New Objectivity, the elongated street front of the cubic structure was structured by windows. The facade had a warm sandy tone and was decorated with reliefs from painter and sculptor Heinrich Révy. The mechanical core was a crystal ice factory that produced fifteen hundred blocks of ice daily, while the waste heat heated the water in the pool. Meanwhile, the bath has been renovated and modernized several times. Tamussino’s second contribution was his design for a “municipal bath and laundry in the Wiener Neustadt”, which was developed for a competition in 1928 but never realized.