In 2021, the town became part of the transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name "Great Spa Towns of Europe", because of its famous spas and architecture that exemplifies the popularity of spa towns in Europe in the 18th through 20th centuries.[3]
Baden-Baden lies in a valley[10] of the Northern Black Forest in southwestern Germany.[11] The western districts lie within the Upper Rhine Plain. The highest mountain of Baden-Baden is the Badener Höhe (1,002.5 m above sea level (NHN)[12]), which is part of the Black Forest National Park. The old town lies on the side of a hill on the right bank of the Oos.[10] Since the 19th century, the principal resorts have been located on the other side of the river.[10] There are 29 natural springs in the area, varying in temperature from 46 to 67 °C (115 to 153 °F).[10] The water is rich in salt and flows from artesian wells 1,800 m (5,900 ft) under Florentine Hill[13] at a rate of 341 litres (90 gallons) per minute and is conveyed through pipes to the town's baths.[10]
History
Roman settlement at Baden-Baden has been dated as far back as the emperorHadrian, but on dubious authority.[5] The known ruins of the Roman bath were rediscovered just below the New Castle in 1847[5] and date to the reign of Caracalla (AD 210s),[11] who visited the area to relieve his arthritic aches.[14] The facilities were used by the Roman garrison in Strasbourg.[11]
The town fell into ruin but its church was first constructed in the 7th century.[11] By 1112, it was the seat of the Margraviate of Baden.[11] The Lichtenthal Convent (Kloster Lichtenthal) was founded in 1254.[11] The margraves initially used Hohenbaden Castle (the Old Castle, Altes Schloss), whose ruins still occupy the summit above the town, but they completed and moved to the New Castle (Neues Schloss) in 1479.[5] The Margraviate was divided in 1535, with Baden-Baden becoming the capital of the Margraviate of Baden-Baden, while the other portion became the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach. The Baden-Baden witch trials, an investigating encompassing the entire territory and resulting in hundreds of verdicts, took place in 1627-1631. Baden suffered severely during the Thirty Years' War, particularly at the hands of the French, who plundered it in 1643.[5] They returned to occupy the city in 1688 at the onset of the Nine Years' War, burning it to the ground the next year.[11] The margravine Sibylla rebuilt the New Castle in 1697, but the margraveLouis William removed his seat to Rastatt in 1706.[5] The Stiftskirche was rebuilt in 1753[11] and houses the tombs of several of the margraves.[5]
The theater was completed in 1861[10] and a Greek church with a gilt dome was erected on the Michaelsberg in 1863 to serve as the tomb of the teenage son of the prince of MoldaviaMihail Sturdza after he died during a family vacation.[17] A Russian Orthodox church was also subsequently erected.[15] The casino was closed for a time in the 1870s.[10]
Baden-Baden in 1910
Just before the First World War, the town was receiving 70 000 visitors each year.[15]
During the Second World War, 3.1% of the houses in Baden-Baden were completely destroyed by bombs and 125 civilians were killed.[18] 5.8% of the houses were heavily damaged by bombs.[19] Lichtenthal, a residential area in the southwest of the town, was hit by bombs and Saint Bonifatius Church was severely damaged on 11 March 1943.[20] Balg, a residential area in the northeast of Baden-Baden, was hit by bombs on 17 December 1944. On 30 December 1944 one third of the buildings of Oos (i.e. about 300 houses), a residential area in the north of the town, was destroyed or heavily damaged by bombs and Saint Dionysius Church was severely damaged as well. On 2 January 1945 the railway station of Oos and various barracks on Schwarzwald Road were heavily damaged by bombs.[21]
After World War II, Baden-Baden became the headquarters of the French occupation forces in Germany as well as of the Südwestfunk, one of Germany's large public broadcasting stations, which is now part of Südwestrundfunk. From 23–28 September 1981, the 11th Olympic Congress took place in Baden-Baden's Kurhaus. The Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Germany's largest opera and concert house, opened in 1998.
CFB Baden-Soellingen, a military airfield built in the 1950s in the Upper Rhine Plain, 10 km (6 mi) west of downtown Baden-Baden, was converted into a civil airport in the 1990s. Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport, or Baden Airpark is now the second-largest airport in Baden-Württemberg by number of passengers.[22]
In 1981 Baden-Baden hosted the Olympic Congress, which later made the town awarded the designation Olympic town.
1934–1945: Hans Schwedhelm (when he was not in office because of military service, mayor Kurt Bürkle was in office)
April 1945–May 1945: Ludwig Schmitt
May 1945–January 1946: Karl Beck
January 1946–September 1946: Eddy Schacht
1946–1969: Ernst Schlapper (CDU) (1888-1976)
1969–1990: Walter Carlein (CDU) (1922-2011)
1990–1998: Ulrich Wendt (CDU)
1998–2006: Sigrun Lang (independent)
2006–2014: Wolfgang Gerstner (born 1955), (CDU)
2014–2022: Margret Mergen (born 1961), (CDU)
2022–present: Dietmar Späth (independent)
Tourism
Baden-Baden is a German spa town.[27] The city offers many options for sports enthusiasts;[14] golf and tennis are both popular in the area.[14] Horse races take place each May, August and October at nearby Iffezheim.[14] The countryside is ideal for hiking and mountain climbing.[14] In the winter Baden-Baden is a skiing destination.[14] There is an 18-hole golf course in Fremersberg.[28]
Sights include:
The Kurhaus, whose Kurgarten ("Spa Garden") hosts the annual Baden-Baden Summer Nights, featuring live classical music concerts[29]
Sturdza Chapel on the Michaelsberg, a neoclassical chapel with a gilded dome designed by Leo von Klenze which was erected over the tomb of prince Michel Sturdza's son[citation needed]
Baden-Baden is the subject of a pop song by Finnish songwriter Chisu of how the economic woes of Finland could be solved by selling bottled tears to Europe (specifically Baden-Baden).
^
Landesarchivdirektion Baden-Württemberg, ed. (1976). Das Land Baden-Württemberg. Amtliche Beschreibung nach Kreisen und Gemeinden. V. Regierungsbezirk Karlsruhe [The State of Baden-Württemberg. Official description of administrative districts and municipalities. Volume 5 Karlsruhe administrative district] (in German). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. p. 12. ISBN3-17-002542-2.
^Heinz Bardua (1975), Kommission für geschichtliche Landeskunde in Baden-Württemberg (ed.), "Kriegsschäden in Baden-Württemberg 1939–1945: Beiwort zur Karte 7,11"(PDF), Historischer Atlas von Baden-Württemberg (in German), Leonberg, p. 13, archived(PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09, retrieved 2018-01-26, Format: PDF, KBytes: 2300
^Statistisches Jahrbuch deutscher Gemeinden, p. 378. Braunschweig 1952
^Catholic Parish of Saint Bonifatius: Wir über uns, p. 3. Baden-Baden 2002
^Dieter Baeuerle et al. Stadtführer Baden-Baden, p. 14. Baden-Baden 1994
