Baden-Baden…

“…is so nice that you have to name it twice” Bill Clinton dixit.
The town name was Baden in Baden (i.e. Baden the town from Baden the state) and was changed in 1931 to the current form.

In April I was in Karlsruhe for a week participating in the biggest chess tournament in Europe. Being in Baden-Wurttemberg I took the chance to visit the beautiful towns of Baden-Baden and Heidelberg.

Baden-Baden had a rich history from antiquity but reached it’s highest political importance in the XIX century when it became “Europe’s summer capital”. These days the town looks very nice but it is obvious that its glory lies in the past. In my opinion,
from the towns I’ve seen before, it reminded me of Biarritz. The first decline in Baden-Baden tourism came in 1872 once the officials closed the famous town casino. Dostoevsky played in this casino many times in the 1860s and he wrote the novel “The Gambler” while here. In fact, he wrote the novel to pay off his gambling debts. A few years before him Leo Tolstoy lost money in the same casino. A scene from “Anna Karenina” happens in Baden-Baden. Once then casino was closed there was a need to find something else to entertain the tourists. So they opened Friedrichsbad for treatment of rheumatism and other diseases. The second decline of Baden-Baden came after the first world war when entire Germany had difficult times.
Still, the marks of the past glory are visible everywhere in the town and a visit is highly recommended.

I started my visit with a walk on the Lichtentaler Allee which looked so nice in the spring with blossomed flowers and trees.

Next, I passed near the famous casino mentioned above. According to Marlene Dietrich, this is the most beautiful casino in the world. Dating from the 1820s it is also the oldest casino in Germany. Having just one day to spend in Baden-Baden and so many things to see I had not enough time to visit the casino inside.

Near the Casino is the Trinkhalle, the water pump, the spa main building dating from 1840s.

Being a Romanian I continued my visit climbing on Michaelsberg to see the Romanian chapel built by Mihail Sturza in the 1860s after the unexpected death of his 17 years old son in Paris in 1863. Mihail Sturza was the ruler of Moldavia between 1834 and 1849 when he emigrated to Paris. They spent the summers in Baden-Baden as many rulers did those days. The chapel is very nice, also, you can have nice views of the town from the hill.

Being in Baden-Baden I had to visit the baths as well. The Caracalla Therme looks very modern inside. There is also the Friedrichsbad inaugurated in 1877 a combination of Roman and Irish baths. “After 10 minutes you forget time, after 20 minutes the world” this is how Mark Twain described his experience at Friedrichsbad in 1878. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to enjoy the baths so I have nothing to add.

While writing this article I’ve observed that all the monuments pictured above were built chronologically from 1824 to 1877, so you can see this experience like a time travel through the glorious XIX century of Baden-Baden.

Since I talked about the charm of the past in Baden-Baden, I guess it’s a good place to highlight the failures of the present technology. I took a bus to visit the Merkur mountain, an important tourist attraction but the funicular was closed that day although Google service said otherwise. However, I must say that in many other circumstances Google Maps has been a real help for me.

I mentioned Marlene Dietrich before and I find appropriate to end this post with her singing the German version of “Where have all the flowers gone?” in Baden-Baden. I consider her personality representative for this town.