Baden-Baden

Hot springs at around sixty-eight degrees rise here and were used by the Romans, whose bath ruins survive under Roman Square and can be visited. The town became one of Europe's leading resorts in the nineteenth century, with a Kurhaus, a colonnaded drinking hall and a casino in rooms decorated in French style; Dostoevsky gambled here and drew on the experience for The Gambler. Two bath houses operate: the Friedrichsbad of 1877, run on a fixed sequence of rooms and largely without swimwear, and the modern Caracalla. UNESCO listed Baden-Baden in 2021 among the Great Spa Towns of Europe.

History

The ruins of the Roman baths, rediscovered below the New Castle in 1847, date from the reign of Caracalla in the 210s, who came to ease his arthritis. By 1112 the town was the seat of the Margraviate of Baden, the margraves moved from the Old Castle to the New Castle in 1479, and in 1535 it became the capital of the Margraviate of Baden-Baden; the French plundered it in 1643 and burned it in 1689, and in 1706 the margrave moved his seat to Rastatt. Recovery began in the late 18th century, the Trinkhalle pump room was completed in 1842 and the railway arrived in 1845, and under Napoleon III in the 1850s and 1860s Baden-Baden became Europe's summer capital, visited by Queen Victoria, Wilhelm I and Berlioz; in 2021 it became part of the Great Spa Towns of Europe World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Baden-Baden).

What to look for

• The Roman baths - excavated bath ruins beneath the modern square.
• The Friedrichsbad - an 1877 bath run on a fixed sequence of rooms.
• The casino - nineteenth-century gaming rooms in French decoration.
• The Lichtentaler Allee - a long landscaped park along the Oos.

When to go

April to October for the park and walks; the baths run year-round and are pleasant in winter. The casino has a dress code and requires identification.

What to expect

The Friedrichsbad is largely textile-free with mixed days, which not everyone wants. The town is expensive. The casino enforces dress and age rules.

Nearby

The Black Forest High Road starts here; Karlsruhe lies north.

Key facts