Bathing Town

You could easily write a book about Baden-Baden and all of its ups and downs, though I didn't know that when we arrived. We had decided to come for a couple of reasons. (1) It was on our way to the Arctic; (2) we also planned to explore Germany's famous Black Forest, home to cuckoo clocks and Grimms' fairytales. And family history had it that my great-grandfather lived there. He was an engineer who had moved to Pittsburgh in the early 1900s as an expert in bridge-building. (He came to the right place. Pittsburgh has more bridges than any other city in the world, including Venice. Apparently he helped.)

It turned out there was a fourth reason to visit. It is an utterly charming city. Small but beautiful with splendid 19th century stone buildings in the renaissance and French provincial styles.

Baden means bathing in German. The town developed its double name because there are so many other Badens in its neck of the woods, particularly ones in Switzerland and Austria. So in 1931 the citizens decided to distinguish it by doubling up on its name.

The town's history dates back to Roman baths created 1800 years ago, at least partly to help Emperor Marcus Aurelius soak his arthritic bones.

Not that it was all warm baths, and luxury. The town struggled through medieval times, and suffered severely during the Thirty Years' War when the French plundered it in 1643. The situation began to change in the 1800s when Princess Viktoria of Prussia, who was born and raised in Baden-Baden and later became the Queen of Sweden, returned regularly to the baths to relieve her own ailments. At least one of the city's many naked baths are named for the queen. That brought fame, money and high society to the town. Enough that while we were there the baths were so busy we couldn't book time with in the waters anywhere. The great musician Johannes Brahms also lived in the city between 1866 to 1874. He worked on his First and Second Symphonies, the Piano Quintet in F minor and German Requiem during those years. (We visited, but the house was closed the day we were there.)

Visiting Kurhaus Casino

Its baths aside, Baden-Baden is most famous for its casino - the Kurhaus. Philippe (our friend in Zurich) had told us, "you must visit the Baden-Baden Casino." With visions of Atlantic City and Las Vegas swimming in our heads, neither Cyndy nor I could fathom why a casino would warrant a look. But once we caught site of it, we understood. (See pictures.) Marlene Dietrich once declared it "the most beautiful casino in the world." Hard to disagree.

The outdoor grounds boast working fountains, a riot of flowering plants, towering Chestnut, even song birds. The belle époque interior gives new meaning to the word opulent. Fyodor Dostoyevsky visited the casino several times, including during his first honeymoon and it was the inspiration for his novel THE GAMBLER. Altogether he rolled the dice at the tables four different times while hanging out in the casino's famous Candle Room. Other Russian writers seemed to take to the tables too including: Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy. It's the world's most expensive casino.

Even though our attempts to bathe failed, which was a shame, and Brahms' house was closed, we still had plenty of time to stroll the town's plaza's and old pedestrian walkways and its famous Lichtentaler Allee where cars are verboten. We fell in love. Maybe it had something to do with my great-grandfather, his voice calling me home. Either way we were sorry to leave, but the next morning we would, heading by train to Koblenz to see a family friend of Cyndy's and from there by car into the Black Forest, home to knights errant, Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood.