Things To Do in Baden-Baden
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Baden-Baden Attractions
Baden-Baden isn’t a demanding place in terms of monuments and landmarks. The pace is relaxed, and the streets are geared toward pleasurable strolls. The time-honored center of activity is Lichtentaler Allee, an elegant park promenade lined with rhododendrons, azaleas, roses, and ornamental trees set along the bank of the narrow Oosbach River (called the Oos; pronounced ohs). At the north end of the promenade are the formally landscaped grounds of the Kurgarten and the neoclassical Kurhaus, built in the 18th century as a “Promenade House,” where the rich and prominent came to see and be seen. It’s been the hub of Baden-Baden’s social scene ever since, used for receptions and galas, and one wing houses Baden-Baden’s casino. You’ll also want to step into the Trinkhalle (Pump Room) for a sip of the medicinal waters that have been bubbling up for more than 17,000 years and have a look at the frescoes depicting Black Forest legends.
The 217m (712-ft.) Fernsehturm (Television Tower), capped with a red-and-white transmitter, soars above a forested hillock south of Stuttgart. It was designed and built in 1956 using radically innovative applications of aluminum and prestressed reinforced concrete, and served as a prototype for larger towers in Toronto and Moscow. A 150m (490-ft.) elevator ride delivers you to a cafe, bar, restaurant, observation platform, and displays detailing the tower’s construction. Food is served daily 10am to 8pm. The entrance is at Jahnstrasse 120, Stuttgart-Degerloch (📞 0711/232597; www.fernsehturm-stuttgart.com). Admission is 5€ adults, 3€ children, and the tower is open daily, 9am to 10:30pm. Take tram 15 from the center.
For a more bucolic view of Stuttgart, climb to the top of the 510m (1,670-ft.) Birkenkopf, west of the city, topped off with debris dumped here after World War II to make it the tallest hill in Stuttgart—a green reminder that bombing attacks leveled 60 percent of the city, sparing not a single landmark or historic structure. After the 20-minute walk to the top, you’ll be rewarded by a view of the rebuilt city and the surrounding Swabian Hills, covered with vineyards and woods. Bus 92 will drop you at the trailhead.You encounter the word “Swabia” a lot in Stuttgart. Swabia (Schwaben in German) is the name for a medieval duchy now contained within the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany, of which Stuttgart is capital. The name comes from Suevi, the original inhabitants, who were conquered by the Franks in the A.D. 5th century. The name “Stuttgart” comes from a stud farm owned by Luidolf, Duke of Swabia, and son of Emperor Otto the Great. With Stuttgart as its capital, Swabia has been a leader of German industry for decades, but the region also is renowned for its scenic countryside. To the north, the Schwäbische Wald (Swabian Forest) stretches to the Schwäbische Alb, a wedge of limestone upland south of Stuttgart. Forests sweep south to the Bodensee, also part of Swabia, and west to the Danube River. The smaller Neckar River flows past Heidelberg and Stuttgart through a vineyard-covered valley.
- Gym/Spa
Caracalla-Therme
These slightly radioactive waters, rich in sodium chloride, bubble up from artesian wells at a temperature of about 160[dg]F (70[dg]C). Bathers usually begin in cooler pools, working up to the warm water. The baths also have a sauna area, with foot baths and sun baths. You must wear… - Gym/Spa
Friedrichsbad
Leave your clothing and any notions of modestly at the door of the so-called Old Baths, built from 1869 to 1877 at the behest of Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden. The German notion of Freikörperkultur, or Free Body Culture, is the house rule here, and bathing attire is not allowed in… - Museum
Sammlung Frieder Burda
The scion of a famous publishing family, Frieder Burda spent nearly 4 decades amassing this amazing collection of some 580 works of modernist and contemporary art, housed in airy glass premises designed by New York architect Richard Meier. German expressionists, from Ernst Ludwig… - Gym/Spa
Trinkhalle
The spa gardens contain the Pump Room, where visitors can sip the water that has been bubbling for over 17,000 years. The loggia of the hall is decorated with frescoes depicting Black Forest legends. The springs of Baden-Baden have been recognized for more than 2,000 years, and their…
Baden-Baden Shopping
A flower-flanked pedestrian zone includes Sophienstrasse and Gernsbacher Strasse, streets lined with upscale boutiques, among the most expensive in Germany. Women's clothing by one of Germany's most emulated designers is available at Escada Boutique, Sophienstrasse 18 (tel. 07221/390448). Another shop, Münchner Moden, Lichtentalerstrasse 13 (tel. 07221/31090), carries women's designs in loden-colored wool during autumn and winter and offers Austrian and Bavarian silks, linens, and cottons during warmer months.
Baden-Baden Nightlife
Baden-Baden has a busy annual schedule of concert, dance, and dramatic performances. A lot of events are held in the 1870s Kurhaus, Kaiserallee 1 (📞 07221/9070; www.kurhaus-baden-baden.de); one wing hosts Baden-Baden’s casino, the Spielbank.
The baroque Theater am Goetheplatz, Goetheplatz (📞 07221/932700; www.theater.baden-baden.de), presents opera, ballet, and drama productions. It opened auspiciously with the world première of the Berlioz opera “Beatrice et Benedict” in 1862. The Philharmonie Baden-Baden (Philharmonic Orchestra of Baden-Baden) usually performs in one of the largest concert halls in Germany, the Festspielhaus, in the Alter Bahnhof. In the summer Baden-Baden hosts Musikalischer Sommer Festival, usually conducted during an 8-day period in mid-July, as well as many outdoor concerts in greenspaces around town. For tickets to any cultural or musical event within Baden-Baden, contact either the tourist office (📞 07221/275200), which sells tickets on its premises, or the Ticket Service Trinkhalle, in the Trinkhalle on Kaiserallee (📞 07221/932700).
Avant-garde Baden-Baden
If you think Baden-Baden is just another stodgy European spa, ponder this. Way back in 1927, the city’s Kurhaus hosted the German Chamber Music Festival. Some avant-garde upstarts stole the show: Composer Kurt Weill and playwright/director Bertolt Brecht premiered their collaboration “Mahagonny Songspiel,” an intoxicating blend of contemporary classical styles, jazz, and cabaret starring Weill’s wife, the singer/actress Lotte Lenya. The three became major forces in 20th-century theater and film. Lenya is most fondly remembered by American audiences for her role in the James Bond thriller “From Russia with Love,” in which she plays Rosa Klebb, a villainous Russian agent with a venom-laced blade stashed in the toe of her shoe. The music they introduced to the Baden-Baden audiences that night in 1927 ushered in the antiopera, opera-like works that defy convention and include such modern classics as “Three Penny Opera,” “Company,” “West Side Story,” and “Rent.” The tune that brought the house down, “Alabama Song,” is a perennial favorite, and one of the Doors’ biggest hits.
