Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe.
During the Second Congress of Rastatt (1797–1799), Baden-Baden was rediscovered as a spa town. The popularity of the city as a spa dates from the early 19th century, when the Prussian queen visited the site to improve her health. The 19th century saw the town rise to become a meeting place for celebrities, who were attracted by the hot springs as well as by the famous Baden-Baden Casino, the luxury hotels, the horse races, and the gardens of the Lichtentaler Allee. Clients included Queen Victoria, Wilhelm I, Napoleon III, Berlioz, Brahms, and Dostoyevsky. Baden-Baden is a setting in Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina but the city has a different name. Baden-Baden was then nicknamed the European summer capital and reached its zenith under Napoleon III during the 1850s and 1860s. Johannes Brahms’ local residence, the Brahmshaus, can still be visited today.
Baden-Baden is a picturesque German bathing town. The city offers many options for sports enthusiasts; Golf and tennis are both popular in the area. Horse racing fans enjoy the international racing season each August at nearby Iffezheim. The countryside is ideal for hiking and mountain climbing. In the winter Baden-Baden is a skiing destination. There is a picturesque 18-hole golf course in Fremersberg.
The springs of Baden-Baden have been known for more than 2,000 years, and their composition resembles that of the Roman baths of the 3rd century. The water at the baths of “Caracalla-Therme” spa is rich in sodium chloride, and comes from artesian wells 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) under the Florentiner Mountain.
The Spielbank casino is more than 200 years and the oldest of its type in Germany. Dostoyevsky is said to have written The Gambler after he lost his money and even his shirt here. The rooms were designed in the style of a French château. The Russian writer Ivan Turgenev based his novel Smoke (1867) in Baden-Baden, and describe it as a place when the Russian nobility spend time.
