Baden Baden Sights

Sights in Baden Baden

  1. A

    Baden-Baden Theater

    The Baden-Baden Theater is a neo-baroque confection of white-and-red sandstone whose frilly interior looks like a miniature version of the Opéra-Garnier in Paris. It forms the gateway to Lichtentaler Allee, an elegant park promenade which follows the flow of the Oosbach from Goetheplatz, adjacent to the Kurhaus, to Kloster Lichtenthal about 3km south.

    Even today, it's not hard to imagine the movers and shakers of 19th-century Europe - aristocrats, diplomats, artists and writers - taking leisurely strolls along this fragrant avenue.

    reviewed

  2. Lichtentaler Allee

    Even today you can imagine aristocrats, diplomats and celebrated artist types of 19th-century Europe promenading down this fragrant park avenue, planted with vegetation from around the world. Its gateway is at the main theatre, a neobaroque confection of white-and-red sandstone, and the famed street stops at the 13th-century Cistercian abbey, Kloster Lichtenthal.

    This promenade cohabits with the Staatliche Kunsthalle (State Art Gallery), the modern art gallery (Museum Frieder Burda), and the Stadtmuseum (City History Museum).

    reviewed

  3. B

    Casino

    Marlene Dietrich called it 'the most beautiful casino in the world'. Indeed, inside the palatial Kurhaus (besides lavish festival halls) is the flashy casino, reminiscent of a 1970s Bond film. Built in 1838, its decor sought to outdo France's Versailles palace. The Florentiner Saal with its chandelier fleet is also called the 'Hall of The Thousand Candles'.

    You need your passport or European national ID card to enter. Games include French and American roulette, baccarat, blackjack and poker.

    reviewed

  4. C

    Trinkhalle

    You can wander a 90m-long portico embellished with 19th-century frescoes of local legends in the Trinkhalle. Baden-Baden's elixir of youth, some say, is the free curative mineral water that gushes from a faucet (10am to 2am, until 3am Friday and Saturday) linked to the springs below. A cafe sells plastic cups for €0.20, or bring your own bottle to fill with super water.

    reviewed

  5. D

    Museum Frieder Burda

    Sidling up to the Kunsthalle is Museum Frieder Burda lodged in an avant-garde edifice designed by Richard Meier. The star-studded modern and contemporary art collection includes works by Warhol and Picasso, as well as by German artists such as Georg Baselitz, Florian Thomas and Eberhard Havecost.

    reviewed

  6. E

    Kurhaus

    Corinthian columns and a frieze of mythical griffins grace the belle époque facade of the monumental Kurhaus, which towers above well-groomed gardens. An alley of chestnut trees, flanked by two rows of boutiques, links the Kurhaus with Kaiserallee.

    reviewed

  7. F

    Neues Schloss

    A vine-enveloped staircase twists up from Marktplatz to the Neues Schloss, the former residence of the margraves of Baden-Baden, with a far-reaching vista over the Black Forest.

    reviewed

  8. G

    Stadtmuseum

    The Stadtmuseum, just south of Museum Frieder Burda, timelines Baden-Baden's past with exhibits from Roman figurines to belle époque paintings and roulette wheels.

    reviewed

  9. H

    Kloster Lichtenthal

    Lichtentaler Allee concludes at the Kloster Lichtenthal, a Cistercian abbey founded in 1245, with an abbey church where generations of the margraves of Baden lie buried.

    reviewed

  10. I

    Römische Badruinen

    Four blocks east of Stiftskirche, underneath the Friedrichsbad, are the Römische Badruinen, the well-preserved vestiges of Baden-Baden's Roman baths.

    reviewed

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  12. J

    Stiftskirche

    A steepish jaunt northeast of Leopoldsplatz is the largely Gothic Stiftskirche, whose foundations incorporate some ruins of the former Roman baths.

    reviewed

  13. K

    Kunsthalle

    Voluptuous Joan Miró sculptures guide the eye to the sky-lit Kunsthalle, which hosts rotating exhibitions of contemporary art.

    reviewed

  14. L

    Russische Kirche

    The Byzantine-style 1882 Russische Kirche, slightly east of Gönneranlage, is topped with a brilliantly golden onion dome.

    reviewed

  15. M

    Rosenneuheitengarten

    For a panoramic vista of Baden-Baden, head to the Rosenneuheitengarten, on the Beutig hilltop 800m southwest of the Kurhaus.

    reviewed