Baden-Baden: Historic Spa Town at the Edge of the Black Forest

The Roman settlement, like many cities with healing springs, was called Aquae, the Latin word for spring or bath. While no epithet is known for the town itself, the administrative district surrounding it bore the honorary title Civitas Aurelia Aquensis in the 3rd century. This has been associated by many authors with Emperor Caracalla ('Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus'), who had the baths developed. According to a more recent theory, Emperor Elagabal ('Marcus Aurelius Antoninus') was the eponym.

Since the Middle Ages, the town was simply called Baden. The place name also passed to Hohenbaden Castle, built around 1100, the new seat of power of Hermann II, originally Margrave of Verona. In the course of the 12th century Baden became part of his title; the Margraviate of Baden was created, which was divided into two parts from the 16th to the 18th century and rose to become the Grand Duchy in the 19th century. Thus, the name of the state of Baden, and thus that of today's Baden-Württemberg, has an origin in the name of the city of Baden(-Baden).

To distinguish from towns of the same name - Baden in Switzerland and Baden near Vienna, also Badenweiler in the old Baden Oberland was originally only called Baden - an addition was often necessary. Thus the city was also called Niederbaden, Markgrafen-Baden and later Baden in Baden. The name Baden-Baden initially stood for the Catholic margraviate Baden-Durlach, which was separated from its Protestant counterpart from 1535 onwards (meaning something like "margraviate Baden, residence Baden"). After the Catholic margraves moved their seat to Rastatt in the 18th century, Baden bei Rastatt became common as the name of the town of Baden. When the Catholic line died out in 1771 and the Margraviate of Baden - now with Karlsruhe as its residence - reunited, Rastatt receded into the background. The name Baden-Baden passed from the former territory to the city of Baden, whose importance had grown again in the 19th century. The double name prevailed long before it became official on 1 September 1931.

Location

The city district of Baden-Baden is surrounded by the district of Rastatt. Baden-Baden lies on the western edge of the northern Black Forest in the valley of the Oos, a small river that flows into the Murg about 13 km further on near Rastatt. The eastern parts of the town partly nestle into the slopes of the Black Forest. The highest point of the city area is the Badener Höhe at 1002 m. The western parts of the town lie in the Vorberg zone and the Upper Rhine lowlands, where the lowest point of the district, at 112 m, is in the Geggenau in the Rastatter Ried nature reserve. Vineyards are cultivated in the Vorberg zone. The Baden-Badener Rebland belongs to the wine-growing region Ortenau.

Regional importance

With a population of around 54,000, Baden-Baden is the smallest of the state's nine independent cities and forms a medium-sized centre with partial functions of a regional centre. In addition to the city of Baden-Baden, the municipalities of Hügelsheim and Sinzheim, both of which are located in the Rastatt district, also belong to the Baden-Baden central area. Furthermore, there are relations with the French North Alsace.

City breakdown

The city of Baden-Baden is divided into the following districts: Oos, Balg, Weststadt, Innenstadt, Lichtental with Oberbeuern and Geroldsau, Ebersteinburg, Steinbach, Neuweier, Varnhalt, Haueneberstein and Sandweier.

In addition, there are numerous other residential places or residential areas with their own name, some of which are very scattered: Gaisbach, Gallenbach (Varnhalt), Hungerberg, Malschbach, Mührich, Müllenbach, Schmalbach, Schneckenbach (Neuweier), Seelach, Umweg (Steinbach) and Unterer Plättig.

The districts of Ebersteinburg, Haueneberstein and Sandweier each have their own local administration with a local head. The districts of Steinbach, Neuweier and Varnhalt have a joint local administration (Rebland), also with a local chairman.

In the city district of Baden-Baden there are three uninhabited exclaves of the neighbouring municipality of Sinzheim, including the Fremersberg monastery estate.

Neighbouring municipalities

The following towns and communities border the city of Baden-Baden. They are named clockwise, starting in the north, and all belong to the district of Rastatt: Rastatt, Kuppenheim, Gaggenau, Gernsbach, Weisenbach, Forbach, Bühl, Bühlertal, Sinzheim, Hügelsheim and Iffezheim.

Floor space allocation

According to data from the State Statistical Office, as of 2017.

With 85.26 km² or 60.8 percent of the city area (state average for Baden-Württemberg: 37.8 %), an above-average proportion of the area is covered with forest. Of this, approx. 75 km² are in municipal ownership, making Baden-Baden's municipal forest one of the largest in Germany.

Protected areas

In the area between Badener Höhe and Schwarzwaldhochstraße, Baden-Baden has a share in the Black Forest National Park. Seven nature reserves lie wholly or partly within the town's boundaries. More than 60 percent of the municipal area is under landscape protection. The Geroldsau Waterfall and the Wolfsschlucht (Wolf Gorge) are among the six extensive natural monuments in Baden-Baden. Dozens of individual trees in the gardens, parks and forests are protected as natural monuments.