Baden-Baden

“ BADEN, or Baden-Baden (to distinguish it from other places of the name) , a town and fashionable watering-place of Germany, in the grand-duchy of Baden, 23 m. S. by W. of Karlsruhe, with which it is connected by a branch of the Mannheim and Basel railway. Its situation—on a hill 600 ft. high, in the beautiful valley of the Black Forest—its extensive pleasure-grounds, gardens and promenades, and the brilliancy of the life that is led during the season, have long attracted crowds of visitors from all parts of the world. The resident population was in 1885, 12,779 ”

“ Not to that elegant and wild and whirling Baden of painted faces and flashy toilettes, where gentlemen of the turf display their horsemanship on the plain of Iffezheim; where the majesty of old Germany elbows, in the Trinkhalle, the princes of Bohemia; but to the fresh, dark, silent, almost unknown nooks of that Baden which God has made and which man has yet left untouched; where the artist wanders for his picture, the poet for his inspiration, the dreamer for his vision, the Christian to murmur his prayer ”

“ Having done all this and a great deal more, and being, strange to say, still a little tired, like the man who after three dozen of oysters before dinner did not feel more hungry than before, I was induced to turn towards the Black Forest, in search of complete retirement. I knew Baden-Baden years ago as a quiet little place, with much beauty of scenery within a reasonable distance, where the gambling tables were the chief inducement to a few German, Russian, and English gentlemen to pass a month or two of the autumn. ”

“ His son and grandson, both named Hermann, added to their territories, which about 1200 were divided, and the lines of Baden-Baden and Baden-Hochberg were founded, the latter of which was divided about a century later into the branches of Baden-Hochberg and Baden-Sausenberg. The family of Baden-Baden was very successful in increasing the area of its possessions, which after several divisions were united by the margrave Bernard I. in 1391. ”

“ The different springs are so arranged with galleries as to protect from the sun and rainy weather. The walks and ascents are of the most wild and romantic character. Savage scenery and deep woods of thick forest trees, affording exercise and protecting from heat, abound. Altogether the natural attractions are almost unsurpassed on the continent. Baden-Baden and Karlsbad are two of the watering-places of Europe, where within a [532] few minutes’ time one may escape the noise and excitement of the multitude, and find himself solitary and alone, admiring the works of nature. ”

“ Baden is one of the enticing places of the earth,—is so lovely that whenever, however, wherever you may look, you always spy some fresh beauty, and the Black Forest legends are hanging all about it, investing it with an endless charm. ”

“ Kurzeit, that is, Cure-season, at Baden, Ems, and Ais.
Princes and their subjects, fathers and sons, and even, horrible to say, mothers and daughters, are hanging, side by side, for half the night over the green table; and, with trembling hands and anxious eyes, watching their chance-cards, or thrusting francs and Napoleons with their rakes to the red or the black cloth.
No spot in the whole world draws together a more distinguished society than may be met at Baden; its attractions are felt and acknowledged by every country in Europe. ”

“ I have been enjoying myself for six weeks in Baden-Baden, and now everything seems pleasant to me here again. Wherever I go, I am my own master and command the best service. Besides, there are no girls nowadays who are good for anything. ”

“ In due time, when our preliminary arrangements were completed, the General’s attendants, carriage, ponies and liveried coachman and footmen arrived at Baden-Baden and were soon seen in the streets. The excitement was intense and increased from day to day. Several crowned heads, princes, lords and ladies who were spending the season at Baden-Baden, with a vast number of wealthy pleasure seekers and travellers, crowded the saloon in which the General exhibited during the entire time we remained in the place. The charges for admission were much higher than had been demanded in any other city. ”

“ Baden was the capital of the canton of Baden, from 1798 to 1803, when the canton of Aargau was created. To the N.W. of the baths a new industrial quarter has sprung up of late years, the largest works being for electric engineering. In 1900 the permanent population of Baden was 6050 (German-speaking, mainly Romanists, with many Jews) , but it is greatly swelled in summer by the influx of visitors. ”

“ He went, on leaving Venice, through the Tyrol to Vienna and then returned, westward, through South Germany. The autumn found him at Baden-Baden, where he spent several weeks. The charming place kept him from day to day; he was looking about him and deciding what to do for the winter. His summer had been very full, and as he sat under the great trees beside the miniature river that trickles past the Baden flower-beds he slowly rummaged it over. He had seen and done a great deal, enjoyed and observed a great deal ”

“ The number of strangers calculated to have visited Baden, during the season of 1835, are said to have amounted to thirteen thousand. The scenery for a great part of the way from Carlsruhe to Baden, is considerably varied, and the old castle of Eberstein appearing on an eminence, with well planted hills, forms a lively contrast. We also passed through a handsome town called Rastadt, situated on the river Murg, where a palace, belonging to the grand duke of Baden, appears conspicuous from the road. ”

“ In the break-up of the German Empire in Nov., 1918, Baden was among the first States to feel the shock of revolution. The Grand-Duke Frederick I abdicated, and the Provisional Government, under the Socialist Herr Jeiss, proclaimed Baden a Republic. Two-thirds of the population are Roman Catholics, the rest Protestants. ”

“ Wealthy families of rank all over Germany are making it a home. Do I seem to dwell on Baden and its grand duke? Well, I may as well admit, all the homage I am capable of is evoked by such a man and such a work. I have his photograph and many little pictures of his Baden! Have you ever read in a way that impressed you to remembrance of the beautiful situation of Baden? The highest compliment that can be bestowed, as the guide-book says, is this: “It vies with Hiedelberg.” It lies among picturesque wooded hills, at the entrance of the Black Forest, on the Oehlbach ”

“ There is but little in the town of Heidelberg itself to interest the tourist. The great attraction is the noble old castle, and the romantic highlands about it.
A three hours' ride from Heidelberg, and we are at Baden-Baden, that gayest of the gay watering-places on the continent. We are driven to our hotel, the Hotel de l'Europe, a most charming house, large, clean, and splendidly kept by hosts who thoroughly know their business, and entirely free from any of the extortions, swindles, and sharp practices which disgrace our Saratoga and Newport hotels. ”

“ Several members of the Austrian imperial family have made Baden their summer residence and have built here beautiful villas. There are about 20,000 visitors annually. Baden possesses several parks and is surrounded by lovely and interesting spots, of which the most frequented is the picturesque valley of the Helenenthal, which is traversed by the Schwechat. Not far from Baden, the valley is crossed by the magnificent aqueduct of the Vienna waterworks. ”

“ Whether any of his efforts made more than a passing impression in Baden is at least open to discussion. There are the extensive beauties of Eberstein; the fantastic architectural adornments of La Favorite; its rare porcelain and Chinese treasures, worthy of a place in the South Kensington Museum; and the Valley of the Mourg, not far behind the valleys of many parts of Switzerland in loveliness. These are within reach of the active pedestrian, and are the almost daily promenades of handsome equipages of every description. ”

“ That evening brought us into the dominions of Baden, within five hours' walk of Heidelberg. At the humblest inn in an humble village, we found a bed which we could barely pay for, leaving a kreutzer or two for breakfast. Soon after starting the next morning, the distant Kaiserstuhl suddenly emerged from the mist, with the high tower on its summit, where nearly ten months before, we sat and looked at the summits of the Vosges in France, with all the excitement one feels on entering a foreign land. ”

“ An attendance among the fragments of antiquity round the Ursprung must convince the most credulous that Baden, as I said before, is not the Pool of Bethesda, as far as its healing virtues are concerned, though its waters are daily “troubled” by angels somewhat different from those that descended, for benevolent purposes, near the Holy City. Baden is, in fine, neither more nor less than a fashionable place of pleasure, dissipation, vice, and gambling—abounding in hot-baths, hells, hotels, scandal, and good scenery. ”

“ Summer in Baden-Baden—The Late Emperor William no Judge of Wine—My Irish Doctor—His Horror of Water—How an American Girl Tried to Captivate Him—The Louisiana Judge—I Win the Toss and Get the Mule—The Judge “fixes” his Pony—The “Pike Ballet.”
We passed our summer at Baden-Baden and literally lived there in the open air. Opposite to my apartment, Prince Furstenburg of Vienna had his hotel: from him and his suite I learned how to spend the summer months. At early dawn they were out in the saddle for a canter ”

“ And I had many opportunities of amusement in consequence of my acquaintance with the Baroness Seutter; so I also would rather remain in brilliant, wonderfully beautiful Baden-Baden than return to our own simple Baden. In place of the rooms which we were compelled to vacate in the main villa our landlord gave us pleasant quarters in a dépendance.
Shortly after Queen Augusta’s arrival the old king, 160William I, also came to Baden-Baden with the intention of staying about a week. From our windows we could see the main part of the villa and the king’s working room. ”

“ Baden is a Catholic town, under protection of the eight39 Swiss cantons, in which divers great gatherings of princes have taken place. We did not lodge in the town but in the suburb, which lies at the foot of the mountain on the bank of the Limmat, a stream, or rather torrent, which flows out of the Lake of Zürich. There are two or three uncovered public baths, which are frequented only by poor folk. ”

“ The celebrity of Baden dates back to the days of the Romans, who knew it by the name of Aquæ Cetiæ; and remains of their occupation still exist. In 1812 the town suffered severely from a fire, but it has since been elegantly rebuilt. The principal buildings are the church of St Stephen, the theatre, the casino, and the military hospital. A short distance to the west of the town stands the castle of Weilberg, which belongs to members of the imperial family. The only manufacture of much importance that is carried on in Baden is the production of steel-wares ”

“ But when he arrived at Baden-Baden, and saw how charming the countess was in her now elaborate entourage, he made allowances. Man is generous by nature, especially to beautiful heroines with husbands in Siberian mines. May thought of the hapless Polacco de Valski as turning out polyform lead-pencils by the ribboned bunch, and marking them BBBB, and then, alternately, HHHH. May had been much exercised in mind how to explain his sudden trip to Baden-Baden, and had devised many plausible reasons for going, all of which proved superfluous. ”

“ In showing what revolutionising Germany has, or rather perhaps has not, as yet, attained, we must briefly, then, revert once more to that insurrection and its suppression, that has so fearfully devastated the duchy of Baden, and its neighbouring province of the Palatinate, which, although belonging to Bavaria, is so distant and divided from that kingdom as to be included, without further distinction, in the same designation. ”

“ One saw often the yellow and red of Baden, the green and white of Saxony, the white and red of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the pretty, light-blue and white of Bavaria, that always looks so innocent and girlish, amid so much warlike red and bold yellow, as if it were meant for dainty neckties and ribbons, and not for the colors of a nation. Many good souls mourn that even now, after its consolidation, the German Fatherland is so very much divided into little sections. Let them take comfort where it may be found. ”

“ The following morning I woke happily; for I was really on my way to the long-anticipated pleasures of Baden-Baden. I was in Antwerp. London was behind me, and Cologne and Heidelberg in front. Courage, mon ami, “le diable est mort.”
Everybody has been at Cologne: most persons many times. No less than two-and-twenty churches open their portals for the gratification of your curiosity. ”

“ He always went to Baden-Baden when his wife was in Paris, and to Paris when she was at Baden-Baden. The husband and wife got on very well together now that they had agreed to live separate lives. Their only child, young Baron Wladislaus, did not live at the castle either, but had been sent to a celebrated Jesuit seminary at Krakau.
So the servants had the castle all to themselves. There is an old Polish proverb that runs very much to this effect: "Who is so idle and has so sweet a tooth as a lackey!" ”