Baden

“ Everybody has heard of Baden Baden, so famous as a fashionable watering-place, and all who have visited it can speak of the beauty of its locality, surrounded by hills and mountains, and its narrow valley with its delightful shady walks; but this year they are quite deserted. The princes have enough to do to take care of their subjects; citizens remain at home to look after their interests; the blacklegs find their avocation almost gone. There is not one-third the usual number of arrivals, consequently the balls, concerts, and gaming tables are less frequented. ”

“ CHAPTER VIII. GAMBLING AT THE GERMAN BATHING-PLACES.—— BADEN AND ITS CONVERSATION HOUSE.
Baden-Baden in the season is full of the most exciting contrasts—gay restaurants and brilliant saloons, gaming-tables, promenades, and theatres crammed with beauty and rank, in the midst of lovely natural scenery, and under the shade of the pine-clad heights of the Hercynian or Black Forest—the scene of so many weird tales of old Germany—as for instance of the charming Undine of De la Mothe Fouque. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A YELLOW ENVELOPE. There is a peculiarity about Baden-Baden which no other watering-place seems to share—it has the aroma of a pretty woman. In August it is warm, crowded, enervating, tiresome as are all warm and crowded places, but the air is delicately freighted and a pervasive fragrance is discerned even by the indifferent.
In the summer that succeeded Maida’s marriage Baden was the same tame, perfumed zwei und funfzig that it has ever been since the war. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ Even from the gossip of Baden I could learn no more about her than that she was a Sicilian Countess of great wealth, and a widow; that she was intimately received into the very highest circles—even of royalty—and constantly was seen driving in the carriage of the Archduchess. It was, then, possible that I might be mistaken, after all! Great people are not accessible so easily. ”

“ How brilliant is every thing!—the cloudless sky, the sparkling water, the emerald grass, the foliage in every tint of beauty, the orange-trees and the cactus along the terraces, where lounging parties come and go; and then the measured step of princely equipages, in all the panoply of tasteful wealth! Truly, Vice wears its holiday suit in Baden, and the fairness of this lovely valley seems to throw a softened light over a scene where, as in a sea, the stormy waves of every bad passion are warring. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ Baden is composed of various hills, which render its situation very picturesque, and the running rivulets from little cascades, added to the magnificent oaks which enrich the scenery, form altogether a very interesting picture. The shape of the hills does not compose so good a background as might be wished, but the houses, though not of regular architecture, are pretty and fanciful. ”

“ 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 Baden forests are superb, and the composition of the landscape is most effective. There is always a bosky dell in the foreground, and a purple crag embellished with a ruined tower at a proper angle. A little timber-and-plaster village peeps out from a tangle of plum-trees, and a way-side tavern, in comfortable recurrence, solicits concessions to the national custom of frequent refreshment. Gordon Wright, who was a dogged pedestrian, always enjoyed doing his ten miles, and Longueville, who was an incorrigible stroller, felt a keen relish for the picturesqueness of the country. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The very name carries its own explanation, for it is the natural mineral baths that have made the fame of Baden, though it must not be confused with the greater Baden-Baden in Germany. The only drawback to the place is its excessive popularity, which causes it to be submerged beneath waves of trippers at holiday times. The hot sulphur baths are equal to any in existence, and the music and dancing and entertainments of all kinds draw many who have no desire to improve their health to the gay watering place. ”

“ Yes, Baden is delightful, and we have been cared for with much thoughtfulness at our hotel and recommend it to all who come this way.
Willbad Springs, Germany, July 25th, 1888.—I do not imagine that you ever heard of this place, but it is worth hearing about. It is a small watering-place, with natural springs, hot and cold, these springs being considered by many the very fountains to dip in to ensure the everlasting duration of youth, strength, and beauty. And here we are visiting our own relatives, who have come from Dresden to tarry a while for the benefit of the waters. ”

“ 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. ”