2024 - June - Baden-Baden

It can go by so quickly and I'm already back in Baden-Baden. We stopped here last September before traveling on to France.

If you would like to read my report and tips from last year again, you can simply click on this link:

https://vakantio.de/reisetante/2023-september-baden-baden

This year our destination will be France again, but we are heading in a different direction to Baden-Baden. And the circumstances are a little different this time too. Last year we travelled here with no worries, but this time we were actually skeptical about whether we would even arrive safely in Baden-Baden.

A massive flood had surprised the south of Germany after heavy rainfall.

But surprise is the wrong word. The disaster had been announced days or weeks beforehand.

A collapsed polar vortex in March (!) resulted in (in brief) an exceptionally stable high over Scandinavia. And that in turn led to the dreaded Vb (pronounced: five-b) weather situation. In this situation, various lows over the Mediterranean fill up with water and then rain down heavily over Central Europe instead of moving further east.

And all this rain eventually caused small rivers to become large ones. In some cases, things got even worse: some communities in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg were completely flooded and had to be evacuated. Two firefighters even lost their lives.

Because of all these circumstances, it was not clear to us until the end whether we would be able to travel at all. And of course Deutsche Bahn also had massive problems due to the storms. Many trains were cancelled and there was also massive confusion on our route. We had arrived safely in Frankfurt am Main, but our connecting train was suddenly only supposed to have an alternative stop in Frankfurt am Main South. The train app also showed this, but the display on the platform in Frankfurt am Main South said "Train cancelled". After some back and forth, apologies for incorrect information, etc., our train finally arrived 70 minutes late. On the platform, we almost did a Mexican wave with the other passengers to greet the train. Under these circumstances, we were all happy to have arrived safely in the end.

And Baden-Baden welcomed us in cloudy weather, but with the horses we already knew (!). As luck would have it, there was actually a horse race again, and horses are always put up in Baden-Baden to advertise it. They disappear again immediately after the event, so it's great that we've already met them twice. And we even discovered a few horses that were new to us.

But for those who, like us, don't happen to be here for the horse races in early June or September, I have a few more tips in addition to my tips from last year.

How about, for example, the waterworks Paradies in the villa district on Annaberg. The climb is a bit arduous because it is steep, but you are practically alone. When we visited, there were only a few people picnicking with wine and baguette, which only added to the lovely atmosphere.

I promise you another wonderful view over Baden-Baden if you climb the hill to the New Castle via the castle steps. The stairs here are called steps and there are quite a few of them in Baden-Baden.

For a more leisurely stroll, take the Lichtentaler Allee to Villa Schriever, which also offers a lovely photo stop with its rose sculpture.

But for our highlight this time we're going indoors: I definitely recommend you take a tour of the Baden-Baden Festival Hall. These take place almost daily. The fee is reasonable - with a guest card it costs 7 euros, without it it would have been 10 euros. We almost had a private tour, because there was only one other couple with us. On a tour like this you can look behind the scenes and of course you also learn a lot about the history of the house. And it's pretty exciting.

The neo-renaissance building actually served a completely different purpose in the past: trains actually arrived here until 1977 and yes, it was a train station! The building was built between 1892 and 1895 and replaced a previous building in the Swiss house style. After the end of railway operations, the building was listed as a historical monument but no longer served any purpose. Until a wealthy group of friends came together and provided funds as part of a foundation. A modern opera house was built onto the old train station. The former reception hall is still the entrance area and tickets can now be purchased at the former ticket office.

The Baden-Baden Festival Hall does not have its own ensemble, but instead regularly organizes high-class events of various musical styles. Either individual stars or entire companies travel to these specially. Various grand pianos (for example from Steinway) are actually already available, and the musicians bring the other instruments themselves.

The house also proudly boasts that, with its 2,500 seats, it is both the largest opera house in Germany and the only one that can support itself without subsidies.

The acoustics are also supposed to be wonderful. You should be able to hear everything right up to the last row without a microphone.

With this prior knowledge, it is definitely worth attending a real event on your next visit. We wouldn't have had the opportunity to do so now, however, as nothing is currently being performed. But if it does happen, I have our guide's insider tip ready: the best place to sit is on the first balcony!

Finally, a small addendum: During our stay, we did experience the after-effects of the floods. In fact, the waste water in the hotel was bubbling loudly into our toilet and shower. A rather disgusting affair. The reason for this is said to be that the sewage system was overflowing due to the heavy rain.

And the horse race also seems to have been a complete disaster...

I'm telling you, five-b weather conditions, simply useless!