Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden's springs were used by the Romans and made it the summer capital of European royalty in the nineteenth century, when the Kaiser came every year and the Kurhaus casino drew the same gambling crowd as Baden-Baden. The thermal water still runs at sixty-six degrees into the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme; the town has more Wilhelmine architecture intact than anywhere in Germany.
Why go
Twenty-six hot springs — the Romans named the town for them and they still run at sixty-six degrees. A casino with a literary debt — Dostoevsky played here and wrote The Gambler out of the losses. The best-preserved Wilhelmine city in Germany — barely bombed, and it shows on every street. A Kurhaus of imperial scale — built in 1907 to a design the Kaiser personally approved.
The character
The Romans called it Aquae Mattiacorum and the hot springs have never stopped; in the nineteenth century Wiesbaden became the summer address of European royalty, with Wilhelm II arriving each May for the theatre festival and the aristocracy of half a continent following. By 1900 the town had more millionaires per head than anywhere in Germany, and the architecture reflects it: whole districts of Wilhelmine villas, an opera house, a colonnade said to be the longest in Europe.
Two things preserved it. The bombing of the Second World War largely missed the residential quarters, and the American forces then made Wiesbaden their headquarters, which brought money and stability rather than demolition. The result is a wealthy, quiet state capital where the Belle Époque city survives almost complete — and where the thermal water still fills the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme, an Art Nouveau bath house of 1913 that operates on the German model: mixed, textile-free, and entirely matter-of-fact about it.
Places of character
Kochbrunnen — the main spring in the middle of town, sixty-six degrees, with iron staining the fountain orange. Kurhaus and the casino — the 1907 building with a Corinthian portico; Dostoevsky's tables are in the older Spielbank. Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme — 1913 Art Nouveau baths with an Irish-Roman circuit; textile-free, as is normal here. Neroberg — a funicular powered by water ballast since 1888, up to a Russian Orthodox church and a lido. Marktkirche and the Marktplatz — a brick neo-Gothic church and a Saturday market of real size. Wilhelmstrasse — the boulevard of villas, hotels and plane trees; walk it end to end for the whole nineteenth century.
The way to do it
Use the baths as the locals do — take the whole circuit, allow three hours, and do not be surprised by the rules. Ride the water-powered funicular, which is a piece of Victorian engineering still doing its job. And treat Wiesbaden as the base for the Rhine: Rüdesheim and the gorge are half an hour west.
One perfect day
Coffee on the Wilhelmstrasse, then the Kochbrunnen for a glass of water hot enough to be startling. Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme for the morning: the full Irish-Roman circuit takes three hours and leaves you useless for anything demanding. Light lunch, then the Neroberg funicular up for the Russian church and the view over the Rhine valley. Afternoon in the Museum Wiesbaden, which has the largest Jawlensky collection anywhere. Aperitif on the Kurhaus terrace, dinner in a wine tavern, and a look into the casino at eleven — the room where a Russian novelist lost everything and got a book out of it.
Grand hotels
Nassauer Hof — 1813 opposite the Kurhaus, with thermal water piped into its rooftop pool. Schwarzer Bock — 1486, claimed as the oldest surviving spa hotel in Europe, with its own thermal bath in the cellar.
When to go
Best expression: May, for the International May Festival and the city in full leaf. Consider: September and October, for the Rheingau wine harvest half an hour away. Avoid if possible: nothing outright; this is an all-season town, though January is grey.
The frame
Ideal stay 2 nights · Minimum 1 night · Best arrival train; Frankfurt is forty minutes · Airport FRA, 30 km · Walkability excellent and flat · Best without a car yes