T
he Romans discovered the thermal
waters 2,000 years ago, and you can
visit the remnants of their baths in
an open-air museum. Fast-forward to the
19
th
century, when the town was the
summer residence for French, German and
Russian aristocrats, and artist Hector
Berlioz composed here, and debuted an
opera in the Theatre, modelled on the Paris
Opera. Baden-Baden is the setting for Ivan
Turgenev's novel, Smoke, and today you can
follow the characters' steps in this green
walkable town, with its impeccable 19
th
-cen-
tury buildings, flowering trees, museums,
shops and public gardens. Visitors were
attracted to the idyllic setting at the foot of
the Black Forest. But it was the spas that
made the place famous.
DREAMSCAPES WINTER 2016/2017
44
BY JACQUELINE SWARTZ
BADEN-BADEN
FLASHBACKS
I AM HERE FOR THE WATERS,
BUT EVERYWHERE I TURN,
THIS LEGENDARY SPA TOWN
IS BRIMMING WITH HISTORY.
