Baden-Baden: A Walk along Lichtentaler Allee

Lichtentaler Allee begins at Goetheplatz, a few steps fron the Kurhaus It runs along the valley bottom. It begins next to the Kurhaus and leads to the old monastery of Lichtenthal. The parks along the river Oos offer beautiful old trees, exotic plants and statues. A number of elegant belle époque villas join the edges of the parks. If you want a romantic walk or even a carriage ride, here it is. The walk sums up to about 3 kilometres. Take your time to enjoy it, to look left and right, check out the signs that explain exotic trees, look at the statues of famous visitors of the past, watch the birds and waterfowl, and sniff the roses.

Let me take you on a virtual walk at relaxed speed, with many pictures and less words.

Horse-drawn carriages

The park is entirely flat and the paths are smoothly paved (this is a spa town, after all), hence no problem for wheelchair users.
To make exploring the already romantic Lichtentaler Allee, the spa area and the town centre even more romantic, you can ride a horse-drawn carriage. The coachmen will also be tour guides and give explanations (if you want them to).

Available carriages are usually waiting opposite the theatre and the Kolonnaden at the beginning of Lichtentaler Allee. Address the coachman and enquire the conditions.
Sorry I cannot tell you anything about prices since my life is somehow lacking romance these days...

Theatre

Not to be confused with the large modern concert hall of Festspielhaus, this smaller theatre is the theatre of the town. It was opened in 1862. The neo-baroque style tells us of festive performances in the belle époque, when Baden-Baden was the meeting point of the rich and powerful of the whole Europe and beyond. Nowadays they still have a permanent ensemble and perform mostly plays, with some musical pieces in between. They are overshadowed by Festspielhaus by far, though.

Museum Frieder Burda

The collector Frieder Burda dedicated his collection of classical modern and contemporary art to the public. The new museum, designed by the architect Richard Meier, was inaugurated in 2004.

The base of the museum is a private collection. The three brothers Burda became very rich as publishers of magazines, their best known products are periodicals on sewing and other textile crafts. They had enough money to play with, and spent significant amounts on classical modern and contemporary art.

In addition to the permanent collection the museum shows top-class temporary exhibitions - check what's on. Most of their presentations are on top class level.
Website: https://www.museum-frieder-burda.de/en/home/

Posh hotels and cafes are lined up along the parks. The poshest of them all is certainly Brenners Parkhotel.

Mallard mum and ducklings

Gönneranlage

Oos river, approaching Gönneranlage

Gönneranlage is situated on Lichtenthaler Allee, about halfway between the town centre and Lichtenthal abbey, past the tennis courts and a short narrow, less interesting stretch of the trail.

The garden is located on the right bank of the river Oos. From the main trail you cross a bridge and enter through the gate with the stags.

The main axis leads towards a large fountain decorated with sculptures. This part has a symmetric design with several basins, gravel paths, and flower beds.

The park is an important example of the geometric style in gardening at the beginning of the 19th century. The garden was designed by Max Laeuger in 1909.

A donation by the “coffee king” Hermann Sielcken, a rich businessman, paid for the new park on the right bank of the river Oos which was named after the former mayor of Baden-Baden.

Originally a hedge garden, it has been planted with roses since 1952. The various breeds are marked with their names.

The flower beds are most spectacular in early summer, like late May and June, and again at the end of the summer when the roses have their second bloom.

They have not only roses but also other flowers. The garden is well maintained – I do not know how many gardeners they employ – and always in beautiful shape.

From Gönneranlage I recommend a little detour outside the parks of Lichtentaler Allee over to Lichtentaler Straße, which is a main street with heavy traffic. The two rather special churches merit the detour.

Russian Church

The spas of Baden-Baden attracted many visitors from Russia, among them princes and nobility, even members of the tsar’s family, and rich bourgeoisie. They wanted orthodox church services in their language. After collecting donations and negotiating with the town to acquire a suitable patch of land, a Russian church was finally built in 1881-1882. A Russian architect provided the design. The ground plan is based on a Greek cross. The roof carries a spire with a gilded dome and orthodox double cross in best Russian style. Till this very day the church is used by a Russian orthodox community.

Catholic Church of St Joseph

From the outside the strange round, seemingly windowless church resembles a gigantic hat box made from corrugated cardboard.

I went in out of mere curiosity and discovered - a remarkable, atmospheric, colourful church room. The walls are all windows, colours, light and shadow. The use of light is especially congenial in the baptismal chapel in the entrance hall.

St Joseph was built in 1959-1961, designed by the architects Hugo Becker and Albert Peter.

If you like 1950s architecture, don't miss this church.

Between the two churches we have to cross one of Baden-Baden’s busiest street crossing at the exit of the car tunnel. A bypass road and tunnel relieve the city’s centre from passing traffic, but this is the point where it ends.

Luckily it is just a few steps over to more quiet parks. This part of Lichtentaler Allee is already quite far from centre and Kurhaus, hence you have less pedestrians but more cyclists and joggers.

A striking feature is the sculpture of an oversized rosebud “planted” into the meadow.

Palais Biron

Palais Biron was built by a rich industrial in 1858-1865. The large villa in French baroque style changed owner a couple of times until it became property of the town during World War II. After the war it became headquarters of the French occupation. Nowadays it is owned by the regional Industrie- und Handelskammer (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) who use it as venue for conferences and conventions.

The little pavilion among the flower beds is almost at the end of the parks.

We have reached the suburb of Lichtental, the namesake of the Allee. On the opposite side of the street we spot the protestant Lutherkirche, built in 1907. Lichtental’s core is Lichtenthal Abbey, spelled with “th” according to the historical orthography.

Lichtenthal Abbey

Lichtenthal Abbey is a Cistercian monastery which was founded by Irmengard von Baden, the widow of Margrave Hermann V., in 1245 and has uninterruptedly been inhabited by nuns ever since to this very day.

Those who are familiar with German history may note this fact with astonishment. No, the monastery was not affected by the secularization of 1803/1806 because the nuns were and are still running a school, which was considered a useful activity for society, and because they guard the graves of many members of the house of Baden in the princes' chapel.

Since the monastery is still active all visitors can enter on their own is the forecourt, the book and art shop and the church.

Three times a week (Wed, Sat, Sun 3 p.m.) guided tours take visitors into the Fürstenkapelle (princes' chapel) where the graves are, and into the little museum.
Website: http://www.abtei-lichtenthal.de/

Good news is that you don’t have to hike all the way back. Lichtental is the terminus of the 201 bus, which runs every 10 minutes and takes you back to the city centre and the railway station.

Or find a bench, relax and watch the clouds...

More entries about Baden-Baden:

https://karlsruhedaytrips.travellerspoint.com/187/ (General comments and sightseeing)
https://karlsruhedaytrips.travellerspoint.com/205/ (Hohenbaden castle ruin)
https://karlsruhedaytrips.travellerspoint.com/142/ (Merkurberg)