German Spa Will Welcome Yanks on July Fourth

The Fourth of July in this 2,000-year-old spa at the gateway to the Black Forest is more than just a date on the calendar.

It’s also an occasion for commemorating U.S. Independence Day on the terrace of a grand spa hotel that has received guests such as the Aga Khan, Bismarck, Emperor Wilhelm I, Marlene Dietrich, Lee Iacocca, J. Paul Getty and Henry Kissinger for more than a century.

Why a Fourth of July celebration in Baden-Baden?

“I’m not a politician,” said Richard Schmitz, managing director of Brenner’s Park-Hotel & Spa, “but this is a year when it’s more important than ever for Europeans to show how we really feel about America and American visitors in Europe. Headlines can’t tell the story of people-to-people friendship.”

This will be the 15th year that the Fourth of July has been commemorated by this spa hotel, and once again the Stars and Stripes will be among the flags on the terrace overlooking the trees and flower gardens of Lichtentaler Allee beside the waters of the gentle River Oos.

The continuing theme of these Fourth of July commemorations seems especially timely this year: “Surely it is an independence in itself to be able to travel freely.”

The Fourth of July preparations we have found at the Brenner’s spa are an expression of the way we have been received everywhere during these past three weeks of travel in Central Europe.

Many Americans are not traveling to Europe this summer because of apprehensions about terrorism and anti-American attitudes. But others who have refused to change their travel plans are being welcomed with friendliness and appreciation.

No Security Problems

We’ve received this kind of welcome without exception, and have encountered no security problems at the Frankfurt airport or while traveling extensively on the Rhine and by rental car in West Germany, northern Switzerland and eastern France.

Pragmatically, Europeans know the importance of tourism to their economies. At the same time, they value long-time bonds of friendship with the American people.

U.S. Embassy representatives in West Germany will be at Brenner’s Park-Hotel on the Fourth of July to mingle with hotel guests and civic leaders of Baden-Baden. If you happen to be near here then, you won’t need the income of an Aga Khan to stay at this spa hotel. Doubles start this summer at about $95.

At nearby economy hotels and inns, spa packages of two nights and three days are priced as low as $100 for two people in a double room, including breakfasts, two hours in the new Caracalla Therme spa facilities, a sightseeing tour of Baden-Baden and free concerts.

Scarcely a two-hour drive south of Frankfurt airport, the legendary spa city of Baden-Baden has been reborn during the past year with the opening of Carcalla Therme, which recorded 300,000 visitors during its first six months of operation. Luxury resorts such as Brenner’s Park-Hotel welcome it as “marvelous thermal bathing that enriches our own spa program.”

Friedrichsbad is a major Baden-Baden thermal spa that opened in 1866 and has been kept up to date with its variety of baths, exercise facilities and massage services. Now Caracalla Therme adds one of Europe’s largest and most artistically designed spa complexes.

A dome of blue and white marble arches over and creates a setting for seven pools, aerobic and gymnastic facilities, massage rooms, inhalation booths, saunas and a solarium. Outdoor pools are brightened with the briefest of bikinis and swim trunks, and there are indoor pools for co-ed nude bathing and a therapy island within 700 square meters of landscaping.

Scenic View

All of this is within the heart of the old town, framed by the hills of the Black Forest. Three hours of bathing, health spa activities and just relaxing on the sun terrace costs about $9. You can lunch or snack beside picture windows overlooking the pools and fountains. Palm trees grow beside the pools. A 50-year-old linden tree was spared at considerable cost during construction.

The Romans built baths here for the therapy and joy of relaxing in pure thermal waters that bubble from the depths of Florentine Mountain. Today, at the edge of a pool, is the replica of a lovely nude female bather created by Praxiteles about 340 BC. Temperatures in the swimming pools are about 86 degrees throughout the year, and as hot as necessary for the whirlpools.

However, with all that the new Caracalla Therme has to offer, there never is overcrowding. An automatic cut-off is signalled to receptionists as soon as 400 people have entered the spa, and no more are admitted until others leave.

Outside the Caracalla, which was named for a Roman emperor who took the waters in Baden-Baden, a cobblestone pedestrian area invites strolling through the old town, where elegant shops, wine taverns and beer gardens line the narrow streets.

Horse-drawn carriages are another invitation to tour this spa city of about 50,000 that became Germany’s casino and high-fashion counterpart of Monte Carlo in the 19th Century.

From the palace terrace of New Castle, where the margraves of Baden ruled, there is a panoramic view to orient you to the town below and the surrounding mountains. Two museums in the castle present the culture and history of Baden-Baden back to prehistoric times.

Down near the River Oos, the neoclassic Kurhaus and Casino are in the center of the opera, concert, theater, gambling and night life of the city. Restaurants and art exhibits are part of this entertainment hub, surrounded by small and major hotels.

Outdoor Activities

Riding stables, an 18-hole par-64 golf course, tennis courts, fishing and gliding offer outdoor recreational options. The first tennis courts in Germany were built in Baden-Baden. The Duke of Windsor once called the golf course “a real pearl.”

Improvements have been made in more than 500 kilometers of marked hiking and walking paths that weave out into the Black Forest from Baden-Baden. The famed Black Forest Hochstrasse, or high road, climbs from the edge of the city. Reisling is king of the white wines in the Baden-Baden vineyards. Race Week in September is one of the major social events of Europe.

Grand Duchess Stephanie, a niece of Napoleon by marriage, launched Baden-Baden as a 19th-Century social center. Unhappy at her enforced marriage at age 16 to the grandson of the Grand Duke of Baden, she went out on horseback with friends and discovered the health resort on the River Oos. It was just beginning to come to life again. She bought a country house and made Baden-Baden the center of her life for the next 40 years as a hostess and patron of the arts.

A small hotel was named for her, and it came under the ownership of the Brenner family in 1872. It became one of Europe’s finest hotels, attracting Mark Twain among its guests; he didn’t like the town where high society was then closed to anyone not of royal rank.

Twain would undoubtedly enjoy this year’s Fourth of July commemoration at Brenner’s, although he might not be able to believe all that has happened here since his one visit. When Alfred Brenner, 91, died last year, he had spent 50 years expanding and building an international reputation for the small hotel his father had acquired.

Relieving Stress

The 106 elegant guest rooms and suites in this spa hotel are dedicated to “recharging your batteries and your love of life” by providing what it considers “the antidote to contemporary stress in our Age of Anxiety.”

Relaxation begins in the private park around the hotel and on the quiet promenade along the River Oos. In the health club you can work out on your own or under supervision.

The Lancaster Beauty Farm with its massages and facial treatments is dedicated to the idea that “the better you look, the better you’ll feel.” The Black Forest Clinic in the adjoining Villa Stephanie is a fully-equipped modern medical facility integrated into the Brenner spa complex.

Richard Schmitz, managing director, is quoting the philosopher Schopenhauer when he tells a guest: “Health is the source of every pleasure.” In his own words he adds, “And then comes friendship.”

As is so often the case, we drove into Baden-Baden without any reservations and lucked out by walking into Brenner’s at the right moment. But we suggest making reservations through your travel agent after getting full information about Baden-Baden from the German National Tourist Office at 444 S. Flower St., Suite 2230, Los Angeles 90071; (213) 688-7332.