Bad Wildungen
Encyclopedia
Bad Wildungen is a state-run spa and a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg
district in Hesse
, Germany
. It is located on the German Framework Road
.
range in the so-called Waldeck holiday region, 11 km west of Fritzlar
, and 35 km southwest of Kassel
. The town, which spreads out east of the Homberg, is crossed by the river Wilde, which empties into the Eder
at the constituent community of Wega. The constituent communities of Wega and Mandern lie on the Eder, on which also lies the Edersee, a reservoir lying only about 10 km northwest (in a straight line) of the main town of Bad Wildungen. The river Urff flows through the southwest constituent communities of Hundsdorf, Armsfeld and Bergfreiheit.
The nearest large towns are Kassel
(about 35 km; northeast), Marburg
(about 60 km; southwest) and Korbach
(about 28 km; northwest).
(Waldeck-Frankenberg), in the east on the town of Fritzlar
, in the southeast on the town of Bad Zwesten
(both in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
), in the south on the community of Haina
, and in the west on the town of Frankenau
(both in Waldeck-Frankenberg).
was built by the Thuringia
n Landgrave
s, around which Alt-Wildungen ("High Wildungen") (from lat. altus = high) developed. In 1242, Nieder-Wildungen ("Lower Wildungen"), which had been founded on the hill facing the castle, was granted town rights. From 1263, the castle and the two Wildungen towns were owned by the Counts – later Princes – of Waldeck, who only abdicated after the First World War (see Principality of Waldeck
). In 1358, the two Wildungen towns were mentioned.
In 1906, the town of Nieder-Wildungen was given the new name Bad Wildungen. In 1940, Bad Wildungen was given the title of "Preußisches Staatsbad" ("Prussian State Bath")
came in waves of trials: 1532, 1629 to 1631 and 1650 to 1664.
Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.
The town executive consists of the mayor and ten town councillors. Four of these seats are held by the CDU, three by the SPD and one each by the FDP, the FWG and the Greens.
might heraldically be described thus: In sable an eight-pointed star Or.
Bad Wildungen's earliest known town seal was quite different, dating from 1258 and showing the Count of Thuringia – then the local overlord – astride a steed and kitted out as a knight
. The current charge, which is the star of Waldeck, is first known to have appeared in 1262. Some later seals also show a woman in the foot of the shield. The arms appeared with or without the woman over the centuries. In the 18th century, the colours were reversed – the arms were originally "In Or an eight-pointed star sable" – to distinguish the town's arms from Waldeck's.http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/b/bad-wild.htm
, Essex
, United Kingdom
since 1986, Yichun
, Heilongjiang
, China
since 1988 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
, département of Savoie
in France
since 1990.
Interested visitors should also have a look at the "Living Museum" in Odershausen, the Lapidarium (mineral display in Schloss Friedrichstein's basement vault) and the "Galerie am Kump" in Albertshausen.
. Furthermore, classical, jazz
, samba
and folk
concerts or festivals regularly take place at the Kurhaus and the Schloss.
There is a weekly country market in Bad Wildungen. Furthermore, there is a regularly held jazz festival in June, and mid-July brings Kram- und Viehmarkt – a fair with household goods and cattle markets. December is the time for a Christmas market. In September, there is either a samba festival or a flower parade.
stately home, Schloss Friedrichstein, which was planned by Count Josias II in 1660 and completed between 1707 and 1714 by Prince Friedrich Anton Ulrich zu Waldeck. In the centre stands a late Gothic
Evangelical
town church from the 14th century. Inside is a winged altar by Konrad von Soest (with Germany's oldest depiction of eyeglasses). Furthermore, standing in the town centre and along the Brunnenallee are many villa
s from the founders' times. The Fürstenhof, an Art Nouveau building like a stately home, once a hotel (the biggest Art Nouveau building in Europe) is today a clinic.
s, which are well worth seeing. Furthermore, in the woods near Odershausen, near the Jägersburg ("Hunter's Castle"), stand three old dwarf beech
es.
Also, the Bilstein Cliffs near Reizenhagen tempt climbers. Bad Wildungen's local mountain, the 518 m-high Homberg, affords the visitor an outstanding panoramic view.
The municipal area's highest mountain, however, is the Wüstegarten (675 m above sea level), located near Bergfreiheit, one of Bad Wildungen's outlying communities. It is disputed as to whether the peak is actually in Bad Wildungen, as the latest survey suggests that it is a few metres outside town limits.
Das Paradies ("The Paradise") near Albertshausen is not simply called this; hikers will also find this unique forest towards Gellershausen and Kleinern to be something of a paradisiacal treasure.
The 167 km-long Kellerwaldsteig, awarded with the distinction of one of Germany's three finest hiking
trails, begins and ends in Bad Wildungen.
In the former Hutewald (forest used for grazing) of Halloh in Albertshausen is a centuries-old beech
forest.
and handball
associations.
pancake, traditionally served in Bad Wildungen with bacon
, onions and black coffee
.
As is true more or less throughout northern Hesse, the so-called "Ahle Worscht" is an ever popular dish. The name is Hessian dialect for alte Wurst – "old sausage
".
business. Bad Wildungen is, however, slowly developing into an educational centre. The Holzfachschule, the clinics' nursing school
s, the Bringmann Academy, the Bildungszentrum Handel und Dienstleistungen e. V. (Handel Education Centre and Services) and the Berufsakademie Nordhessen (North Hesse Professional Academy) support this endeavour.
. Bad Wildungen can be reached by regional rail services (NVV
) from Kassel
and Wabern, terminating at Bad Wildungen station. A bus
service was set up in Bad Wildungen a few years ago.
s are the Waldeckische Landeszeitung and the Waldeckische
Allgemeine, a local edition of the Hessisch-Niedersächsische-Allgemeine.
, magnesium
and carbonic acid
("sparkling" or "carbonated").
The times when visitors would "partake of the waters" are somewhat bygone now. More at the fore of medical rehabilitation nowadays are orthopaedics, psychosomatic illness
treatment, internal medicine
, rheumatology
, neurology
, oncology
and urology
. Institutions for gerontological
care (retirement homes, nursing homes) are also important services.
The yearly number of overnight stays in Bad Wildungen is roughly 1.4 million (2002), making Bad
Wildungen second only to Frankfurt
among Hessian towns and cities with the most overnight
stays.
difficulties (Veit-Weinberg-Schule), a Hauptschule
-Realschule
(Ense-Schule) and a
Gymnasium
(Gustav-Stresemann-Gymnasium). Vocational education is done through the Hans-Viessmann-Schule.
The Berufsakademie Bad Wildungen offers the choice of a dual course of study alternating
between theoretical and practical phases. Among the subjects offered are computer science
and tourism.
The Wildunger Kurmuseum lists the town's many doctors, some of whom have become world-famous.
Waldeck-Frankenberg
Waldeck-Frankenberg is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Höxter, Kassel, Schwalm-Eder, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Hochsauerland.-History:...
district in Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is located on the German Framework Road
German Framework Road
The German Timber-Frame Road is a German tourist route leading from the river Elbe in the north to Lake Constance in the south. Along the road you can find nearly 100 cities and towns with remarkable timber-framed houses...
.
Geography
Location
Bad Wildungen lies in the eastern foothills of the KellerwaldKellerwald
The Kellerwald is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 675 m in the western part of northern Hesse, Germany.Its assets include Germany's largest contiguous beech woodland and it contains Hesse's only national park, the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park.- Geography :The Kellerwald lies in...
range in the so-called Waldeck holiday region, 11 km west of Fritzlar
Fritzlar
Fritzlar is a small German town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. It can reasonably be argued that the town is the site where the Christianization of northern Germany began and the birthplace of the German empire as a political entity.The...
, and 35 km southwest of Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
. The town, which spreads out east of the Homberg, is crossed by the river Wilde, which empties into the Eder
Eder
The Eder is a 177 km long river in Germany, and a tributary of the Fulda River. It was first mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus as the Adrana in the territory of the Chatti....
at the constituent community of Wega. The constituent communities of Wega and Mandern lie on the Eder, on which also lies the Edersee, a reservoir lying only about 10 km northwest (in a straight line) of the main town of Bad Wildungen. The river Urff flows through the southwest constituent communities of Hundsdorf, Armsfeld and Bergfreiheit.
The nearest large towns are Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
(about 35 km; northeast), Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
(about 60 km; southwest) and Korbach
Korbach
Korbach is the district seat of Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany. It is over a thousand years old and a former Hanseatic town. It is located on the German Framework Road.- Geography and geology :...
(about 28 km; northwest).
Neighbouring communities
Bad Wildungen borders in the north on the community of EdertalEdertal
-Location:Edertal lies roughly 30 km in a straight line southwest of Kassel. It is on the north and northwest edges of the Kellerwald range and stretches to the south shore of the Edersee and south and southwest of its dam...
(Waldeck-Frankenberg), in the east on the town of Fritzlar
Fritzlar
Fritzlar is a small German town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. It can reasonably be argued that the town is the site where the Christianization of northern Germany began and the birthplace of the German empire as a political entity.The...
, in the southeast on the town of Bad Zwesten
Bad Zwesten
-Location:Bad Zwesten lies about 8 km southeast of Bad Wildungen on the river Schwalm, which belongs to the Eder watershed. North of the community begins the Kellerwald-Edersee Nature Park.-Constituent communities:* Betzigerode* Niederurff...
(both in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
Schwalm-Eder-Kreis
Schwalm-Eder is a Kreis in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Kassel, Werra-Meißner, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Vogelsbergkreis, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Waldeck-Frankenberg.-History:...
), in the south on the community of Haina
Haina
Haina is a community in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northwest Hesse, Germany.-Location:Haina lies in Waldeck-Frankenberg south of Frankenberg and east of Burgwald at the southwest slope of the Kellerwald range...
, and in the west on the town of Frankenau
Frankenau
-Location:Frankenau lies in the Kellerwald range southwest of the Talgang . It is found on the southern edge of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park on the upper reaches of the Lorfebach, a tributary to the Eder...
(both in Waldeck-Frankenberg).
Constituent communities
Besides the main town, which bears the same name as the whole, the town of Bad Wildungen consists of the centres of Albertshausen, Armsfeld, Bergfreiheit, Braunau, Frebershausen, Hüddingen, Hundsdorf, Mandern, Odershausen, Reinhardshausen and Wega.History
Bad Wildungen's first documentary mention came about 800 from the Hersfeld Monastery's goods directory under the name "villa Wildungun". This place lay in the Wilde Valley, east of today's main town. About 1200, a castleCastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
was built by the Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
n Landgrave
Landgrave
Landgrave was a title used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor...
s, around which Alt-Wildungen ("High Wildungen") (from lat. altus = high) developed. In 1242, Nieder-Wildungen ("Lower Wildungen"), which had been founded on the hill facing the castle, was granted town rights. From 1263, the castle and the two Wildungen towns were owned by the Counts – later Princes – of Waldeck, who only abdicated after the First World War (see Principality of Waldeck
Waldeck (state)
Waldeck was a sovereign principality in the German Empire and German Confederation and, until 1929, a constituent state of the Weimar Republic. It comprised territories in present-day Hesse and Lower Saxony, ....
). In 1358, the two Wildungen towns were mentioned.
In 1906, the town of Nieder-Wildungen was given the new name Bad Wildungen. In 1940, Bad Wildungen was given the title of "Preußisches Staatsbad" ("Prussian State Bath")
Witch trials
In the time when alleged witches were persecuted, 78 people in Bad Wildungen fell victim to witch trials. At the time, Wildungen had 1200 inhabitants. The persecutionPersecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...
came in waves of trials: 1532, 1629 to 1631 and 1650 to 1664.
- 1532 First witch trial against Gertraud Muck
- 1575 - 1578 Persecution of "witches"
- 1629 Onset of a period of unheard-of persecution: 29 victims up to 1632.
- 1650 - 1664 a further 38 victims
- 1630 Maria Rörig steadfastly withstood tortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
from September 1630 to May 1631: "Dear God received her in prison, to Him she would remain faithful, she is innocent like Jesus Christ." Count Christian ordered her release. - 1656 Trial against Susanne Weber (Maria Rörig's daughter): "Her husband asks that the trial be sped up owing to the costs."
Amalgamations
The neighbouring communities of Alt-Wildungen, Reitzenhagen and Reinhardshausen were amalgamated in 1940. As part of municipal reform, the same was done in 1971 with Albertshausen, Armsfeld, Bergfreiheit, Braunau, Frebershausen, Hüddingen, Hundsdorf, Mandern, Odershausen and Wega.Town council
The town council's 38 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 March 2006:| CDU Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... |
15 seats |
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
12 seats |
| FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
5 seats |
| FWG | 2 seats |
| Greens Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
2 seats |
| Left Party Left Party (Germany) The Party of Democratic Socialism was a democratic socialist political party active in Germany from 1989 to 2007. It was the legal successor to the Socialist Unity Party , which ruled the German Democratic Republic until 1990. From 1990 through to 2005, the PDS had been seen as the left-wing... |
1 seat |
Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.
The town executive consists of the mayor and ten town councillors. Four of these seats are held by the CDU, three by the SPD and one each by the FDP, the FWG and the Greens.
Mayors
At the mayoral election in 2006, the FDP's Volker Zimmermann was elected Bad Wildungen's new mayor with a 58% share of the vote in a run-off. He takes over as mayor from his predecessor Reinhard Grieneisen (CDU) on 1 September 2006.Coat of arms
Bad Wildungen's civic coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might heraldically be described thus: In sable an eight-pointed star Or.
Bad Wildungen's earliest known town seal was quite different, dating from 1258 and showing the Count of Thuringia – then the local overlord – astride a steed and kitted out as a knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
. The current charge, which is the star of Waldeck, is first known to have appeared in 1262. Some later seals also show a woman in the foot of the shield. The arms appeared with or without the woman over the centuries. In the 18th century, the colours were reversed – the arms were originally "In Or an eight-pointed star sable" – to distinguish the town's arms from Waldeck's.http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/b/bad-wild.htm
Town partnerships
Bad Wildungen maintains partnership links with the following: Saffron WaldenSaffron Walden
Saffron Walden is a medium-sized market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is located north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and approx north of London...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
since 1986, Yichun
Yichun, Heilongjiang
Yichun is a prefecture-level city on the Songhua river north of Tieli in Heilongjiang province in northeast China. The city is separated from Russia by the Heilongjiang River and sharing a boundary of 246 kilometers with the country. At the 2010 cencus, Yichun has a total population of 1,148,126...
, Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang
For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
since 1988 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
, département of Savoie
Savoie
Savoie is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps.Together with the Haute-Savoie, Savoie is one of the two departments of the historic region of Savoy that was annexed by France on June 14, 1860, following the signature of the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
since 1990.
Museums
Much that there is to know about the region lies waiting to be discovered in the Quellenmuseum ("Spa Museum"), the Heimatmuseum (local history museum), the Museum for Military and Hunting History of the Kassel State Museums (Museum für Militär und Jagdgeschichte der Staatlichen Museen Kassel) at Schloss Friedrichstein (a stately home – see below) and the museum at the former mining office and Bertsch visitors' mine.Interested visitors should also have a look at the "Living Museum" in Odershausen, the Lapidarium (mineral display in Schloss Friedrichstein's basement vault) and the "Galerie am Kump" in Albertshausen.
Theatre
Theatric productions are performed at the Kurhaus Bad Wildungen (Bad Wildungen Spa House).Music
Music can be experienced, among other ways, by attending a chamber concert at Schloss Friedrichstein, or going to the Wildungen Music Workshop (Wildunger Musik-Werkstatt), a generation-spanning choirChoir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
. Furthermore, classical, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
concerts or festivals regularly take place at the Kurhaus and the Schloss.
Other events
In 2006, the third Hessian State Garden Show takes place in the town.There is a weekly country market in Bad Wildungen. Furthermore, there is a regularly held jazz festival in June, and mid-July brings Kram- und Viehmarkt – a fair with household goods and cattle markets. December is the time for a Christmas market. In September, there is either a samba festival or a flower parade.
Buildings
Above Bad Wildungen stands a BaroqueBaroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
stately home, Schloss Friedrichstein, which was planned by Count Josias II in 1660 and completed between 1707 and 1714 by Prince Friedrich Anton Ulrich zu Waldeck. In the centre stands a late Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
Evangelical
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
town church from the 14th century. Inside is a winged altar by Konrad von Soest (with Germany's oldest depiction of eyeglasses). Furthermore, standing in the town centre and along the Brunnenallee are many villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s from the founders' times. The Fürstenhof, an Art Nouveau building like a stately home, once a hotel (the biggest Art Nouveau building in Europe) is today a clinic.
Europe's biggest spa park
In the late 1990s, the Bad Wildungen spa park was connected by a "green bridge" – not natural but made to seem so – to the Reinhardshausen spa park, making one large park now regarded, at 50 ha, as Europe's biggest spa park.Natural monuments
In the Helenental foothills are found the Odershausen WaterfallWaterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
s, which are well worth seeing. Furthermore, in the woods near Odershausen, near the Jägersburg ("Hunter's Castle"), stand three old dwarf beech
Dwarf Beech
The Dwarf Beech, Fagus sylvatica Tortuosa Group, is a rare Cultivar Group of the European Beech with less than 1500 older specimens in Europe. It is also known as Twisted Beech or Parasol Beech....
es.
Also, the Bilstein Cliffs near Reizenhagen tempt climbers. Bad Wildungen's local mountain, the 518 m-high Homberg, affords the visitor an outstanding panoramic view.
The municipal area's highest mountain, however, is the Wüstegarten (675 m above sea level), located near Bergfreiheit, one of Bad Wildungen's outlying communities. It is disputed as to whether the peak is actually in Bad Wildungen, as the latest survey suggests that it is a few metres outside town limits.
Das Paradies ("The Paradise") near Albertshausen is not simply called this; hikers will also find this unique forest towards Gellershausen and Kleinern to be something of a paradisiacal treasure.
The 167 km-long Kellerwaldsteig, awarded with the distinction of one of Germany's three finest hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
trails, begins and ends in Bad Wildungen.
In the former Hutewald (forest used for grazing) of Halloh in Albertshausen is a centuries-old beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
forest.
Sport
In Bad Wildungen are two sport clubs, the VFL Bad Wildungen (VFL = Verein für Leibesübungen – club for bodily exercise) and the TV Friedrichstein (TV = Turnverein – gymnastic club). Both clubs have established footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
associations.
Culinary specialities
One Waldeck speciality is Schepperlinge, a kind of potatoPotato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
pancake, traditionally served in Bad Wildungen with bacon
Bacon
Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured using large quantities of salt, either in a brine or in a dry packing; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months in cold air, boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
, onions and black coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
.
As is true more or less throughout northern Hesse, the so-called "Ahle Worscht" is an ever popular dish. The name is Hessian dialect for alte Wurst – "old sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
".
Economy and infrastructure
The town's main field of economic activity is the spa and tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
business. Bad Wildungen is, however, slowly developing into an educational centre. The Holzfachschule, the clinics' nursing school
Nursing school
A nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...
s, the Bringmann Academy, the Bildungszentrum Handel und Dienstleistungen e. V. (Handel Education Centre and Services) and the Berufsakademie Nordhessen (North Hesse Professional Academy) support this endeavour.
Transport
Through the municipal area run the Federal Highways (Bundesstraßen) B 485 and B 253, which afford a connection to the Autobahn A 49Bundesautobahn 49
is a federal motorway running through north Hesse. It connects Kassel with the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, where it ends in Neuental. The motorway is planned to be extended to Gemünden with a connection to A 5.- Course :...
. Bad Wildungen can be reached by regional rail services (NVV
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
) from Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
and Wabern, terminating at Bad Wildungen station. A bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
service was set up in Bad Wildungen a few years ago.
Media
The regional daily newspaperNewspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s are the Waldeckische Landeszeitung and the Waldeckische
Allgemeine, a local edition of the Hessisch-Niedersächsische-Allgemeine.
Spa
Wildungen is a therapeutic spa with springs that bring forth water containing ironIron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
and carbonic acid
Carbonic acid
Carbonic acid is the inorganic compound with the formula H2CO3 . It is also a name sometimes given to solutions of carbon dioxide in water, because such solutions contain small amounts of H2CO3. Carbonic acid forms two kinds of salts, the carbonates and the bicarbonates...
("sparkling" or "carbonated").
The times when visitors would "partake of the waters" are somewhat bygone now. More at the fore of medical rehabilitation nowadays are orthopaedics, psychosomatic illness
Psychosomatic illness
Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field studying the relationships of social, psychological, and behavioral factors on bodily processes and well-being in humans and animals...
treatment, internal medicine
Internal medicine
Internal medicine is the medical specialty dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases. Physicians specializing in internal medicine are called internists. They are especially skilled in the management of patients who have undifferentiated or multi-system disease processes...
, rheumatology
Rheumatology
Rheumatology is a sub-specialty in internal medicine and pediatrics, devoted to diagnosis and therapy of rheumatic diseases. Clinicians who specialize in rheumatology are called rheumatologists...
, neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
, oncology
Oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...
and urology
Urology
Urology is the medical and surgical specialty that focuses on the urinary tracts of males and females, and on the reproductive system of males. Medical professionals specializing in the field of urology are called urologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with urological...
. Institutions for gerontological
Gerontology
Gerontology is the study of the social, psychological and biological aspects of aging...
care (retirement homes, nursing homes) are also important services.
The yearly number of overnight stays in Bad Wildungen is roughly 1.4 million (2002), making Bad
Wildungen second only to Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
among Hessian towns and cities with the most overnight
stays.
Education
In Bad Wildungen, alongside several primary schools are a school for students with learningdifficulties (Veit-Weinberg-Schule), a Hauptschule
Hauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
-Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
(Ense-Schule) and a
Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
(Gustav-Stresemann-Gymnasium). Vocational education is done through the Hans-Viessmann-Schule.
The Berufsakademie Bad Wildungen offers the choice of a dual course of study alternating
between theoretical and practical phases. Among the subjects offered are computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and tourism.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Renate Blume (born 3 May 1944 in Bad Wildungen), German actress
- Wilhelm Dilich (but possibly born in Wabern), engraver
Other persons connected with the town
- Trude Hoppe-Arendt (born 1905 in BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, died 2001 in Bad Wildungen), German painter - Philipp NicolaiPhilipp NicolaiPhilipp Nicolai was a German Lutheran pastor, poet, and composer, author of two famous hymns: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme and Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern...
(born 1556 in Bad ArolsenBad ArolsenBad Arolsen is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and then until 1929 as the capital of the Waldeck Free State...
-MengeringhausenMengeringhausenMengeringhausen is a village and a municipal district of Bad Arolsen in Waldeck-Frankenberg, in Hesse, Germany. Its population is estimated at 3,800.First time mentioned as a town 'Stadt Mengeringhausen' in 1234...
, died 26 October 1608 in HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
), songwriter and Lutheran court chaplain in Alt-Wildungen. - Master of the Netz Altar Triptych, Gothic painter
- Christoph Scheibler, philosopher and theologian
- Hans-Jürgen von ArnimHans-Jürgen von ArnimHans-Jürgen Bernhard Theodor von Arnim was a German Generaloberst who served during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
, general and last Afrika KorpsAfrika KorpsThe German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
' commander died 1962 in Bad Wildungen.
The Wildunger Kurmuseum lists the town's many doctors, some of whom have become world-famous.