In the 19th century, international spa resorts such as Baden-Baden set the scene for a new culture of luxury. The first prestigious grand hotels were built here – long before they came to graced the major cities around the turn of the last century. With the help of the railway, Europe’s upper classes could now reach their seasonal destinations in comfort and with regularity. For weeks at a time, these palatial hotels became temporary residences, where grand living, indulgence and social status were simultaneously on show.
The Badischer Hof was the first. Built before the railway connection, it was converted from a monastery in 1807 by the publisher Johann Friedrich Cotta and is considered Germany’s first palatial hotel. With its own bathhouse, reception rooms and English garden, it brought aristocracy and the bourgeoisie together. From the 1830s onwards, the focus of the hotel trade gradually shifted from spa treatments towards accommodating socialising and being seen.
Leading hotels formed a network of sought-after addresses, each signalling not only the social standing but also the national origin of its guests. The Maison Messmer acquired political significance through its location next to Baden-Baden’s Kurhaus, or assembly rooms, and through its distinguished clientele: from 1850 onwards, it was the regular residence of King Wilhelm of Prussia, the future Emperor Wilhelm I, and his wife, the future Empress Augusta. The Europäischer Hof hotel opened in 1840 as the Hôtel de l’Europe directly opposite the Trinkhalle (pump room); Empress Elisabeth of Austria was among its regular guests. The Brenner family developed Brenner Park Hotel out of the Hôtel Stéphanie-les-Bains, in which Napoleon III had also resided. Numerous people worked behind the scenes to ensure that guests could socialise and relax in luxury in these grand hotels. They offered a luxury escape, bringing aristocracy and bourgeoisie together in the exclusive world of the fashionable spa resort.
