Bad Wildbad

Bad Wildbad
Bad Wildbad
	Coat of arms
	Location of Bad Wildbad within Calw district
	Bad Wildbad Bad Wildbad
	Coordinates: 48°45′1″N 8°33′02″E
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region	Karlsruhe
District	Calw
Subdivisions	6
Government
• Mayor	Klaus Mack (CDU)
Area
• Total	105.26 km2 (40.64 sq mi)
Elevation	425 m (1,394 ft)
Population (2018-12-31)[1]
• Total	10,130
• Density	96/km2 (250/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	75323
Dialling codes	07081
Vehicle registration	CW
Website	www.bad-wildbad.de

Bad Wildbad is a town in Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located in the government district (Regierungsbezirk) of Karlsruhe and in the district (Landkreis) of Calw. Its coordinates are 48° 45' N, 8° 33' E. About 10,130 people live there. The current mayor is Klaus Mack.

Christmas in Bad Wilbad-Aichelberg, 24.12.

The current town of Bad Wildbad[2] is an amalgamation of several communities brought together under local government reform in 1974. The member communities are Wildbad, Calmbach, Sprollenhaus, Nonnenmiß and Aichelberg, along with the hamlets of Hünerberg und Meistern. The town was named only Wildbad until 1991, when it was given its current name ("Bad" is German for "bath", a reference to the town's status as a spa town).

The Enz Valley Railway at Bad Wildbad

It is picturesquely situated 420 m above sea level, in the romantic pine-clad gorge of the Enz, a tributary of the Neckar in the Black Forest, 45 km west of Stuttgart, 50 km southeast of Karlsruhe and 30 km south of Pforzheim by rail, and 23 km east of Baden-Baden by car.[3] Towering above Bad Wildbad is a small mountain, the Wildbader Sommerberg, whose top may be reached by the Sommerbergbahn, a funicular railway. It covers a vertical difference of about 300 m.

It is historically a popular medicinal spa. The neighbourhood is picturesque, the most attractive spot being the Wildsee—a small lake some distance from the town itself, measuring 2.3 ha, and at about 900 m above sea level.[3]

The annual Rossini in Wildbad opera festival, held in July, brings an international audience to the Kurhaus and the Kurtheater to hear belcanto works by Gioachino Rossini and his contemporaries.

It is the scene of the early pages of Armadale by Wilkie Collins.

A part of Bad Wildbad is Aichelberg. There is a path: Fautsburg Path.[4]

Transportation

Bad Wildbad is connected to Germany's national rail network through the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn, line S6, running on the Enz Valley Railway. Being located deep in the northern Black Forest, Bad Wildbad has no direct connection with any Autobahn. The nearest one is just west of Pforzheim.

Famous residents

Ludwig Hofacker

Ludwig Hofacker, (1798–1828), was born in Wildbad, Württemberg author, politician (Paulskirche) and translator (Aristophanes)
Justinus Kerner (1786–1862), poet, writer and physician
The Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel was born 1939 in Calmbach and grew up here and would live out his last years here following his deportation from Canada.
ATP professional Marcello Graca grew up in Bad Wildbad
The economist and financial scientist Rudolf Nickel (born 1942 in Nuremberg), grew up in Bad Wildbad.

Persons with reference to Bad Wildbad

Duke Karl Alexander signed his contract (Schutzbrief) with the jewish merchant and bankier Joseph Ben Isachar Süßkind Oppenheimer in Bad Wildbad. Charles Alexander and his relationship with Oppenheimer is fictionally portrayed in Veit Harlan's 1940 Nazi propaganda film titled Jud Süß.