Wiesbaden is a city in
southwestern Germany
and the
capital of the federal state of
Hesse
. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus
approximately 10,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with
the American military).
Wiesbaden, together with the cities of
Frankfurt am
Main
and Mainz
, is part of
the Frankfurt
Rhine Main Region
, a metropolitan
area with a combined population of about 5.8 million
people.
Wiesbaden is one of the oldest
spa towns in
Europe. Its name literally means "meadow baths". At one time,
Wiesbaden boasted 27
hot springs.
Fifteen of the springs are still flowing today.
Geographical Setting
Satellite view of Wiesbaden
(north of Rhine river) and Mainz
is situated on the right (northern) bank of the
Rhine
River, below
the confluence of the
Main
, where the
Rhine's main direction changes from north to west.
The city is across the
Rhine from Mainz, the capital of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate
. Frankfurt am Main is located about east.
To the
north of the city are the Taunus
Mountains,
which trend in a northeasterly direction.
The city center lies about from the Rhine, in a wide lowland
between the Taunus heights in the north, the Bierstadter Höhe and
the Hainerberg in the east, the Mosbacher Mountain in the south,
and the Schiersteiner Mountain in the west, an offshoot of the
Taunus range. The downtown is drained only by the narrow valley of
the Salzbach, a tributary of the Rhine, on the eastern flanks of
the Mosbacher Mountain. The city's main railway line and the Mainz
road (
Mainzer Straße) follow this valley. Several other
streams drain into the Salzbach within the city center: the
Wellritzbach, the Kesselbach, the Schwarzbach, the Dambach, and the
Tennelbach, as well as the outflow of many thermal and mineral
springs in the
Kurhaus (spa) district. Above the city
center, the Salzbach is better known as the Rambach.
highest point of the Wiesbaden municipality is located northwest of
the city center near the summit of the Hohe Wurzel, with an
elevation of above sea level. The lowest point is the harbor
entrance of Schierstein at above sea level. The central square (the
Schloßplatz, or palace square) is at an elevation of
.
The Wiesbaden municipality covers an area of 204 square kilometers.
It is from north to south and from west to east. In the north are
vast forest areas, which cover 27.4% of the urban area. In the west
and east are vineyards and agricultural land, which cover 31.1% of
the area. Of the municipality's -long border, the Rhine makes up
.
History
The
Heidenmauer ("Heathen
Wall") is the last remnants of the Roman aqueduct of
Aquae
Mattiacorum.
It was formerly seen as an uncompleted defense wall, hence the
designation.
Classical antiquity
While evidence of settlement at present-day Wiesbaden dates back to
the
Neolithic era, historical records
document continuous occupancy after the erection of a
Roman fort in
6 A.D. which
housed an auxiliary cavalry unit. The
thermal
springs of Wiesbaden are first mentioned in
Pliny the Elder's
Naturalis Historia. They were famous
for their recreation pools for Roman army horses and as the source
of a mineral used for red hair dye (which very fashionable around
the turn of BC/AD among women in Rome) .
The Roman settlement is first mentioned using the name
Aquae
Mattiacorum (
Latin for "Waters of the
Mattiaci") in 121. The
Mattiaci were a
Germanic tribe, possibly a branch of
the neighboring
Chatti, who lived in the
vicinity at that time. The town also appears as Mattiacum in
Ptolemy's Geographia (2.10).
The line of Roman
frontier fortifications, the Limes
Germanicus, was constructed in the Taunus not far
north of Wiesbaden.
The
capital of the province of Germania
Superior, Mogontiacum
(present-day Mainz), base of 2
(at times 3) Roman legions, was just over the Rhine and connected
by a bridge at the present-day borough of Mainz-Kastel
(Roman "castellum"), a strongly fortified
bridgehead.
The
Alamanni, a coalition of Germanic
tribes from beyond the
Limes, captured the fort c. 260.
Later, in the 370s, when the Romans and Alamanni were allied, the
Alamanni gained control of the Wiesbaden area and were in charge of
its defense against other Germanic tribes.
Middle ages
After the
Franks under Clovis I
defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac
in 496, the Franks eventually displaced the
Alamanni in the Wiesbaden area over the course of the 6th
century. In the 8th century, Wiesbaden became the site of a
royal
palace of the Frankish kingdom. The
first documented use of the name Wiesbaden is by
Einhard, the biographer of
Charlemagne, whose writings mention "Wisabada"
sometime between 828 and 830.
When the Frankish
Carolingian
Empire broke up in 888, Wiesbaden was in the eastern half,
called
East Francia (which would evolve
into the
Holy Roman Empire). The
town was part of
Franconia, the heartland
of East Francia. In the 1170s, the
Counts of
Nassau, Walram I, received the area
around Wiesbaden as a
fiefdom. When
Franconia fragmented in the early 13th century, Nassau emerged as
an independent state as part of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1232 Wiesbaden became a
reichsstadt,
an imperial city, of the Holy Roman Empire. However, in 1242,
during the war of Emperor
Frederick II against the
Pope, the
Archbishop of Mainz,
Siegfried III, ordered
the city's destruction.
Wiesbaden returned to the control of the
House of Nassau in 1270 under Count
Walram II of Nassau-Weilburg.
However,
Wiesbaden and the castle at Sonnenberg
were again destroyed in 1283 in conflict with
Eppstein
.
Walram's son and successor
Adolf
would later became
King of Germany
from 1292 until 1298. In 1329, under Adolf's son
Gerlach I of Nassau-Weilburg
the House of Nassau and thereby, Wiesbaden, received the right of
coinage from Holy Roman Emperor
Louis the Bavarian.
In 1355, the County of Nassau-Weilburg was divided among the sons
of Gerlach. The County of Nassau's holdings would be subdivided
many times among heirs, with the parts being brought together again
whenever a line died out. Wiesbaden became the seat of the County
of Nassau-Wiesbaden under Count Adolf I (1307-1370), eldest son of
Gerlach. It would eventually fell back to Nassau-Weilburg in
1605.
Modern era
Due to its participation in the uprisings of the
Peasants' War of 1525, Wiesbaden lost all its
privileges for over forty years. During this time, Wiesbaden became
Protestant with the nomination of Wolf
Denthener as first
Lutheran pastor on
January 1, 1543.
The same day, the first Latin school was opened, preparing pupils for
the gymnasium in Idstein
. In 1566 the privileges of the city were
restored.
The oldest remaining building of Wiesbaden, the old city hall, was
built in 1609 and 1610. No older buildings are preserved due to two
fires in 1547 and 1561.
In 1648, at the end of the devastating
30
years war, chronicles tell that Wiesbaden had barely 40
residents left.
In 1659, the Countship of Nassau-Weilburg was divided again.
Wiesbaden became part of the Countship of
Nassau-Usingen. In 1744, the seat of
Nassau-Usingen was moved to
Biebrich.
In 1771, the Count of Nassau-Usingen granting a concession for
gambling in Wiesbaden. In 1810, the Weisbaden Casino (German:
Spielbank) was opened in the old Kurhaus. Gambling would
later be outlawed by
Prussian authorities in
1872.
As a
result of Napoleon's victory over Austria
in the Battle of Austerlitz
in 1805, the Holy Roman Empire was
dissolved. On 12 July 1806, 16 states in present-day
Germany, including the remaining Countships of Nassau-Usingen and
Nassau-Weilburg, formally left the Holy Roman Empire and joined
together in the Confederation of the Rhine
. Napoleon was its "protector." Under
pressure from Napoleon, both countships merged to form the
Duchy of Nassau on August 30, 1806.
the 1815
Congress of Vienna, the
Duchy of Nassau joined the
German Confederation
. The capital of Nassau was moved from Weilburg to
Wiesbaden, and the city became the ducal residence. Building
activity started in order to give the city a magnificent
appearance. Most of the historical center of Wiesbaden dates back
to this time.
the
Revolutions of 1848, 30,000
citizens of Nassau assembled in Wiesbaden on March 4. They demanded
a constitution from the Duke, which they received.
In the
Austro-Prussian War
of 1866, Nassau took Austria's side. This decision led to the end of the
duchy. After the Austrian defeat Nassau was annexed by
Prussia and became part of the Prussian
province of Hesse-Nassau. The
deposed duke
Adolph of Nassau in
1890 became the
Grand Duke of
Luxembourg (see
House of
Nassau).
In the subsequent period, Wiesbaden experienced growth as a spa,
convention city, and administrative seat. The period around the
turn of the 20th century is regarded as the heyday of the city.
Kaiser Wilhelm II visited the city
regularly in summer, such that it became an unofficial "summer
residence". The city was also popular among the Russian nobility.
In the wake of the imperial court, numerous nobles, artists and
wealthy businessmen increasingly settled in the city. Many wealthy
persons choose Wiesbaden as their retirement seat, as it offered
leisure and medical treatment alike. In 1894, the present Hessian
State Theater, designed by the Vienna architects Fellner and
Helmer, was built on behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Weimar Republic and Third Reich (1919 to 1945)
After
World War I, Wiesbaden fell under
the Allied occupation of the Rhineland and was occupied by the
French army in 1918. In 1921, the Wiesbaden Agreement on German
reparations to France was signed in the city. In 1925, Wiesbaden
became the headquarters of the British Rhine Army until the
withdrawal of occupying forces from the Rhineland in 1930.
In 1929, an airport was constructed in Erbenheim on the site of a
horse-racing track. In 1936, Fighter Squadron 53 of the
Luftwaffe was stationed here.
In the
Kristallnacht pogrom on
November 10, 1938, Wiesbaden's large synagogue on Michelsberg was
destroyed. The synagogue had been designed by Phillip Hoffmann and
built in 1869.
Another synagogue in Wiesbaden-Bierstadt
was also destroyed. During the Third Reich,
a total of approximately 1200 Wiesbaden Jews were deported and
murdered.
General
Ludwig Beck of Wiesbaden was one
of the planners of the
July 20, 1944
assassination attempt of
Adolf
Hitler. Beck was designated by his fellow conspirators to be
future Head of State (Regent) after elimination of Hitler. The plot
failed, however, and Beck was forced to commit suicide. Today, the
city annually awards the Ludwig Beck prize for civil courage in his
honor.
Lutheran pastor and theologian
Martin Niemöller, founder of the
Confessing Church resistance
movement against the Nazis, is an Honorary Citizen of Wiesbaden. He
presented his last sermon before his arrest in Wiesbaden's Market
Church.
World War II
In World War II, Wiesbaden was the Headquarters for Germany’s
Wehrkreis XII.
This
military district included the Eifel, part of
Hesse, the Palatinate,
and the Saarland
. After the Battle
of France, this Wehrkreis was extended to include
Lorraine
, including Nancy
, and the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
. The commander was
General der
Infanterie Walter Schroth.
Wehrkreis XII was made up of three
subordinate regions: Bereich Hauptsitze Koblenz
, Mannheim
and Metz
.
- Bereich Hauptsitz Koblenz was the
headquarters for 12 Unterregion-Hauptsitze, namely
Trier
I, Trier II, Koblenz, Neuwied
, Kreuznach, Wiesbaden,
Limburg an
der Lahn
, Lahn, Mainz, Worms
, Darmstadt
and Luxembourg.
During the war, Wiesbaden was largely spared by allied bombing
raids. But between August 1940 and March 1945, Wiesbaden was
attacked by allied bombers on 66 days. In the attacks, about 18% of
the city's homes were destroyed and approximately 1,700 people lost
their lives.
Wiesbaden was captured by U.S. Army forces on 28 March 1945. The
U.S.
317th Infantry Regiment attacked in assault
boats across the Rhine from Mainz while the 319th Infantry attacked
across the Main River near Hochheim am Main
. The attack started at 0100 and by early
afternoon the two forces of the
80th U.S.Infantry Division had
linked up with the loss of only three dead and three missing. The
Americans captured 900 German soldiers and a warehouse full of
4,000 cases of champagne.
Cold War and contemporary history
After
World War II, the state of Hesse was
established (see Greater Hesse), and
Wiesbaden became its capital, though nearby Frankfurt am Main
is much larger and contains many Hessian government
offices. Wiesbaden however suffered much less than Frankfurt
from air bombing. There is a constant rumour that the U.S. Army Air
Force spared the town due to its scheduled function as a postwar
HQ, but USAAF sources claim this to be a myth, arguing that
Wiesbaden's economic and strategic importance simply did not
justify more bombing. Wiesbaden was host to the Headquarters, U.S.
Air
Forces, Europe based at the former Lindsey Air
Station
from 1953 to 1973.
American
armed forces have been
present in Wiesbaden since World War
II. The
U.S.
Army's 1st Armored Division is still
headquartered at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield
, just off the Autobahn
toward Frankfurt. Smaller supporting American
kasernes and housing areas are scattered around the
city.
More Americans are moving in from bases
scheduled to be closed such as Darmstadt and Heidelberg
.
Bathing and Gambling
Wiesbaden has long been famous for its thermal springs and spa. Use
of the thermal springs was first documented by the Romans. The
business of spring bathing became important for Wiesbaden near the
end of the
Middle Ages. By 1370, sixteen
bath houses were in operation. By 1800, the city had 2,239
inhabitants and twenty-three bath houses. By 1900, Wiesbaden, with
a population of 86,100, hosted 126,000 visitors annually. Famous
visitors to the springs included
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Richard Wagner, and
Johannes Brahms. In those years there were
more millionaires living in Wiesbaden than in any other city in
Germany.
Gambling followed bathing en suite and in the 19th century
Wiesbaden was famous for both.
Its casino ("Spielbank") rivalled those of
Bad
Homburg
, Baden-Baden
and Monaco
. In
1872, the Prussian-dominated Imperial government closed down all
German gambling houses. The Wiesbaden casino was reopened in
1949.
Main sights
The Palace Square
Former Ducal Palace
Schlossplatz ("palace square") is situated in the center
of the city, surrounded by several outstanding buildings. The ducal
palace was begun under
William,
Duke of Nassau. Its foundations were laid in 1837 and it was
completed in November 1841 (two years after William's death). For
the twenty-six remaining years of ducal authority it was the
residence of the ruling family. It later served as a secondary
residence for the King of Prussia 1866 to 1918. It was later used
as a headquarters for French and British occupying forces after
World War I, then as a museum. Since 1945, the building has served
as Landtag (
parliamentary building) for
the federal state of Hesse. The site of the palace had been that of
a castle, probably from the early Middle Ages, around which the
city had developed. While nothing is known of the former castle,
remains of it were uncovered during excavations after World War
II.
The new town hall was built in 1887. Engraved in the paving in
front of the town hall are the
heraldic
eagle of the
Holy
Roman Empire, the
lion of Nassau, and the
fleur-de-lis of Wiesbaden. The old town
hall, built in 1610, is the oldest preserved building in the city
center and now is used as a civil registry office.
The
Protestant Marktkirche
("market church") was built from 1852 to 1862 in a
neo-Gothic style. Its western
steeple is 92 m (302 ft) in height, making the church the
highest building in the city.
Kurhaus and Theater
The monumental
Neo-Classical Kurhaus
("spa house") was built at the request of
Kaiser Wilhelm
II between 1904 and 1907. Its famous
Spielbank
(
casino) is again in operation.
In front of the Kurhaus is a lawn known as the Bowling Green. To
one side of the Bowling Green is the Kurhaus Kolonnade. Built in
1827, the 129 meter structure is the longest hall in Europe
supported by pillars. To the other side is the Theater Kolonnade,
built in 1839. It is adjacent to the Hessian State
Theater, built between 1892 and 1894.
St. Elizabeth's Church
The
Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Elizabeth
was built on the Neroberg
from 1847 to 1855 by Duke Adolf of Nassau on the occasion of the
early death of his wife Elizabeth
Mikhailovna, who died in childbirth,
File:Wiesbaden-biebrich-schloss.jpg|Biebrich
PalaceFile:Wiesbaden-nerobergbahn.JPG|Nerobergbahn
funicularFile:Russian-orthodox-church-wiesbaden.jpg|St. Elizabeth's
Church on the Neroberg
Other sights
Another building from the regency of Duke Wilhelm is the
Luisenplatz, a square named for the Duke's first wife. It is
surrounded by
Neoclassicist buildings,
and in the middle of the square is the Waterloo
Obelisk, commemorating the Nassauers who died in the
wars against
Napoleon.
Apart from the palace
in the center, the ducal family had a large palace on the banks of
the Rhine, known as Schloss Biebrich
. This
baroque
building was erected in the first half of the 18th century.
North of the city is the
Neroberg. From the
top of this
hill it is possible to view a
panorama of the city.
The Nerobergbahn
funicular railway connects
the city with the hill.
One of
the three Hessian state museums, Museum Wiesbaden
is located in Wiesbaden.
Boroughs of Wiesbaden
The city of Wiesbaden is divided into 26 boroughs: five in the
central city and 21 suburban districts. The 21 suburban districts
were incorporated in four phases from 1926 to 1977. The former
right Mainz suburbs Amöneburg, Kastel and Kostheim have belonged to
Wiesbaden since 1945.
Inner Boroughs
| Borough |
Population |
Area (ha) |
| Mitte (Center) |
21,427 |
153 |
| Nordost (Northeast) |
22,598 |
1,944 |
| Rheingauviertel |
19,504 |
247 |
| Südost (Southeast) |
18,832 |
662 |
| Westend |
16,497 |
67 |
| Totals for inner boroughs |
98,858 |
3,224 |
Suburban Boroughs
| Borough |
Incorporation Date |
Population |
Area (ha) |
Biebrich |
October 10, 1926 |
36,792 |
1,299 |
Schierstein |
October 10, 1926 |
10,094 |
943 |
| Sonnenberg |
October 10, 1926 |
7,948 |
834 |
| Bierstadt |
April 1, 1928 |
12,319 |
922 |
Dotzheim |
April 1, 1928 |
26,114 |
1,827 |
Erbenheim |
April 1, 1928 |
9,238 |
1,127 |
Frauenstein |
April 1, 1928 |
2,373 |
1,065 |
Heßloch |
April 1, 1928 |
721 |
154 |
Igstadt |
April 1, 1928 |
2,094 |
726 |
Kloppenheim |
April 1, 1928 |
2,298 |
539 |
| Rambach |
April 1, 1928 |
2,235 |
992 |
Mainz-Amöneburg |
August 10(11), 1945 |
1,464 |
371 |
| Mainz-Kastel |
August 10, 1945 |
12,122 |
951 |
Mainz-Kostheim |
August 10, 1945 |
13,897 |
953 |
Klarenthal |
September 11, 1964 |
10,093 |
613 |
| Auringen |
January 1, 1977 |
3,361 |
312 |
Breckenheim |
January 1, 1977 |
3,472 |
640 |
| Delkenheim |
January 1, 1977 |
5,020 |
743 |
| Medenbach |
January 1, 1977 |
2,535 |
447 |
| Naurod |
January 1, 1977 |
4,441 |
1,099 |
Nordenstadt |
January 1, 1977 |
8,000 |
773 |
| Totals for outer boroughs |
- |
176,631 |
17,337 |
| Totals for city |
- |
275,489 |
20,390 |
Historical population
Population of Wiesbaden, 1521 to
present
| Year |
Population |
| 1521 |
192 (village) |
| 1629 |
915 |
| 1699 |
730 |
| 1722 |
1,329 |
| 1800 |
2,239 |
| 1840 |
11,648 |
| 1870 |
33,339 |
| 1900 |
86,086 |
| 1910 |
109,002 |
| June 16, 1925 |
102,737 |
| June 16, 1933 |
159,755 |
| May 17, 1939 |
191,955 |
| September 13, 1950 |
220,741 |
| June 6, 1961 |
253,300 |
| May 27, 1970 |
250,122 |
| June 30, 1975 |
251,400 |
| June 30, 1980 |
273,700 |
| June 30, 1985 |
267,000 |
| May 27, 1987 |
251,871 |
| June 30, 1997 |
267,700 |
| January 1, 2002 |
271,076 |
| September 30, 2005 |
274,865 |
Mayors
- 1849-1868: Heinrich Fischer
- 1868-1882: Wilhelm Lanz
- 1882-1883: Christian Schlichter
- 1883-1913: Carl Bernhard von Ibell
- 1913-1919: Karl Glässing
- 1919-1929: Fritz Travers
- 1946-1953: Hans Heinrich Redlhammer
- 1951-1954: Georg Kluge
- 1954-1960: Erich Mix
- 1960-1968: Georg Buch
- 1968-1980: Rudi Schmitt
- 1980-1982: Georg-Berndt Oschatz
- 1982-1985: Hans-Joachim Jentsch
- 1985-1997: Achim Exner
- 1997-2007: Hildebrand Diehl
- 2007- Helmut Müller
Transport
Wiesbaden central station, built
between 1904 and 1906.
Wiesbaden's
main railway station
and several minor railway stops connect the town
with Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Mainz
, Limburg and Koblenz via Rüdesheim.
Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof is connected to the
Cologne-Frankfurt
high-speed rail line by a 13-kilometer branch line.
Hamburg
, München
, Leipzig
, Dresden
, Stuttgart
, Mannheim and Hanover
are connected directly to Wiesbaden via long
distance service of the Deutsche
Bahn. More services to locations outside the
immediate area connect through Mainz Hauptbahnhof or Frankfurt
Airport long-distance station
or Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof
. Regional train and bus services are
coordinated by the
Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund.
The city´s public transportation service
ESWE Verkehr connects all city districts to
downtown by 45 bus lines in the daytime and 10 bus lines in the
night.
Five more bus lines, operated by the public
transportation service of the city of Mainz, connects Wiesbaden´s
districts Kastel and Kostheim to Mainz downtown.
The
A66,
A671 and
A643 autobahns
directly service Wiesbaden, connecting to the nearby
A3,
A60
and
A61.
The
nearest airport is Frankfurt International
Airport
and discount airline flights are available at
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
around an hour's drive to the
southwest.
There are
small container port operations nearby on the Rhine and Main
rivers.
Events
Rheingau Wine Festival
Local wines and sparkling wine are the principal topics revolving
around the Wiesbaden City Hall during this ten-day
Rheingau Wine Festival in the month of August. The
festival takes place in the immediate vicinity of the Wiesbaden
palace square
palace square,
the square in front of the Marktkirche
Marktkirche and the Market Square
called “Dern’sches Gelände”. At 118 booths the Rheingau and
Wiesbaden vintners offer their wine and sparkling wine and invite
to discover the already well known and favored, but also new
vintages. Every year thousands of visitors use this opportunity to
get acquainted with the Rheingau Riesling Wines with all its
various facets and flavours. Regional Specialities compatible with
the wines are offered as well. A diversified musical program
entertains the wine festival guests. Initiated more than 30 years
ago by the Rheingau vintners, this Wine Festival has a long
tradition.
Twinkling Star Market
Wiesbaden’s Sternschnuppen Markt is located at the central
Schloßplatz and the neighbouring
streets of the
parliamentary
building,
old town hall
and
market church.The
Sternschnuppen Markt takes place from the end of November until the
23rd December every year. opening hours:Monday till Thursday 10:30
– 9:00 pm, Friday – Saturday 10:30 – 9:30 pm, Sunday 12:00 – 9:00
pm.The market is related to the city arms of Wiesbaden: The colours
Blue and Gold and the three lilies are characteristic.Four gates
and an illuminated floral roof symbolizing
Fleur-de-lis, consisting of twelve over ten
metre high an twelve metre wide luminous lily, emboss the
Sternschnuppen Markt.
Over 110 booths are decorated in oriental style, coloured blue and
gold, offering Christmas style goods, arts and crafts as well as
nostalgic carousels and a toy train. An over 28 metre high
Christmas tree is decorated with 1000 blue and golden ties, 2500
electric bulbs and 30 flash bulbs.The nativity scene shows
life-sized wooden figures.
Wiesbaden pedestrian zone.
Sport
Since
2007 Wiesbaden has been home to the SV Wehen Wiesbaden football team, who formerly played in
nearby Taunusstein
.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Wiesbaden is
twinned with:
Coat-of-arms
Wiesbaden's
coat-of-arms features
fleurs-de-lys, stylized representations
of the city's heraldic symbol, the lily. The
blazon is: "Azure, two and one fleurs-de-lys
Or".
Notable Residents
Notable people born in Wiesbaden include:
Others who have resided in Wiesbaden include:
- Richard Wagner
settled in Biebrich (now part of Wiesbaden) in 1861, after the
political ban against him in Germany was lifted. It was
there that he began work on Die Meistersinger von
Nürnberg.
- Priscilla Presley (Beaulieu at
the time) lived in Wiesbaden with her parents (her father was an
Air Force Officer stationed here). It was here that she met
Elvis Presley - she was 14 years old
at the time, Elvis was 24.
Famous Visitors
- Russian author Fyodor
Dostoyevsky, who suffered from an acute gambling compulsion,
allegedly lost his travelling money in Wiesbaden's
Spielbank casino in 1865. The experience became the
inspiration of his 1866 novel The
Gambler (Russian Игрок), set in the fictitious place
"Roulettenburg". Some historians have disputed this account,
saying that Bad
Homburg was the location for Dostoyevsky's real-life
misfortune.
- U.S. President John F. Kennedy
visited Wiesbaden during a stay in Germany in June 1963.
- U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited
one of the U.S. military installations in Wiesbaden in July
1978.
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama began his
visit to Germany with a stay in Wiesbaden on May 28, 2003, meeting
with Roland Koch, the state's
Minister-President.
- U.S. President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush made a stop in Wiesbaden
during a visit to Germany on February 23, 2005 to talk to U.S.
troops (U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division).
Rivalry with Mainz
Mainz, on the
opposite side of the Rhine river, is
Wiesbaden's archrival — the two cities are the capitals of their
respective Bundesländer, and citizens of both cities jokingly refer to those on the other one as "living on
the wrong side of the river".
Fictional references
In the
1983 American television movie The Day
After, Wiesbaden was the first city to be destroyed by a
nuclear weapon during the escalating war between NATO
and
Warsaw Pact forces that eventually leads
to a full scale nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union
.
External links
References
- Wiesbadener Tagblatt. September 18, 2008
- The Last Offensive by Charles B. MacDonald, Library of Congress
Catalog Card Number 71-183070
, Saarbrücken
, St.
Wendel
, Zweibrücken
, Kaiserslautern
, Neustadt an der Weinstraße
, Ludwigshafen
(Rhein), Mannheim
(Thionville) and Saint-Avold
.
, France
, Belgium
, Israel
, Austria
, Slovenia
, Switzerland
, Nicaragua
, Spain
. United Kingdom
in Poland
(since 1987)
, Adolphus Busch
at the year he was born his birthplace belonged to the city of
Mainz not Wiesbaden (born in Mainz-Kastel
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