Bad Wildbad

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 11,250 people live there. The current mayor is Klaus Mack.

The current town of Bad Wildbad 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).

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 and 23 east of Baden-Baden by rail. 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.

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.

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 quotes containing the word bad:

    I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.
    —Anonymous. quoted in James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, Feb. 1776 (1791)