Bad Ems

I spent a few hours in Bad Ems on a Friday afternoon in August.

The original Kurhaus, which is now Häcker's Grand Hotel (upper photo), is the most prominent feature of Bad Ems. It has a few drinking fountains on the ground floor, Römerquelle (lower left photo) in front of the hotel and the most importantly a 300-years-old ornate indoor swimming pool, the first swimming pool in Bad Ems. In comparison Ensana Nové Lázně Hotel that dominates the Kurpark in Mariánské Lázně has swimming pools from 1896. These swimming pools are accessible only if you stay at the hotels. 

The Kursaal (See Els' photo below), just west of Kurhaus, accommodates the Spielbank (casino) and two theaters, the Marble Hall (lower middle photo) and the smaller Kurtheatre. The former reminded me of the Great/Golden Hall at the Musikverein in Vienna, the home concert hall of the Vienna Philharmonic. In front of this Kursaal is the Walk of Fame with plaques embedded in the sidewalk with names of luminaries associated with Bad Ems. I noticed one of them was for Jacques Offenbach, who seems to be the composer most associated with Bad Ems. But of course this Walk of Fame must be fairly new. 

Between Kurhaus and Kursaal is a minor colonnade / arcade.

There is a reconstructed Limes only 500 m uphill from Häcker´s Grand Hotel. I'm guessing it has to be part of the other WHS associated with Bad Ems, Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The path to it was connected to a hiking route above the town of Bad Ems, so I walked on the path west and came out just at the western end of Kurpark in about 30 min. 

Kurpark (lower right photo with Spielbank at the vanishing point) is indeed just west of Kursaal along the Lahn River. 

My conclusion is that I would not underestimate Bad Ems. There are enough to see to warrant a visit. 

Bad Ems was the last of the 11 Great Spa Towns in Europe WHS that I visited. The following 5 stand out among 11 in my mind: Baden Baden, Bad Kissingen, Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně and Montecatini Terme. I have to leave out Bath because it was just too many years ago when I was there. Also, there must be some places within these 11 Spa Towns that I missed visiting that could change my mind, so I would love to hear about them. For example, I did not visit what appears to be fascinating Römerquelle at Baden bei Wien. 

I have also visited Bad Homburg and Wiesbaden in Germany, Luhacovice in Czechia, and Bad Ischl in Austria. These are the spa towns dropped / left out during the nomination of this WHS. 

I have also been wondering why no spas from Hungary were included in this WHS, but I assume they are a little different in character. The famous spas in Hungary, such as the Szechenyi Bath in Budapest (a humongous symmetrical structure once a TWHS of Hungary), originated in the Ottoman period, and Budapest is not a town that developed around the spring. So the key may be in the name Great Spa "Towns" of Europe. This "Town" seems to have been added to the name at the last moment to avoid the confusion. 

This year I have also come across the amazing town of Hisarya (Diocletianopolis) in Bulgaria, which has been a major spa town since the Roman time. I spent the whole month of July this year in Hisarya, but Hisarya seems to be virtually unknown to tourists outside Bulgaria.