Berlin Relations
Relations between Berlin and Bad Kissingen are a relatively recent chapter in world history. The Franconian town only appeared on Berlin maps when it became relevant as a spa and bathing resort. But as we all know, Bavaria and Prussia were rarely really on the same page. Those who travelled to Kissingen did not do so for pleasure, but for health reasons. Gradually, more and more names from Berlin appeared on the guest lists: in 1825, for example, the Prussian Minister of Culture Carl Freiherr vom Stein zum Altenstein, who is remembered as a school reformer. Or the Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm in 1837. Or, somewhat later and less prominent, Albertine Mendelssohn with four children. She was the sister-in-law of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. It was not without reason that the Hotel Preußischer Hof was built a few years later.
By railcar to Bad Kissingen
Even the absolute low point in relations between Kissingen and Berlin could not stop this upward trend: On 10 July 1866, during the »German War«, the Battle of Kissingen took place, in which Prussian and Bavarian troops fought fierce battles with heavy losses in the surrounding area and in the town. Once things had been cleared up, the Berliners also returned, for example the German Empress Auguste Victoria, who arrived on 28 June 1889 accompanied by Crown Prince Wilhelm and Princes Eitel Friedrich, Adalbert and August Wilhelm for a spa stay of several weeks. The fact that Bad Kissingen had become an important address is shown by the fact that between 1908 and 1939 it was possible to board an express train (with dining car) at Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin and alight again seven hours later in Bad Kissingen.
The Bismarck hysteria
Chancellor Otto Fürst von Bismarck, who came to Kissingen for the first time in 1874 »to slim down« on the advice of his doctor, caused the people of Kissingen to have downright hysterical fits. And it would have been the last time if the Magdeburg journeyman cooper Eduard Kullmann had not been such a bad shot. His assassination attempt failed, the Chancellor escaped with a graze shot to his right hand and the Kurkapellmeister was able to compose the »Bismarck Rescue Jubilee March« on the same day. Bismarck returned 14 more times before 1893 to rule Germany from the Upper Saline for four weeks. And the people of Kissingen were thrilled. In 1877, they erected the first Bismarck monument in Germany and later the Bismarck Tower. There were the Bismarck scales and a Bismarck tub, the Bismarck pretzel and Bismarck cake, of course the Bismarckstraße and finally honorary citizenship on top.
Spaces for the arts
But musical relationships? This is a topic that has by no means accompanied the spa and its development from the very beginning. Until the early 19th century, Kissingen was an agrarian country town with the increasingly lucrative sideline of spa treatments. And it was never the seat of a princely residence, where music and theatre were needed for entertainment. But the town was fortunate in that the Wittelsbach kings in Munich were very commercially minded. They knew that if they wanted to earn money from their spa business, they also had to invest in the supporting programmes and make cultural events possible. Between 1834 and 1838, the Munich court architect Friedrich von Gärtner erected the arcade building, which, with its »Conversations Hall« (now the Rossini Hall), made all kinds of events possible. In 1856, a Swiss-style summer theatre was built, a wooden structure with simple furnishings – in 1905, Max Littmann built the Kurtheater, which is still used today, on the same site. The Wandelhalle with its practical revolving stage for the spa orchestra followed in 1910. The highlight and conclusion was the inauguration of the Regent's Building with the Great Hall in 1913, which is now called the Max Littmann Hall after its builder.
Celebrity guests from Berlin
These were buildings and spaces that made Bad Kissingen an attractive and sought-after venue for artists, not only in Germany but internationally. Word spread quickly. Especially when the Würzburg theatre director Eduard Reimann also leased the Kissingen theatre in 1871 and was able to draw on the full resources of the Würzburg staff during the spa season. This meant that not only Wagner's »Tannhäuser« was performed, but above all the operettas that were so popular at the time. The Berliners were now able to score points: Not only were there celebrated soloists in the capital such as Lina Doninger and Oskar Aigner, but also the composers. The most loyal guest was Leon Jessel, who came ten times. But the guest lists also mention Jean Gilbert, Rudolf Nelson and Ralph Benatzky. As late as 1941, Eduard Künneke conducted a potpourri of his works in Bad Kissingen. The symphonic boom began when the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra (until 1905 and from 1919 to 1941) in 1898 and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (until 1918) in 1906 bridged their summer breaks with temporary guest performance contracts. This brought so many international celebrities to Bad Kissingen that the artists from Berlin blended in unobtrusively.
Further connections can be traced in the fields of visual arts and literature. Adolph von Menzel – to name just one prominent example – enjoyed spending time in Bad Kissingen on his travels and not only painted famous pictures such as »Stroller at the Fountain in the Spa Garden in Kissingen« (1885) or »The Pastry Shop in the Spa Park in Kissingen« (1893), but also designed the cover of the town's Golden Book. Finally, among the poets, Theodor Fontane should be mentioned, who stayed in Kissingen four times. Although he described the enormous quantities of food consumed by the Prussian spa guests with some amusement, he thoroughly enjoyed his summer holiday and wrote very positively about the Franconian world spa in his writings.