a view on lindschied ( near bad schwalbach ).
i originally planned to do a nature walk in the taunus mountains close to the city of bad schwalbach, but while driving through the city i decided to return back after i checked out a mansion in lindschied ( which is a district of bad schwalbach ). i have been to bad schwalbach many times before, but never quite explored it more thoroughly, many times just barely touching the cityscapes. it is nestled quite beautifully into the nesselbach valley, lots of woods surrounding it and since it is a spa town it also is very idyllic and calm - which is a perfect enough reason for me to re-visit again and again, as it means taking a deep breath away from the big city, experiencing a little slowdown.
but before i show you some more of bad schwalbach, here's ONE picture of the aforementioned mansion. why only one? because that mansion is a therapy center for addiction related maladies these days and it felt weird to check out a place where you could possibly violate the comfort levels of the patients there ( no matter how inviting the wide open gates were or the lack of any warnings ).
so as proof that i visited villa lilly, here's a photo of the main building that is part of a bigger complex. the whole place is designed to resemble a village, grouping around a small square and there are more mansion-like buildings on the property as well. it was build from 1891 to 1915 for adolphus busch, the founder of a beer producing company that some of you probably didn't know about, unless you have been drinking some of their products, budweiser. the company it is traded under is called anheuser-busch and still operates today.
mr. busch was actually a german-born dude ( he was born in mainz-kastel, very close from here ) who emigrated to the americas in 1857 and ended up having quite a career there. but he never forgot his roots and often returned to europe in the summer months, where he would spend his time in his mansion in lindschied, close to bad schwalbach together with his family. the villa was named after his wife, lilly ( obviously ). after he died the mansion got into the hands of several new owners, for example it was turned into a rest center for mothers under the nazi regime, later it got used as housing for american soldiers. it also had been a school until in 1987 the therapy center moved in and stayed.
quite a history for something so secluded as this building, right? i mean, it's not exactly in the middle of nowhere, but it is not on any touristy radars either ( at least not anymore, back in the days it probably was, because spas were a real highlight and everything in close proximity got included in this luxurious experience ). the whole complex seems to be quite beautiful, and i would've really loved to explore some more, but i think the people going to therapy there and living there have a right for privacy protection and that weighs more on my exploring scales.
what is also very interesting to me is the connection to a globally known company, revealing history in context to the emigration to america. sometimes you just forget that many things that shaped the america of today were only possible because of the emigrants of the old world ( the 'greatness' of it being VERY debatable ). you forget that before 'america' was the big house number it is today, the people later making it 'great' ( notice all my exclamation marks xD yes, i'm being sarcastic ) ALL had ties to europe and therefore ALL were once emigrants, too, searching for a better place to make their fortune. it makes you think about some of the recent policies and debates and the decision-making of the american leaders much differently in that context ( IF you dare to think critically ).
the avenue leading down to lindschied.
while the villa lilly itself is built in a mix of european classic & colonial architecture, you can also find several art nouveau elements throughout the property ( there's also another villa called 'claire' which is pretty heavily inspired by art nouveau ). lamp posts like these are very typical for that style.
back in bad schwalbach i started my walk in the spa park, passing by a former hotel called helenenhof. it's also an art nouveau building from 1906!
it sits empty, though ( which is not very uncommon in bad schwalbach, there are a LOT of abandoned places all over the city, which i will prove to you in this post ;P ) . there have been plans to remodel the former hotel into an appartment house, but as far as i know nothing came of that, yet.
the snake offering eve the forbidden apple. this relief is in dire need of some restoration! i am not even quite sure if it IS an apple ^^;
right next to the villa you will come upon an 'ugly' contrast. the moorpackungshaus ( mud wrap house - don't know what that is? click here for one of the most important components of peloid therapy ), which was built sometime in the 1970ies. it's concrete brutalist exterior is in the eyes of many locals 'an eyesore', and many want it torn down. for me it is just another interesting building in an otherwise sophisticated environment, creating a friction. personally i think with a little imagination and effort you could actually reface and modernize this building, which when it comes to its architectural style, is not too far from what is contemporarily being build already. and you know, if it should come to a demolition, what do you think will be the replacement? a new historic-looking villa? or a minimalist and uniform-looking ( but overpriced ) appartment house? of course, the latter, and i really don't know what is different about that in comparison to the currently existing structure.
grimey corners.
i actually really like some of the elements used in this building. the concrete canopy could actually be really cute if there was more plant growth all over it!
also loved the differently coloured panellings! if the concrete got cleaned a little, it also would look perfectly modern and up to date.
possibly a fire hdyrant?
early spring flowers were a lovely decor for the otherwise pretty bleak surroundings.
there's a kneipp water treading pool right in the front of the building. it isn't as old as the moorpackungshaus ( i think it was installed in the late 90ies ), but obviously unused as well.
the entrance area has a staircase through which some sunlight was shining through. it created sort of a holographic effect, don't you think?
looking up into the sky the building - despite looking a bit rough around the edges - gives off a fairly modern vibe.
the treading pool again.
i glimpsed inside the building and found that it seems to function as a storage facility. the props damn well looked like they were used at the state's garden festival in 2018 ( which i also attended, together with my parents ).
another part was quite empty and, indeed, very bleak. if i had been a mud wrap guest here, i probably wouldn't think of the interior as particulately stimulating or pleasing.
it was time to move on and visit the spa pavilion. i love this little structure, it fits so well into the environment, but at the same time is also a real eye-catcher.
one of my favourite bad schwalbach buildings is the former eden parc hotel, a bauhaus-inspired beauty from the 1930ies. it is also abandoned, though it was recently renovated for hotel purposes ( which is already old news, as these plans crashed after the investor from china backed out again ). now they think of repurposing the complex for residential use, which in my opinion is probably the best option. i don't think bad schwalbach will ever return to its glamourous spa days of yore so basically huge hotels and buildings like this don't have any other perspective left. and since living spaces are already very much limited, i think it should be a given to repurpose them in a way that is basically benefitting the society. just because it is a landmark building doesn't mean you have to savour it for higher purposes that ultimately only attract speculants.
ah, well, but what do i know, i am just a normal human being who doesn't like to see gems like this going to waste, by filling some rich dudes already too full bags with speculation money.
by the way, have you noticed the stone sculpture? modern meets romantic, am i right?
the balcony facade ( while concave ) reminds me of the student building of the bauhaus university in dessau! wilhelm kreis, the architect of eden parc hotel ( normally an advocate of historicized and conservative styles ), decided to borrow elements of the bauhaus/neues bauen movement and pretty much created quite an iconic add-on to the city. such a shame that he was quite treasured during the nazi regime, that kiiiiind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth, doesn't it? it definitely does that to me and it tints my perception of the building quite a bit, even though it had been built prior to that era.
clean lines, uniformity - all elements of bauhaus.
the main entrance always charms me with its art deco sign and the stylized fountain above it.
another glimpse into an abandoned building only revealed to me another uninspiring interior... even though i think this building should be predestined to wow you with elegance and timelessness. in this series of photos you can get an idea how it looked like while it was still kind of in operation ( it is not clear when the photos were taken ). some things strike me as pretty chintzy, others i think of as super neat ( the staircase? the black & white bathroom? ). in any case, when i visited even the foyer looked boring, despite the exuberant interior still existing. it felt soulless, though.
the blue skies that day were absolutely remarkable. not a single cloud anywhere. the beautiful weather highlighted st. elisabeth's church quite a bit and also the adjoining residential buildings with their weird-ass 80ies loggias. on the far left you glimpse a part of the local district court ( formerly the rotenburg castle from 1602 ).
a closer inspection of the loggias. i find them weirldy intriguing, though i also think of them as incredibly ugly 😂
the view towards goetheplatz ( which is basically the main square of bad schwalbach ). on the left the spa hotel, in the middle the rotenburg castle, on the right st. elisabeth's again. as i've written before, st. elisabeth's is a rather strange church building from 1916 ( first world war construction ) - a time that reports very little architectural activities. its concrete facade was also very uncommon back in the day, they had just begun using it more, because it was obviously cost-saving. using it as a construction element in church buildings was unseen of. still, there are neo-renaissance/neo-romanesque and art nouveau assets all over the church, existing as a nod to the accomplished way of architecture and therefore maintaining a feel of the old ways.
the spa hotel is pretty from every angle ( built by philipp hoffmann - who also built some of the most iconic wiesbaden sights like the russian chapel on the neroberg - from 1873 to 1878 ).
entering the rötelbachtal ( rötelbach valley ) looking back towards the center of the city.
not far away from the spa hotel you can find this mid-century gem, the stahlbrunnen ( steel fountain ) from 1953. the fountain goes way back to the 16th century where it was described as 'scab fountain', as it was said that drinking it would lead to skin rashes. 200 years later another doctor found out that the water was drinkable, though it was highly ferruginous ( high percentage of iron ). he advised people to be moderate about the water intake and they would not have to fear any repercussions. from that moment on the water's popularity ascended over time.
the construction of the refreshment hall fondles my mid-century-loving brain. i simply love all of it, from the cut-out concrete roof disc with the elegant columns that seem to grow outside of it, to the typically kidney-shaped decorational elements of the balustrade. it definitely is one of my personal highlights in bad schwalbach.
the balustrade seems to imitate drinking cups filled with clear and ( maybe? ) iron-rich water.
looking down into the fountain's pit. i LLLLOVED how the cut-out roof let the sun into the pit at such an angle that it created a lovely shadow image of the balustrade and myself!
i may have or haven't made my way down the stairs to try out the water ;)
YOU BET I DID! it tasted like blood ( because of the iron ) and since i actually like the taste of blood, i hope that makes me a perfect candidate for being a vampire sometime in the future ;P iron is also responsible for the oxidation, hence the rusty deposits. the fountain itself was designed to resemble the rock ( slate ) from which the water ( brass waves ) flows.
looking up.
a little further down the rötelbachtal. on the right you can glimpse the playground 'fruit box', which was built for the garden show and is supposed to look like wooden fruit boxes with metal fruit to climb around in.
this metal grid apple for example was the perfect spot for a hide-out! there were way too many kids around for my taste, but i sure think that this playground is pretty neat and if i had the chance to climb into these apples unbothered, i totally would ;P
next on the list of abandoned buildings is the former rheingau-taunus-klinik, a hospital that was mainly for psychosomatic diseases, but also housed some cardiologic & gynecologic wards. it was closed in 2014. concrete plans are already on the horizon, the city wants to build a kindergarten inside the massive building ( it seems to be actually happening right now! ) and there were also rumours that they wanted to repurpose the clinic for residential dwellings. some people managed to get inside the hospital ( which i was too chicken-hearted for, especially so on my own, lol ) and take some pictures, which you can take a look at here.
it must be a treasure trove in there, and obviously also super creepy. who else thinks that abandoned hospitals are an absolute place of horror?
it was fenced of pretty well, though with a little acrobatics and fitness you could probably still enter it. alas, oftentimes there ARE cameras hidden somewhere, so i would never be sure that a complex like this is completely unwarded and unwatched. in addition, the clinic is situated not far away from residential areas, so... that also contributes to the risk of being seen.
the horror aspect aside, i tend to be of the opinion that hospitals are probably perfect for residential remodels. or better even for office purposes. whatever is going to be the fate of this one, i have the feeling that it isn't going to waste yet. unless the kids of the kindergarten start seeing ghosts everywhere. what a way to get traumatized 😂
close nearby the former anglican church ( now new apostolic church ) of bad schwalbach attracts attention. an anglican church, you say, in germany, in a pretty remote part of the taunus mountains? well, yes, indeed. and that's got to do with the city's spa history. back in the days it was quite popular with many people coming from all over europe ( and probably even the world ) to 'go spa-ing'. some english men reported back to their compatriots about the beauty that was bad schwalbach, about the cures and ailments offered inside the spa or even the fun activities that could be had outside of the official medicinal environment ( like gambling houses, social gatherings and other fine stuff that the high society raged for at that moment in time ). to repent their sins ( or just stay connected to their Father ) many of the english guests felt the need to have their own place of worship while away from their home country. so it was decided to collect money to build an anglican church, which proved to be tricky and consequently resulted in a church that got modified down ( there was a bigger belfry planned ). construction works started officially in 1868, but after a few setbacks that had to do with quickly used up money the construction came to a halt in 1869. in 1873 a rich dude donated to the cause again and they found an architect to continue the construction, someone who was at that time also building another iconic structure in the city ( the spa hotel ): philipp hoffmann. he completed the church finally in 1875. the english guests used it until the first world war broke out, after which the spa activities died down almost completely and the city was forgotten by international guests. religious practices finally returned in 1958 when the new apostolic church bought the building and restored it for their own purposes and they continue to hold the church inside their hands.
you see, just by looking at buildings and admiring their beauty, you would not guess that such an interesting story lies behind the facade, right? i love that about buildings, especially historic ones, they have witnessed so much and often times reveal quite a special something about themselves that makes them set themselves apart from the general cityscape.
st. elisabeth from a different perspective, showcasing its concrete facade pretty well.
minimalist concrete meets playful art nouveau element.
directly next to st. elisabeth sits the 'alte rezeptur' ( a rezeptur was basically a place for stewardships, they handled revenues and other administrative functions ). as a timber-frame afficionado this building made me all mushy inside, especially because they so lovingly renovated it and added some agricultural elements as decoration. it was built in the 17th or 18th century.
it is also adjacent to the rotenburg castle ( the red timber-framed building is part of that ). how can you NOT love those patterns of the lattices? ❤
venturing deeper into the old city you will find even more timber-framed houses, some of them having gotten a modern make-over. this glass facade belongs to the house 'stadt frankfurt', and it's nowadays one of the best addresses of the local cuisine scene.
it was originally build in 1620. i don't know when they remodeled the window facade, but it's a cool addition to this small and narrow building, giving you an insight into its interior ( and a good look into the timber-frame work ). today the gasthaus glaswerk offers culinary delights in this special setting, it seems to be really popular.
bad schwalbach is not devoid of church buildings, which is funny, because it's actually not a very big city ( only about 11.000 inhabitants ). i think they have 6 churches and 4 chapels ( other district churches included ). the reformation church was built in 1740 as a counterpart to the pre-existing martin-luther church ( which was also a protestant church, but the reformed church had some slightly different views on what they believed in and how they executed their services ).
i quite loved the baroque portal, but otherwise it was a rather 'simple' church.
a view on the oberstadt ( upper city ). most significant: st. elisabeth church.
this is a residential building and also a zen meditation center ( coupled with a karate dojo). there are more tenants in this complex, but it seems like these two are the most important ones. kinda liked the 3-dimensionality about it.
the last picture i took in bad schwalbach. really loved these shop-windows with old vintage photos of the time when the city was super en vogue, you know, the haydays. i probably should've taken more detailed photos, but you know what? i bet you can find old photos on the world wide web as well ;)
to sum my visit up: even though i've been to bad schwalbach quite a few times in the past, every return visit offers me new perspectives, lets me explore yet another part of town or surprises me with abandoned places and gorgeous mid-century gems and other little details. and depending on the season it also sheds new light onto things i have documented before. if you ever feel the need to flee the big cities of the rhein-main region, bad schwalbach is one of those places that will welcome you warmly, embracing you with its nature and history and quietude.
Comments