Bad Schwalbach

Map of Langenschwalbach in 1728

Bad Schwalbach – Extract from Topographia Hassiae by Matthäus Merian the Younger, 1655

Bad Langenschwalbach about 1900

Bad Schwalbach about 1832 in an engraving after Tombleson

Bad Langenschwalbach about 1900

Bond of the City of Langenschwalbach, issued 1. March 1880 for the building of a school, a pump room and a mortuary.

Bad Schwalbach was first mentioned in a document in 1352 as Langinswalbach. The first reliable report of the mineral springs came in 1568 from the Worms doctor Tabernaemontanus, who also made the place known in his 1581 work Neuw Wasserschatz (New Water Resources). Although Langenschwalbach was utterly destroyed in the Thirty Years' War, it was quickly rebuilt, and the healing water trade began to blossom. At first, the water would be sold by the jug or barrel throughout Europe by mail order. Only a few seekers of healing undertook the arduous journey to the Taunus.

The health resort started at the beginning of the 19th century only after the improvement of road conditions through construction. The Aartalbahn (railway) from Wiesbaden to Langenschwalbach, finished in 1889, also contributed substantially to its founding. Many crowned heads, princes and counts then came to take the waters and visit the gaming parlours where few strict rules applied. After the end of the First World War, the nobility quickly lost importance and thus began the long, drawn-out and somewhat painful transition from a luxury spa to a public one, which only ended after the Second World War.

In a wood near Bad Schwalbach in late 1800 or early 1801, Katharina Pfeifer is said to have borne the outlaw Schinderhannes (Johannes Bückler) a child.[2]

The Kurbahn, which operates on the rails of the former Moortransportbahn in the spa park, provides special access to the town’s and health resort’s history. From April to October, the trains are run by the Bad Schwalbacher Kurbahn Verein e.V. on all Sundays and holidays. From Moorbadehaus Station the line leads to the Moorgruben by way of Golfhaus, Schwalbenbrunnen and Waldsee.

Bad Schwalbach's only museum was reopened in 2002 with new exhibits. Through its exhibits, it attempts to lead visitors through Bad Schwalbach’s history and its life as a health resort. Among other things, the museum includes the pharmacy museum, once displayed in private rooms. The pharmacy museum contains the oldest pharmacy in the Taunus (established in 1642), fully furnished. The museum also houses the town archive.

Also worth seeing are the seven fountains and many temples, among them the Elisabethentempel, which was endowed by Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (Sissi) while she was staying at the spa in Langenschwalbach. It affords a good view over the town.

North of the town is found Alexander’s Rest – so called even in German – a sheltered bench which also serves as a memorial to a British spa visitor who was killed at this spot in a bicycle accident in August 1896 (he is buried at the local cemetery).

The largest employer is the Schwälbchen Molkerei Jakob Berz AG (dairy).

• Bayerlein, Peter (2003), Mainz-Kostheim, Schinderhannes-Ortslexikon
• Diefenbacher, Jörg (2002), Die Schwalbacher Reise, Mannheim, ISBN 3-00-008209-3
• Merveilleux, David François; de LaPimpie Solignac, Pierre Joseph (1739), Amusemens des Eaux de Schwalbach, Oder Zeitvertreibe Bey den Wassern zu Schwalbach, Denen Bädern zu Wiesbaden, und dem Schlangenbade, Lüttich

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bad Schwalbach.

• Bad Schwalbach (in German)
• Museum in Bad Schwalbach (in German)
• Bad Schwalbach at Curlie (in German)