The colonnade at Bad Ems was built together with the Kursaal between 1835 and 1849, to designs by Johann Gottfried Gutensohn, as a covered walk joining the new hall to the Kurhaus of 1715 on a bend of the Lahn. The whole spa quarter is a listed monument and entered the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2021 as part of the Great Spa Towns of Europe. The colonnade and the Kurpark behind it carry the town's summer music — spa concerts in the park pavilion through the season, and larger open-air evenings such as an opera gala in July 2010 and a symphonic programme in July 2015.