Bad Kreuznach

Bad Kreuznach’s bridge houses give the town a recognisable riverside silhouette. They are first mentioned in 1495 and stand on the old Nahe bridge, whose construction dates to around 1300. The relationship between buildings and water continues in the spa quarter, where Emanuel von Seidl designed the Bäderhaus of 1911 and the Kurhaus of 1913.

The town’s history also includes the marriage of Karl Marx and Jenny von Westphalen in the Pauluskirche in 1843. An older layer is represented at the Römerhalle, which displays two mosaic floors from a nearby Roman villa. The museum quarter includes the PuK museum devoted to puppetry, adding the material culture of performance to the archaeological collections. Bridge houses, spa architecture and museums make Bad Kreuznach a place where domestic, social and artistic histories can be encountered within a compact urban setting.