Casino Baden-Baden

Casino Baden-Baden is the oldest casino in Germany and was described by German-born Hollywood star of the 1930s, Marlene Dietrich, as "The most beautiful casino in the world’.

The town of Baden-Baden is famous for its thermal baths (after which it is named) and Casino Baden-Baden, which has a rich heritage dating back more than two centuries.

History

Licensed gambling in Baden-Baden was mentioned in an official document for the first time an incredible 250 years ago in 1748!

Designed in the fashion of French royal palaces, Casino Baden-Baden began as the Kurhaus – built in 1824 by Friedrich Weinbrenner – and the gaming there today is still known as the Weinbrenner Room.

In 1848, Edouard Bonazet took control of the casino, redecorating it in the neo-Baroque Grand Epoch style. Bonazet did a brilliant job of expanding gaming in Baden-Baden and invited top musicians to perform at the venue.

This set the platform for two decades of gambling fame for the small spa town in the Black Forest, with European nobility and artists flocking to Baden-Baden to join in the fun.

Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky won a fortune gambling in Wiesbaden, only to lose it all in Baden-Baden. His book The Gambler was inspired by these events.

Casino Baden-Baden has been forced to close several times, such as in 1872, when the Prussians banned gambling throughout the German Empire. It was this closure of Germany’s casinos that led to the creation of what is still one of the world’s gambling paradises, Casino de Monte Carlo.

Casino Baden-Baden only reopened in 1933, and was closed again between 1944 and 1950.