Bad Soden (German: [baːt ˈzoːdn̩] ; also: Bad Soden am Taunus) is a town and spa in the Main-Taunus-Kreis, Hessen, Germany. It had a population of 22,563 as of 2017, up from 21,412 in 2005.

Bad Soden
Residential building in Bad Soden, designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Residential building in Bad Soden, designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Coat of arms of Bad Soden
Location of Bad Soden within Main-Taunus-Kreis district
EppsteinKelkheimBad SodenLiederbach am TaunusSchwalbach am TaunusEschbornSulzbachHofheimKriftelHattersheim am MainFlörsheim am MainHochheim am MainWiesbadenOffenbach (district)FrankfurtHochtaunuskreisRheingau-Taunus-KreisWiesbadenGroß-Gerau (district)
Bad Soden is located in Germany
Bad Soden
Bad Soden
Bad Soden is located in Hesse
Bad Soden
Bad Soden
Coordinates: 50°08′N 08°30′E / 50.133°N 8.500°E / 50.133; 8.500
CountryGermany
StateHesse
Admin. regionDarmstadt
DistrictMain-Taunus-Kreis
Subdivisions3 Stadtteile: Bad Soden, Neuenhain, Altenhain
Government
 • Mayor (2018–24) Frank Blasch[1] (CDU)
Area
 • Total12.55 km2 (4.85 sq mi)
Highest elevation
385 m (1,263 ft)
Lowest elevation
130 m (430 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[2]
 • Total23,162
 • Density1,800/km2 (4,800/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
65812
Dialling codes06196, 06174 (Altenhain)
Vehicle registrationMTK
Websitewww.bad-soden.de

Information edit

Bad Soden is a residential town for commuters working in Frankfurt am Main and other surrounding cities. It is known for its various springs, which contain carbonic acid gas and various iron oxides. The waters are used both internally and externally, and are widely exported. Soden lozenges (German: Sodener Pastillen), condensed from the waters, are also in great demand. Bad Soden has a well-appointed Kurhaus, an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, and a hospital. It also has a residential building by the architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Bad Soden has two Districts: Altenhein am Taunus and Neuenhein am Taunus.

Mayors edit

Mayors from 1893:[3]

  • 1893–1912: Georg Busz
  • 1912–1920: Friedrich Höh
  • 1920–1923: Niederschulte
  • 1925–1937: Alfred Benninghoven
  • 1937–1939: Jakob Rittgen
  • 1939–1945: Karl Bohle
  • 1945–1948: Kuno Mayer
  • 1948–1957: Gilbert Just
  • 1957–1967: August Karl Wallis
  • 1967–1973: Helmuth Schwinge
  • 1973–1977: Hans-Helmut Kämmerer
  • 1977–1985: Volker Hodann
  • 1985–1986: Hans Jörg Röhrich (official by the government)
  • 1986–1992: Berthold R. Gall
  • 1992–2004: Kurt E. Bender
  • 2004–2018: Norbert Altenkamp
  • 2018–present: Frank Blasch

Notable people edit

 
Otto Frank (1961)
  • Elvira Bach (born 1951), artist and painter, she was born in Neuenhain (Taunus) and lives in Berlin since 1970
  • Otto Frank (1889–1980), father of Anne Frank, worked in Bad Soden before moving to the Netherlands with his family
  • Peter Lang (1878–1954), member of the parliament of the People's State of Hesse in the Weimar Republic
  • Christian Seybold (1695–1768), artist of the era of Baroque; was baptized in Neuenhain (Taunus), lived until 1715 in Soden
  • Georg Thilenius (1868–1937), ethnologist and anthropologist
  • Sabine Winter (born 1992), table tennis player, was born in Bad Soden
  • Edward Wunderly, physician and Milwaukee, Wisconsin politician, was from Bad Soden

Twin towns – sister cities edit

Bad Soden is twinned with:[4]

Gallery edit

References in Literature edit

In Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, the Scherbatskys retire to Bad Soden to cure Kitty's illness.

In Ivan Turgenev's "Spring Torrents," Dimitry Sanin takes a trip with his future lover, Gemma, and her current fiancé to Soden, "a small town about half an hour's distance from Frankfurt".

Featured heavily in Part 3 of Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Ergebnisse der letzten Direktwahl aller hessischen Landkreise und Gemeinden" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. 5 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Bevölkerung in Hessen am 31.12.2022 nach Gemeinden" (XLS) (in German). Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt. June 2023.
  3. ^ Joachim Kromer: Bad Soden am Taunus Bestehen aus der Geschichte. Verlag Waldemar Kramer, Frankfurt am Main 1990.
  4. ^ "Die fünf Partnerstädte von Bad Soden am Taunus". bad-soden.de (in German). Bad Soden am Taunus. Retrieved 2021-02-04.

External links edit