Hi, I’m Lukas from DW travel and today I’m in the Southwestern part of Germany
in a place that is very popular with many Russians – Baden-Baden.
The town is a charming health resort in the middle of the Black Forest
but what has changed here since the Russian Invasion into Ukraine?
How do people in Baden-Baden deal with this onerous situation?
I'll try to find answers to these questions.
The spa town of Baden-Baden has a spa with Europe’s oldest casino,
and the largest opera and concert hall in Germany.
And: The town of 55 thousand residents has maintained a long Russian tradition.
It’s home to more than 2 thousand 2 hundred Russians, half of them have dual nationality.
Many choose to live here — and it’s expensive.
Only the wealthy can afford to buy a house here.
Some are Russians who made their fortunes after the fall of the Soviet Union —
legally or through dubious means.
I’m meeting Alexius Schneider.
The 43-year-old Russian-German arrived in the 1990s.
Alexius Schneider is very familiar with the Russian community.
Alongside his work as a computer scientist, he runs a business concierge service
for Russian clients, helping them find property, doctors and other services.
With more than 700 Ukrainian residents,
Baden-Baden has a robust Ukrainian community by German standards.
The town stands in support with Ukraine.
The Ukrainian flag flies over the Town Hall.
The town’s main refugee housing is six kilometres from the center.
I meet Natalia Levytska, who escaped with her young son and 14-year-old daughter,
who’s at school when I visit.
Did you choose to come to Baden-Baden or were you told you have to go to Baden-Baden?
And did you know about this town before?
Is Baden-Baden like a famous town you knew before?
Because here in Germany Baden-Baden is known as the most Russian town in Germany.
Viktoria Somus is here with her 16-year-old daughter.
They managed to bring the family pet along.
The refugee quarters are at capacity.
130 Ukrainians are staying here at the moment,
mainly those who don’t have relatives or friends in Baden-Baden.
What’s the story behind Baden-Baden’s connection with Russia?
In 1793, the Princess of Baden, Luise Augusta, married the man who would later become
Tsar Alexander the First.
The young royal became Empress Elisabeth.
The couple frequently came to use the spas of Baden-Baden.
It gave the town its reputation as a dream destination for Russians,
including many well-known writers such as Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoyevski,
who made it even more famous in their books.
Many artists were drawn to the casino, where some gambled away their fortunes.
I visit the Brenners Park-Hotel, the hot spot for wealthy visitors.
It opened in 1872, making it precisely 150 years old.
I’m also interested to know how the war may have affected business here:
Like other German cities, Baden-Baden also has a German-Russian Cultural Association
with 100 members.
I meet the chairman, a lawyer, at his office.
The mood in town is tense.
And Baden-Baden is a place where worlds really do collide:
for example, on the one hand there's the property of wealthy Russians in this spa town
and on the other hand you see accommodation for refugees from Ukraine.
It's not easy to reconcile these contradictions but it’s nice to see that parts of the Russian
community are taking a stand against the war.
It’s not an easy situation for Baden-Baden.
The future depends on rationality.
Here, that means solidarity between Russians, Ukrainians — and Germans.