Bad Kreuznach Things to Do

The Catholic church of St. Nicholas on the egg market is the oldest religious building in the town. The Church was built in 1266, and originally was used as a Monastery church of the Carmelite Order.
If you can visit the interior, expect to see ornate carvings, grave cover plates with illustrations of earls and knights and wooden sculptures from the 15th Century.

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The Egg Market is a square, surrounded by the church of St. Nicholas, half-timbered houses and the medieval Butcher's quarter. This was the market place for fruit, fish and pottery.
I really liked the house in my photo. Start's of small, and the higher the building, the wider it get's!

There are a lot of sculpture's too! These are a group of figures, showing how the master butcher Michel Mort Kreuznacher saves the town’s ruler, Count of Sponheim, during the battle of Sprendlingen in the year 1279.

The St. Paul Lutheran Church is located on an island, close to the canal and mill. For many year's, it was the only building in the city near the old bridge, on the other side were Cattle pastures.

This Gothic style Bascilica, was consecrated in 1332, and originally dedicated to Jesus' mother Mary and St. Kilian.

In 1689, it was destroyed by the troops of French King Louis XIV, so was rebuilt in 1781 as best as possible to its original design, including the 61 metre high Tower, built in the baroque style of 1780.
Tombstones from the Middle Ages can be seen.

HAVE YOU HEARD OF KARL MARX?

Karl Marx and Jenny von Westphalen married here on the 19th June, 1843.

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The Bridge house's are something you shouldn't miss seeing in Bad Kreuznach, infact, they were my favorite sight in the Town!

These house's, which now are Shop's, some in need of attention, were built in 1480 because of a housing shortage.
The old bridge, built around 1300, was near the intersection of two highways, and then served as a part of the city walls.

Ingrid and I viewed them from several point's, and I think this is a must do!
We went down to the edge of the River Nahe and viewed them from here, I thought this was the best view.
Then it was time to walk along the Bridge, and to see what their front's looked liked.

Would be nice to see them preserved as a part of the Town's history!

Bad Kreuznach is a famous spa town, the prefix Bad refers to bath and healing. It becomes very obvious when walking through the town, there are many clinics and practises dotted around the town and of course the Kurhotel (spa hotel) in the middle of all these. Bad Kreuznach was already inhabited during Celtic times (5th century BC) when it was called Cruciniacum, then the Romans settled here – remains of a Roman villa with marvellous mosaic floors can be visited today. They all liked the mild climate and the healing properties of the water. But it was only early 19th century that physicians have used these healing properties of water and salt to establish the town into a spa town. Over the years the treatment possibilities have been increased and by now but traveller and sick people have a whole variety of treatments and wellness options to choose from. There is the Radon tunnel for example, one of the few in Europe, excellent for any kind of respiratory problems including asthma. Or the Bäderhaus (bathing house) with a huge variety of different saunas, spas and pampering treatments.
Given the beautiful surroundings with Nahe river and the valley, old castles and castle ruins, vineyards and a varietiy in sport activities like cross-bowing, cycling, hiking through the vineyards, it is indeed a perfect place to spend some lovely days. I was astonished to see many younger people here as well, a clear sign that not only old people come for treatment but that the younger generation also starts to refuse the quick but long-term maybe unhealthy pills and chemistry doctors prescribe today and prefers a softer way to treat body and soul for health benefit.

Update:
Please see VTer's Don (@Nemorino) description of the term Bad = spa, he has the better words that there is nothing bad at all with "Bad" :-)

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Bad Kreuznach is not the only spa town at Nahe river, just around the corner at Nahe river is Bad Münster am Stein (usually the town name has the suffix Ebernburg, referring to the nearby castle). Both towns cooperate in almost every treatment question and they also share what is called Salinental. This is a collection of graduation towers along Nahe river between both towns (I add a descriptive link to a Polish website, because somehow the English versions in Bad Kreuznach and Bad Münster am Stein fail here). As much as six of these salt graduation towers are located between the towns, perfect for inhalation of a healthy portion of salt containing air. If you close your eye and walk along you really feel like being at the sea. This is all for free, there is no entrance fee to the inhalation places. Usually it should be enough chairs for the ones who seek this air breeze, but it might help to bring a small folding chair in the peak seasons.

Directions:
the graduation towers cannot be missed, they are located at B48 (road) between Bad Münster am Stein and Bad Kreuznach. Parking space is enough, and the train station in Bad Münster is close by (500 m).

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No doubt, the main attraction for traveller and tourist in Bad Kreuznach are the lovely houses on the little bridge across Mühlenteich (a side arm or channel of Nahe river). They are rather old, built between 1480 and 1612 and originally it was seven of them. They were built because no more space was left in the old city centre. Today only three are left. One is still a shop, Ad Opticum, an optician, a very clever and innovative shop. I loved the decoration at the façade (a microscope and huge but simple golden spectacles), the stone bench in front of the shop in spectacles’ form and also the suffix to his shop, in ponte sitium, the Latin term for “located on the bridge”. I have made a travelogue with more photos of the shop’s exterior, from top of the bridge. This optician is very innovative, but that’s part of another to-do tip.
Back to the houses: the other house was once a wine pub, and it is still mentioned in several guidebooks and websites. Sadly, it is out of business and will not reopen again (that’s what the girl at the tourist office told me). Hopefully they find a new owner or tenant, because the location is top notch. The houses architecture is quite interesting: the ground floor is rather narrow and each of the upper floors is wider than the one below. This most probably had its origin in the tax which was fixed based on the ground floor surface. If you stand at the waterfront and look at the bridge piers you will notice wooden shores (photo 4 and 5). These were meant to support the weight of the structure above.
Walk on top of the bridge for a closer view of the houses. Depending which side of the little stream you come from, it is either along the street or via a small spiral staircase behind the little restaurant.

Bad Kreuznach’s website has a webcam for some better views of the houses from the western side and there is also an aerial photo with views of the eastern side (the houses’ facades).

Bridge houses on google maps

Coordinates on GoogleEarth:
49°50’40,46’’N; 07°51’28,44’’E

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When I was in Bad Kreuznach recently I saw several people “watercycling” on Mühlenteich, the little side stream of Nahe river, near the bridge houses. I never saw something like this before and even don’t know how they are called in German, let alone in English. These bikes are mounted on a device with two bodies of catamaran style and one “cycles” on the water. It must be a bit difficult though, because we watched the cyclists for a while and it took some time for them to get used to the movements of their boat-bike (photo 1 and 3).
Another great idea to spend some fun time on the water is in the boats called KahnMaran, a pun name deriving from Kahn (boat) + Katamaran (catamaran). Tow boats are mounted parallel and a table is fixed between them. So one can sit at the table, enjoy delicious meals while the boat is rowed on the water.
This all is organised by the optician Armin Goeckel (remember that I promised to write about his innovative ideas in my tip about the bridge houses?) and there is a lot more of offers he has in his “some time on the water” activities. The prices depend on what you want to do, andif it is only you or a couple of people. Contact him and ask for specials and his offers. He speaks English as well: Boot & Mehr (Boat & More).