Baden-Baden baths and spa administration

The Baden-Baden Baths and Spa Administration (BKV) was a corporation under public law that operated the thermal baths, the theater , the spa and the casino in Baden-Baden from 1934 to 1995 .

In the time of the Republic of Baden, the spa administration was under the city of Baden-Baden, while Friedrichsbad and Augustabad were administered by the state. On the initiative of Mayor Dr. Hermann Elfner (1930–1933) was recommended in a 1932 report that the city and the state should bundle their activities in a joint body. On April 1, 1934, the spa and spa administration was founded on the basis of this report.

As early as 1933, the city of Baden-Baden received the first gaming license awarded by the National Socialists . The Casino Baden-Baden was initially reopened by a private operator on 3 October 1,933th When the spa and spa administration was founded, the casino license was also transferred to them.

She was responsible for the casino, the parks and facilities, the theater, the art gallery, the Kurhaus with spa gardens, the Friedrichsbad, the Augustabad, the inhalatorium and the mud house, was the employer for the people employed there and also had thermal water rights.

The health resort only came to a standstill in the summer of 1944. In 1948, the newly founded state of Baden and the city of Baden-Baden agreed to resume their cooperation. At that time it was also agreed that the city would leave offices to the spa and spa administration. So the Lord Mayor became the head of the baths and spa administration; he was assisted by a spa director. Mayor Ernst Schlapper and spa director Erich von Prittwitz and Gaffron rebuilt the spa business after the war.

Casino operations were placed in the hands of the Baden-Baden GmbH & Co. KG casino , which started gaming operations on April 1, 1950. This subsidiary paid 80% of its income to the spa and spa administration. A part of this had to be passed on to the federal states in which the casino shareholders had their residence and other Baden-Württemberg baths. After deducting these compensation payments, the pool and spa administration still had around 50% of the casino income.

Two commercial mistakes in the 1980s brought the spa and spa administration into disrepute: On the one hand, the budget for the construction of the Caracalla thermal baths was exceeded by 15 million DM, and on the other hand, the Baden-Baden terraces in Monaco did not cover costs. As a consequence of this, from 1989 onwards, a percentage of the casino income no longer flowed, but only negotiated fixed amounts to the spa and spa administration. These fixed amounts were gradually reduced, so the BKV received 26 million DM in 1989, but only 14 million DM in 1993.

Lord Mayor Ulrich Wendt finally managed the dissolution and privatization of the BKV, for which he also sought an expert opinion. In 1992 the city and the country agreed to smash the BKV. Orchestra, theater and green spaces then fell to the city. The Kurhaus, the congress center and the baths were privatized. The casino license fell to the state, which in turn paid compensatory amounts to the city and to the private operators. The transaction ended on March 31, 1995 and the Baden-Baden spa and health resort administration ceased to exist.