THE
ELISENBRUNNEN
The „Spa Culture“ station on
the Route Charlemagne
ROUTECHARLEMAGNEAACHEN
The Route Charlemagne
The Route Charlemagne
Contents
The Route Charlemagne
The Elisenbrunnen
Spa culture in Aachen
The Elisengarten
The Archaeological Showcase
Combs carved from bone
Archaeological windows
Information
Imprint
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Aachen‘s Route Charlemagne connects significant locations around
the city to create a path through history leading from the past into
the future. At the centre of the Route Charlemagne is the former
palace complex of Charlemagne, with the Town Hall, the Katschhof
and the Cathedral – once the focal point of an empire of European
proportions.
Aachen is a historical town, a centre of science, and a European city
whose story can be seen as a history of Europe. This and other major themes like religion, power and media are reflected and explored
in places like the Cathedral and the Town Hall, the International
Newspaper Museum, the Grashaus, the Couven Museum, the
Super C of the RWTH Aachen University and the Elisenbrunnen,
which represents the topic of spa culture in Aachen.
The central starting point of the Route Charlemagne is the Centre
Charlemagne, the new city museum located on the Katschhof
between the Town Hall and the Cathedral. Here, visitors can get
detailed information about all the stations and sights on the Route
Charlemagne.
For Elise
Aachen‘s Elisenbrunnen (Elise‘s Fountain) owes its name
to a princess. Elisabeth Ludovika, known as Elise, was
one of the daughters of King Maximilian I of Bavaria. On
29 November 1823 she married the future King of Prussia, Frederick William IV, and the Aachen Town Council
commemorated this occasion by dedicating a fountain
to the bride. It was completed four years later. A bust of
the beautiful princess can still be seen in the fountain‘s
rotunda.
Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria (1801 – 1873)
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The Elisenbrunnen
An imperial spa
Like the Romans before him, Charlemagne treasured
Aachen for its sulphurous thermal springs. “He enjoyed
the exhalations from natural warm springs“, his biographer Einhard reports. “He used not only to invite
his sons to his bath, but his nobles and friends, and
now and then a troop of his retinue or body guard,
so that a hundred or more persons sometimes bathed
with him.“ In later centuries, prominent figures from
all over Europe followed the Franconian emperor‘s
example and visited the thermal spas in Aachen and
Burtscheid to treat their illnesses: Tsar Peter the Great,
the composer George Frideric Handel, the Prussian
king Frederick the Great, the Swedish king Gustav III
and Napoleons wife the Empress Josephine, to name
but a few.
guests and a restaurant. Initially, the right atrium housed a music
room and a refreshment room for spa guests, then from 1886 a
billiards room. In the summer of 1943 the Elisenbrunnen was almost
completely destroyed by aerial bombs and was faithfully reconstructed between 1948 and 1953.
Today, the Elisenbrunnen is the most significant relic
of Aachen‘s history as a prestigious health resort and
spa. The white marble building was constructed between 1822 and 1827, a few years after Aachen came
under Prussian rule. Designed by Johann Peter Cremer
and Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the fountain building in
classical style was erected on the remains of the medieval Barbarossa‘s Wall. The central rotunda is flanked
with colonnades to the left and right, each leading to
an atrium.
From 1824 to 1938, a drinking fountain sourced from
the nearby “Emperor‘s Spring“ was located on the
lower floor of the rotunda with two wide flights of
stairs leading down to it. Today, the hot (46°C) highly
sulphurous thermal spring water flows from two
ground-floor drinking fountains. Schinkel had originally
envisaged decorating the interior with paintings, but
this idea was dropped in favour of stucco reliefs. Four
marble tablets, installed in the interior room in 1883,
list the most famous spa guests to visit Aachen up to
1819. The left atrium served as a function room for spa
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In the mid-1950s, thermal spring water was also
dispensed in the left wing of the Elisenbrunnen.
The Elisenbrunnen
Spa culture in Aachen
Aachen‘s most important natural capital is its mineralrich thermal water, which surfaces through more than
30 springs within the town boundaries, reaching a
temperature of 50°C. The thermal springs in the suburb
of Burtscheid are even hotter, at more than 74°C.
From when the Romans built a first settlement in the
Aachen basin in the last century BC, they exploited the
healing properties of the hot springs. Where the Hof
stands today, they erected a first thermal spa, followed
later by more spas at Büchel, on the site of today‘s
Cathedral and probably also on the Market Place. Even
after the end of the Roman period in the middle of the
5th Century, it would seem that parts of these large spa
complexes remained intact.
From at least 765 on, the Carolingian kings of Franconia
used Aachen as their winter palace. Aachen‘s thermal
springs gave Charlemagne relief from the ailments of
old age, and so he took to spending the whole year
there.
health and spa resort began. Its thermal water was used more for
internal and external treatment of rheumatism, inflammations and
skin diseases, organ damage, poisoning, syphilis, asthma, mental
distress and other ailments. Aachen was transformed into a fashion­
able health and spa resort. A luxury spa complex was erected
around Komphausbadstraße for distinguished guests from all over
Europe. A multitude of new spa buildings, bath houses, parks, prom­
enades, drinking fountains, hotels and ballrooms dominated the
townscape in the 18th and 19th century. Spa guests devoted their
time to theatre, dancing, gambling and other amusements.
During the First World War, a new spa district with a large spa complex and a luxury hotel was built around Monheimsallee. A number
of bath complexes were destroyed in the Second World War, and the
last grand spas closed down between 1960 and 2000. The remaining
therapeutic baths in operation today are to be found in the special
clinics in Burtscheid. The “Carolus Thermen“ spa, which opened in
2001, resumes the long tradition of spa culture in Aachen.
Aachen‘s earliest known name, “Aquis“, reflects the
importance for the township of the thermal springs and
the ancient tradition of healing. And the legends of
Aachen‘s foundation by the Romans and Charlemagne
are also closely linked to its hot springs.
In the Middle Ages and early modern era, more thermal
springs were made accessible at other locations in the
town, and new bathhouses and infirmaries were built.
Aachen‘s clothmakers used the hot thermal water to full
and rinse the wool after dyeing.
In the 17th century, under the influence of the spa doctor Franciscus Blondel, Aachen‘s heyday as a renowned
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The Elisenbrunnen on Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz
The Elisengarten
An oasis for all
An oasis of tranquillity in the centre of town, accessible
for everyone – this was not always the case. A glance
at old town maps reveals that today‘s Elisengarten is
a conglomeration of formerly separate properties and
private gardens. Its shape has changed repeatedly over
time. For example, until 1787 there was a building owned
by the Benedictine cloisters of Stavelot-Malmedy on the
corner of Hartmannstraße/Ursulinerstraße – two historical
streets already mentioned in documents from the High
Middle Ages and possibly even part of the original Roman
road network. A residential building erected here was
transformed in 1813 into a Bishop‘s Palace with a garden
and served during Prussian rule as the seat of the newly
created administrative district of Aachen.
Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz was almost totally built up. The only garden
was on the grounds of the former Ursuline cloister. It was there
that, in 1852/53, a small inner-city park was established according
to plans drafted by the director of horticulture, Peter Joseph Lenné,
whose work dominated the garden design scene in Prussia for
almost half a century. At that time this was the only public park in
town – apart from a little garden behind the ballroom in Kurhausstraße. For a while, a second drinking fountain was installed here for
spa guests.
The eastern part of today‘s park was cultivated from
1651 as the cloister garden of the Ursuline Order. After
the nuns were forced to give up their cloister in Napoleonic times, it was used as the main customs house. In
1851 the building was demolished.
The new Elisengarten was laid out in 2009 by landscape architects
of the Berlin agency Lützow 7. They created seating terraces and,
along the back of the rotunda, a water feature. On sunny days, the
lawn with its small fountain – here the architects are alluding to the
fountain of the Prussian era – invites visitors to linger. In spring and
summer, flowering and scented plants transform the garden into a
paradise for the senses.
In 1822, when construction started on the Elisenbrunnen,
the land between Hartmannstraße, Ursulinerstraße and
Private houses still stood along the park side of Hartmannstraße until the air raids in the Second World War. On historical pictures from
the 19th century, buildings rise up directly behind the Elisenbrunnen.
One of them was the fountain custodian‘s house.
Fountain in the Elisengarten – around 1900 and today
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The Archaeological Showcase
Flintstone and
medical instruments
Important archaeological finds are constantly being
made during excavation work all over Aachen, and the
grounds of the Elisengarten are no exception. Systematic digs here between 2007 and 2010 unearthed about
70,000 archaeologically significant objects dating from
the Neolithic through to the late Middle Ages.
The “Archaeological Showcase“, which was built by
kadawittfeldarchitektur, offers views into 60 m2 of the
original 2000 m2 excavation site.
The oldest finds to be seen here date from the Middle
Neolithic period (4700-4550 BC): a stone on which a flint
worker would have sat, and half-finished stone axes.
The axe blades were fashioned from flint that was already
being quarried on Lousberg from the 4th millennium
BC on.
In the early Roman period, Aachen covered 20 to 30
hectares. The excavations show that the inhabitants at
that time lived in half-timbered houses. In the course of
the 1st century AD, they even erected the first few stone buildings
with tiled roofs and painted walls. Luxury living in Roman times
included wall and underfloor heating (hypocaustum). The Archaeological Showcase features remnants of this kind of heating system
from the 3rd century AD.
In the 2nd and 3rd century AD, “Aquae Granni“ was a flourishing
township full of craftsmen and traders, its greatest attraction being
its hot springs. All around Büchel, a complex of thermal baths and
temples arose. One of the buildings whose remnants archaeologists found in the Elisengarten was probably a hostel where spa
visitors and patients would have spent time in heated rooms each
measuring 12 m2. Probes for the treatment of wounds and a pair of
locking forceps unearthed on the site indicate that medical treatment was provided here.
In the 2nd century, a small temple (aedicula) was built inside the
hostel. We do not know which deity the inhabitants worshipped
there. By the end of the 2nd century, the temple had fallen into
disuse.
Built with
the generous
support of:
Archaeological Showcase
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Celtic glass armband, 3rd to 1st century BC
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The Archaeological Showcase
Combs carved from bone
Some of the original Roman buildings continued to be
inhabited until well into the Early Middle Ages. At the
latest from the 8th century onwards, a palace complex
arose, parts of it within the late Roman fortifications.
Charlemagne had St Mary‘s Church built around 800.
Remnants of a grave and part of a cellar date from
Carolingian times.
Norman raids in the late 9th century may well be the reason for the decline of Aachen‘s population in the 10th
and 11th centuries. Around 1100, the number of inhabitants increased again sharply. The last remnants of the
Roman walls were demolished. The stones were used for
new buildings, for example for the so-called town house
(Stadthof) of the twin abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, from
which large portions of wall have been preserved. In
the former Roman foundation trenches, waste materials
from a bone and antler carving workshop were found.
Craftsmen used such materials to fashion tool handles,
needles, combs or chess pieces.
Starting in 1171, the first city wall, Barbarossa‘s Wall,
was erected around the medieval township. The course
of the wall is traced in the cobblestones along the rear
side of today‘s Elisenbrunnen.
In a cistern located outside the scope of the showcase,
archaeologists discovered small clay and stone marbles.
These were used in children‘s games, but also as ammunition for special blowpipes to hunt birds with.
Children‘s toys from the 16th century
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Back to the Stone Age layer by layer. The archaeological
excavations in the Elisengarten took three years to complete.
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Archaeological windows
Information
In addition to the large-scale Archaeological Showcase
in the Elisengarten [1], other smaller archaeological
windows can be found at various locations in town.
They offer views into the thousands of years of Aachen‘s
history. Here are four examples within easy walking
distance of the Elisenbrunnen.
aachen tourist information
Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz
52062 Aachen
Tel: + 49 (0)241 18029-60 or -61
Mon. – Fri. 9 am to 6 pm, Sat. 9 am to 2 pm
From Easter to Christmas also open Sundays and
public holidays: Sat. 9 am to 3 pm, Sun. 10 am to 2 pm
www.aachen-tourist.de
Up to the year 1330, on the site of today‘s Town Hall [2]
stood the central building of Charlemagne‘s Aachen
Palace. The window there shows Carolingian masonry.
You can see how older stones were recycled in its construction, like this fragment of a Roman gravestone.
Between the shelves of a chemist‘s shop in Ursulinerstraße [3], two windows are set into the floor. They
show the remains of a 2000-year-old portico whose
columns have been re-erected in the Hof.
Remains of Roman thermal baths can be viewed in
Buchkremerstraße [4]. The 18 ton, two metre high and
2.6 metre wide fragment of an apse is exhibited in the
window of a bookshop there.
The Aachen Cathedral [5] was built on the site of
Roman thermal baths. In the northwest and southwest
yokes of the gallery, glass plates in the floor offer a view
of remains of an underfloor heating system, a drain and a
cold bath (frigidarium) from Roman times, as well as the
foundations of the Carolingian church. Another window
shows the original flagstone floor of Carolingian times.
For more information, visit www.zeitreise.ac
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Imprint
City of Aachen
The Lord Mayor
Fachbereich Presse und Marketing
Haus Löwenstein, Markt 39
52062 Aachen
Tel: + 49 (0)241 / 432-1309
[email protected]
www.aachen.de
Editor
Dr. Jutta Göricke
Text
Dr. Jutta Göricke, Dr. Werner Tschacher
Photo
Andreas Hermann, Peter Hinschläger, Ann Münchow,
Andreas Schaub
Design
Maurer United Architects, 2010 / Wesentlich.com, 2013
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www.route-charlemagne.eu
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