Bad Tölz (; Bavarian: ''Däiz'') is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and the administrative center of the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district.

History

Archaeology has shown continuous occupation of the site of Bad Tölz since the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

. For example, there are finds from the

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries ...

as well as from Roman Raetia, or at least occupation by romanized

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

. The name " Tölz" (as "Tolnze") appears relatively late in documentation at the end of the 12th century. The name "Reginried" appears as that of a settlement belonging to the monastery at

Tegernsee Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) above sea level. A spa town, it is surrounded by an alpine landscape of Upper Bavaria, and has a ...

in earlier texts, which is probably the same as Reid in the western part of Mühlfeld. Hainricus de Tolnze built a castle on the site, which controlled the river and road traffic in the region but which no longer exists. In 1331, Louis IV made Tölz a

market town A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

. The 14th century saw Tölz become a crossroads for the salt and lumber traffic on the

Isar The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, ...

. In 1453, the market street, church, and castle were destroyed by fire. Duke Albrecht III enabled the city to rebuild, but this time in stone. He also built a palace which stood until 1770, when it fell into disrepair and was eventually undermined by the Ellbach. The

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

(1618–1648) brought plague and destruction to the region. During the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phili ...

things began to turn around again, with trade in lime and wood products, among other items. During this war, in 1705, the vintner Johann Jäger of Tölz led a band of farmers to battle at Sendling (south of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

). The town also became known as a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

site; every November 6, there is a festival to Saint Leonard of Noblac. In 1718, a chapel was built in his honor on the Calvary hill. In the middle of the 19th century, Tölz changed direction with the discovery of natural springs. The town began to focus on the healing properties of these springs and became a cure and

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, B ...

. In 1899, it became known as Bad Tölz. In 1937, SS-Junker School Bad Tölz (an

SS officer The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...

candidate training camp) was established near the town. The school operated until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1945. A subcamp of the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau () was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents which consisted of: communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. It is ...

was located in the town. It provided labour for the school and the ''Zentralbauleitung'' (Central Administration Building). Bad Tölz would also be the last town to be "passed through" by the

Holocaust death march During the Holocaust, death marches (''Todesmärsche'' in German) were massive forced transfers of prisoners from one Types of Nazi camps, Nazi camp to other locations, which involved walking long distances resulting in numerous deaths of weakene ...

from Dachau to the Austrian border, that would be halted by ''

Nisei is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generatio ...

'' U.S. Army artillery soldiers on 2 May 1945, just two kilometers short of the next village to the east of it,

Waakirchen Waakirchen is a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria in Germany. At the end of World War II, Japanese American soldiers ( Nisei from the 522nd_Field Artillery Battalion) rescued concentration camp victims on a death march at ...

. The former SS-Junker school was the base of the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group until 1991. It was in Bad Tölz that Amon Göth, commandant of the Nazi concentration camp in

Płaszów Płaszów is a suburb of Kraków, Poland, now part of Podgórze district. Formerly a separate village, it became a part of the Greater Kraków in 1911 under the Austrian Partition of Poland as the 21st cadastral district of the city. During ...

, in German-occupied Poland during

, was arrested and sent for trial in Poland. Today, Bad Tölz is known for its

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

s, historic

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

town, and its views of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

. On the western bank of the

River lies the Kurverwaltung, or modern

, whose

iodine Iodine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , ...

-rich waters are known for their soothing and healing powers. A major attraction was the Alpamare, Europe's first indoor

water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other ...

with long water slides, wave pool, a

surf wave Surf or SURF may refer to: Commercial products * Surf (detergent), a brand of laundry detergent made by Unilever Computers and software * "Surfing the Web", slang for exploring the World Wide Web * surf (web browser), a lightweight web brows ...

, and a range of thermal outdoor pools with iodine water, until it closed in 2015. Another major attraction is Stadtpfarrkirche, a church built in 1466, which is an example of German late–

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. I ...

Geography

Bad Tölz sits on the

River, 670 metres above sea level. It occupies 30.8 square kilometres.

Climate

In Bad Tölz, the average annual high temperature is , and the annual low temperature is . Winters are cool to cold, and summers are moderately warm, thanks to its location that close to the Alps. It classifies as humid continental (''Dfb'').

Transport

Bad Tölz is served by the

to Lenggries line of the Bayerische Oberlandbahn railway (Green Line).

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Bad Tölz is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of V ...

, Allier, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (since 1965)

Notable people

* Konrad Abeltshauser (born 1992), hockey player * Sebastian Horn (born 1982) musician and TV presenter * Eusebius Amort (1692-1775), a Catholic theologian * Hans Carossa (1878-1956), poet and author * Annemarie Gerg (born 1975), alpine skier *

Michaela Gerg Michaela Gerg-Leitner (born November 10, 1965 in Lenggries) is a retired German alpine skier. World Cup victories Rita Kapfhammer (born 1964), mezzo-soprano * Johann Nepomuk Sepp (1816-1909), historian, keeper of the monastery Wessobrunn, organizer of Winzerer monument

Notables who have worked locally

Franz Hanfstaengl Franz Seraph Hanfstaengl (1 March 1804, in near Bad Tölz – 18 April 1877, in Munich) was a Bavarian painter, lithographer, and photographer. Life Hanfstaengl originated from a commoner family and in 1816 came on the recommendation of the ...

(1804-1877), painter, lithographer and photographer *

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

(1875-1955), writer, possessed here from 1906 to 1917 a summer villa, today '' Villa man '' *

Hans von Hentig Hans von Hentig (9 June 1887, in Berlin – 6 July 1974, in Bad Tölz) was a German criminal psychologist and politician. He was the second son of lawyer Otto von Hentig (1852–1934) .His older brother was later diplomat Werner Otto von Hentig ...

(1887-1974), criminologist *

Grethe Weiser Grethe Weiser (; 27 February 1903 – 2 October 1970) was a German actress. Biography Born in Hanover, she spent her childhood in Dresden. She escaped from her dominant and sometimes violent father by marrying a Jewish confectionery manufactu ...

(1903-1970), actress, died after a traffic accident in the city hospital Bad Toelz * Norbert Schultze (1911-2002), composer and conductor * Marie-Luise Schultze-Jahn (1918-2010), a member of the White Rose *

Gregor Dorfmeister Gregor Dorfmeister (7 March 1929 – 4 February 2018) was a German journalist and writer. Under the pseudonym Manfred Gregor, Dorfmeister published three novels. His debut novel, ''Die Brücke'' ("The Bridge"), was turned into a Golden Globe Award ...

(born 1929) journalist and writer, grew up in Tolz; he talked about his time in the Hitler Youth and the Volkssturm in partially autobiographical book '' The Bridge '' *

Kristian Schultze Kristian Schultze (21 January 1945 – 22 November 2011) was one-half of the German new-age band Cusco. Schultze partnered with Michael Holm and the two produced numerous new-age albums. The two met in late 1970s, when they discovered ...

(1945-2011), composer, arranger, keyboardist and music producer, lives in Bad Tölz since 2002 * Ottfried Fischer (born 1953), comedian and actor, as the main character in '' Der Bulle von Tölz '', he increased with many other actors awareness of Bad Tölz nationwide and internationally

References

External links

Town Web site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Tolz Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen Spa towns in Germany