Bad Pyrmont (, also: ;

West Low German Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of th ...

: ) is a town in the district of

Hamelin-Pyrmont Hameln-Pyrmont is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Schaumburg, Hanover, Hildesheim and Holzminden, and by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (district of Lippe) ...

, in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river

Emmer Emmer wheat or hulled wheat is a type of awned wheat. Emmer is a tetraploid (4''n'' = 4''x'' = 28 chromosomes). The domesticated types are ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'' and ''Triticum turgidum ''conv.'' durum''. The wild plant is ...

, about west of the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...

. Bad Pyrmont is a popular

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 balneoth ...

resort that gained its reputation as a fashionable place for princely vacations in the 17th and 18th centuries. The town is also the center of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

(Quakers) in Germany.

History

Formerly called Pyrmont, it was the seat of a small county during much of the Middle Ages. The county gained its independence from the in 1194. Independence was maintained until the extinction of the comital line in 1494, when the county was inherited by the . In 1557, the county was inherited by

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The d ...

, then by the

County of Gleichen Gleichen is the name of two groups of castles in Germany, thus named from their resemblance to each other (german: gleich like, or resembling). Castles in Thuringia between Gotha and Erfurt The first is a group of three (hence called “die dre ...

in 1583. In 1625, the county became part of the much larger County of Waldeck through inheritance. In 1668, the (Imperial Chamber Court) ruled against the

Bishopric of Paderborn The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn (german: Fürstbistum Paderborn; Hochstift Paderborn) was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802. History The Diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by Pope ...

's claims that Pyrmont had been

collateral Collateral may refer to: Business and finance * Collateral (finance), a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan * Marketing collateral, in marketing and sales Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Collate ...

in a loan, confirming the Count of Waldeck's rights over Pyrmont, who ceded the of

Lügde Lügde is a town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with c. 9,800 inhabitants (2013). The first written issue of Lügde appears in 784, in the annals of the Frankish Empire, when Charlemagne visited the village during the S ...

— previously the county's capital — to the bishopric in compensation. In January 1712, the Count of Waldeck and Pyrmont was elevated to hereditary prince by

Emperor Charles VI , house = Habsburg , spouse = , issue = , issue-link = #Children , issue-pipe = , father = Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor , mother = Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg , birth_date ...

, the count having combined the two titles the previous year. For a brief period, from 1805 to 1812, Pyrmont was again a separate principality as a result of inheritance and partition after the death of the previous prince, but the two parts were united again in 1812. The principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont retained its status after the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

of 1815 and became a member of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

. In 1813, the inhabitants of Pyrmont began to protest at their lack of autonomy within Waldeck–Pyrmont and the separate constitutional nature of the two territories was confirmed the following year, until a formal union was established in 1849. From 1868 onward, the principality was administered by Prussia, but retained its legislative sovereignty. Prussian administration served to reduce administrative costs for the small state and was based on a ten-year contract that was repeatedly renewed. In 1871 it became a constituent state of the new

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. At the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during the German Revolution the prince abdicated and Waldeck–Pyrmont became a free state within the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

. On 30 November 1921, following a local plebiscite, the town and district of Pyrmont were detached and incorporated into the Prussian

Province of Hanover The Province of Hanover (german: Provinz Hannover) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946. During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position, ...

, with Waldeck following into the Prussian

province of Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the p ...

in 1929.

Economy

As a spa town, Bad Pyrmont's economy is heavily geared towards tourism. Bad Pyrmonter mineral water is bottled in Bad Pyrmont.

Attractions

Bad Pyrmont features a large , with a sizeable outdoor

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

garden. The

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

castle (1706–10) is part of a substantial complex of fortifications dating from the 16th century. The castle now houses the Museum of Municipal and Spa History.

Notable people

Emil Albes Friedrich Emil Albes (30 October 1861 – 22 March 1923) was a German actor and film director of the silent era.Giesen p.171 Selected filmography * ''The Traitress'' (1911) * '' Poor Jenny'' (1912) * '' The Dance of Death'' (1912) * '' Veritas ...

(1861–1923), German actor *

Max Born Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a n ...

(1882–1970),

Physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner and grandfather of

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

, spent his last years in Bad Pyrmont *

Rainer Brüninghaus Rainer Brüninghaus (born 21 November 1949) is a German jazz pianist, composer and university teacher. Career He was born in Bad Pyrmont, Lower Saxony, Germany. Rainer Brüninghaus was educated in classical piano, playing from the age of nine, ...

(born 1949), German composer and jazz pianist * Ferdinand Büchner (1823–1906), German flautist and composer *

Friedrich Drake Friedrich Drake (June 23, 1805, Pyrmont – April 6, 1882, Berlin) was a German sculptor, best known for his huge memorial statues. Biography He was the son of a mechanic and served an apprenticeship as a turner in Minden, afterwards being em ...

(1805–1882), German sculptor *

Paul-Gerhard Klumbies Paul-Gerhard Klumbies (born 14 August 1957) is a German Protestant theologian and New Testament scholar. Education and academic career Klumbies studied from 1976 Protestant theology first in Bethel, then Erlangen, Hamburg and Münster. He com ...

(born 1957), German protestant theologian * Caren Marks (born 1964), German politician (SPD) * Johannes Schraps (born 1983), German politician (SPD) * Sigrid Sternebeck (born 1949), former member of the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...

* Theodor Stroefer (1843–1927), German publisher * Thomas Webel (born 1954), German politician (CDU) *

Helmut Wildt Helmut Wildt (9 April 1922 – 4 October 2007) was a German stage, film and television actor.Goble p.502 Selected filmography * '' Black Gravel'' (1961) * '' Life Begins at Eight'' (1962) * ''The Lightship'' (1963) * ''Piccadilly Zero Hour 12'' ...

(1922–2007), German actor * Detlef Zühlke (born 1947), German engineer and professor

Gallery

File:Bad Pyrmont Kasteel Pyrmont Castle Schloss Pyrmont Deutschland Germany Duitsland.jpg, Pyrmont Castle File:Bad Pyrmont Hylligen Born Heilige bron Holy source fountain Avenue Hauptallee.jpg, Hylligen Born (Holy bath) File:Bad Pyrmont Avenue Hauptallee Duitsland Germany.jpg, The Avenue File:Bad Pyrmont Königin-Emma-Platz Duitsland Germany.jpg, Königin-Emma-Platz (Queen Emma square) File:Bad Pyrmont Zweyte Ansicht der Promenade.jpg, The Avenue between the baths and Pyrmont, 1780 File:Schloss Pyrmont 1900.jpg, Pyrmont Castle 1900 File:Quelle Pyrmont 1900.jpg, Pyrmont baths, 1900 File:Georg Friedrich, count of Waldeck, painted by Johann Valentin Tischbein, ca 1750.jpg, Georg Fredrik ca 1750

Twin towns – sister cities

Bad Pyrmont is twinned with: *

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...

, Italy

References

External links

Official website

Multimedia

CBC Radio reports on surrender of the town, 22 April 1945
{{Authority control Spa towns in Germany 1494 disestablishments States and territories established in 1805 1812 disestablishments in Germany 1849 disestablishments in Germany Hameln-Pyrmont Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont