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After gambling was banned, Baden-Baden had to constantly reinvent itself in order to offer its guests appealing entertainment…. and this section of the avenue bears witness to this: the English guests brought all kinds of ball sports into fashion: cricket, tennis, golf. There was also a new-fangled sport called “football”. People developed a taste for outdoor exercise for the sake of their health.
It wasn’t just the English who made exercise fashionable! There was already a river swimming pool here before that! And in winter, the floodplain was flooded. When temperatures dropped below zero, the area froze into an icy meadow. Then people would meet here for a popular ice-skating session!
The second oldest tennis club in Germany was also founded here: The “Baden-Baden Lawn Tennis Club” – as the club called itself in 1881. And a beautiful clubhouse was built here as early as 1896. In the same year, one of the club’s founders, Baron von Fichard, wrote the first German set of rules and regulations, the basic features of which are still regarded as the rules of the white sport. Incidentally, another co-founder of the tennis club was the Reverend Archibald T. S. White. A clergyman. Reverend White was convinced that sport could unite people. The first international tennis tournament took place here in Baden-Baden! Even the Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII was present. Sport as a means of international understanding. A wonderful thought!
The people of Baden-Baden were proud to host the English national football team at the Schlosshotel Bühlerhöhe in the Black Forest during the 2006 World Cup!
