Four hundred varieties
Tiered rose beds around the fountain — a living museum of scent.
Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gerd Eichmann — CC BY 4.0
On the Oos bank at Lichtentaler Allee's midpoint opens the Gönneranlage: an Art Nouveau rose garden from the early twentieth century, holding over four hundred varieties around the columned Josephine fountain and its climbing pergolas. It is the famous promenade's jewel: you reach it walking the Allee among rare trees and the stream, and find an open-air rose room designed for sitting rather than passing — benches among the beds, shading arbours, and a fragrance peaking from late May through July with a second autumn wave. Always free and usually calm even in high season, it is the perfect rest station on the long Allee walk towards Lichtenthal Abbey.
Tiered rose beds around the fountain — a living museum of scent.
Art Nouveau columns and climbing pergolas — the garden's elegant frame.
Made for sitting among roses, not passing — bring your book.
Lichtentaler Allee, 76530 Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden City MuseumThe Baden-Baden City Museum tells the town's story from the Roman baths to its n4 minutes walk4.5
The Empress Augusta MonumentA monument to Empress Augusta, wife of Emperor Wilhelm I, in central Baden-Baden6 minutes walk4.4
Museum Frieder BurdaThe Museum Frieder Burda is a small, elegant white building on Lichtentaler Alle7 minutes walk4.6
Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-BadenThe Staatliche Kunsthalle in Baden-Baden is a contemporary art institution with 8 minutes walk3.4
Museum LA8Museum LA8 is devoted to one precisely defined subject: the nineteenth century —9 minutes walk4.6As a passage yes, as a goal no: its structure and columns always please, but scent and colour are its soul. From April the bushes promise; from November the beds sleep — then let the Allee itself suffice.
The Allee runs two kilometres from the theatre to Lichtenthal Abbey; the garden sits near midway across a small bridge. The recipe: start at the theatre, rest here among roses, continue to the abbey — an unhurried ninety minutes out.
Among the town's best backdrops: arbours, columns, tiered roses — early morning pairs fine light with emptiness. Formal photo parties are a familiar summer sight here.