Anita Lama

Kathmandu:

Casinos in Germany are not rare establishments. Whilst most of us associate casinos with unusually pompous and flashy places, casinos in Europe break the stereotype. Casino Baden Baden, as I discovered during my recent trip to Germany is really ‘something else’. It is not just about the games, equipment and fancy entertainers. Instead, royal elegance, preservation, modernism and its rich history have been the essence of Casino Baden Baden.

Located in Karlsruhe district of Germany, 100 km away from the Stuttgart

airport and 60 km away from Strasbourg in France, it is more than being one of the most beautiful casinos in the world. Not only does the casino provide employment to over 200 people but also provides the town of Baden Baden with 25 per cent of its profit.

A tall beautiful lady dressed in wrinkle free beige shirt and knee-length skirt met us at the entrance. Ushered by her, we stepped into the red carpet that led us to one of the oldest casinos in Europe with over 250-year-old history. With her all-encompassing and graceful demeanor Brigitte-Katharina Manxke, made us feel that, with her, it was more than just a guided tour of the property. The love of her work was too apparent in the enthusiasm she exuberated and in her openness to share her abounding knowledge on the place. With her near 27 years of work experience in casino Baden Baden, we sure felt lucky to have Brigitte as our guide.

Brigitte heralded us into the ‘Austrian Room’, named after the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa and her son Emperor Joseph II. German Casino, Austrian Room? You may ask, and this would be more like asking Newari husband, Indian wife? With political borders so close to Austria; it is not surprising to find the overlapping of history and culture.

Winter Garden is a room with raised cupola for sunlight. White marble setting, fountain, Chinese porcelains all conjures up cold images given the long harsh winter in this place but a raised cupola for sunlight intricately balances décor with design exuding nothing but the equality and harmony of the Ying Yang. Gilded wooden latticework on the walls gives a finishing golden touch to this historically ‘must-see’ room as it also houses the ‘Golden Table’, a double-headed roulette table on which gold and silver chips were used on festive occasions, during its bygone days.

The Red Room, one of the historic palatial rooms of the casino was built during the reconstruction, which took place between 1852 and 1855. ‘This room was used only for entertainment until 1944 when it was opened for gambling’, informed Brigitte. In addition to the classical roulette tables, the Red Room has a quick table, on which players can play their own bets. As we were engrossed in seeping the ambience of Red Room Brigitte quipped, “I think people will be happy even to lose as it is so beautiful here...” Well, I leave that to the gambling enthusiasts to decide on.

Adjoining the Red Room is the small Salon Pompadour, which owes its name to Madame Pompadour, Louis XV’s mistress. The real attractions here are the four paintings displaying four seasons. Although exquisite objects of this room such as ornate mirrors, chandeliers, white marble fireplace and picture painting of Salon Pompadour succeeds in continuously occupying and awing your mind, you nevertheless, get struck with the thought — that of the absence of rainy season, which is so much a part of our lives, in our part of the world.

The Margrave Room with decorative pillars, gilded flowers, friezes over the mirrors and doors, was furnished as early as in the 1930s. And the specialty of the décor remains in its style of New Objectivism. The Margrave Room is home to six 18th century portraits loaned by the Margrave of Baden. This room is known as the Margrave room as it has the picture painted by Johann Grund of Margrave.

Finally, we came across a name that sounds more like a casino. The Baccara Terrace with its bar interests baccara lovers from all over the world and it is said that in no other casino in the world is as much baccara played as in Baden Baden.

There is no room for doubt about the beauty and grandeur of this place. Each room is best and incomparable but to me, The Florentine Room was the most enthralling one with five most decorative, large and brilliantly lit chandeliers. No wonder it is also known as the ‘Hall of the thousand candles: When the casino was rebuilt between 1852 and 1855, it was furnished and decorated luxuriously.

Our final leg of the guided tour took us to the The New Rooms, Salon Américain and the New Roulette Room. These two rooms adjoining one another were built in early 70s and opened for public in 1974 during the annual Iffezheim race meeting known as the ‘Grand Racing Week’, which takes place at the end of August every year.

Poker was introduced in Baden- Baden in 1989, the first German casino to do so. Casino Baden Baden exemplifies gambling in luxury, art and rich history. Over the years, it has succeeded in captivating visitors including famous personalities from all spheres of life. With time, it has evolved serving the needs of its guests while preserving and maintaining its glorious history and this has added the value to its existing grandeur till today. If you were to visit Europe, remember the small town of Baden Baden and the casino, which tells you its story.