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Founded: 14th centuryCategory: Historic city squares, old towns and villages in Germany
Historical period: Habsburg Dynasty (Germany)
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Bad Ems is a town in Rheinland Pfalz, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a spa on the river Lahn. In 2021, the town became part of the transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name 'Great Spas of Europe'.
The town was first mentioned in official documents in 880 and received its town charter in 1324. The Counts of Nassau and Katzenelnbogen rebuilt the bath and used it together with other noble visitors. In the 17th and 18th centuries Bad Ems was considered one of Germany's most famous bathing resorts. It reached its heyday in the 19th century when it welcomed visitors from all over the world and became the summer residence of various European monarchs and artists, including Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II of Russia, Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Vasili Vasilyevich Vereshchagin, etc.
Natural Ems salt is produced from local mineral water. The spring's mineral water, noted for its very high mineral content, is also marketed separately for drinking and inhalation purposes; when inhaled using a vaporizer, the water has a beneficial effect on sore throats.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.