Kurhaus Bad Ems, Arts centre in Bad Ems, Germany

Kurhaus Bad Ems is a spa and events building on a bend of the Lahn, built from 1715 as a Nassau bathing house and rebuilt in neo-Baroque style in 1912/13 under master builder Birck. Only two of the three planned wings were executed, centred on the outflow of the Kesselbrunnen spring. A colonnade links it to the Kursaal of 1835–1849, whose theatre, chamber-music and reading halls now house the casino.

Kurhaus Bad Ems was built in 1715 by the House of Nassau as a bathing house, replacing an older Nassau spa building; hot springs broke through the ground during construction. Only two wings of a planned three-wing palace were executed, centred on the Kesselbrunn spring. From 1835 to 1849 a Kursaal by Johann Gottfried Gutensohn was added west of the complex and linked to it by a colonnade. In 1866 the spa passed to Prussian state ownership, and in 1870 Wilhelm I took the cure here, the episode behind the Emser Depesche. The whole complex was rebuilt and enlarged in Neo-Baroque style in 1912/13 under Regierungsbaumeister Birck, with artistic decoration by Franz Vlasdeck.

The Kursaal added west of the Kurhaus between 1835 and 1849, linked to it by a colonnade, gained a theatre hall, chamber music hall and reading room in the 1912/13 rebuilding; the last two now house the casino. The name Emser Depesche recalls Wilhelm I's 1870 cure here.

The complex sits where the Lahn bends, with the Kursaal west of the main Kurhaus block, joined to it by a colonnade built between 1835 and 1849. The theatre hall, chamber music hall and reading room added in 1912/13 now house the casino. Parts of the building operate as a hotel and conference centre, so check access before visiting.

The Kesselbrunnen spring emerged during the 1715 rebuild, and its outflow formed the centre of the complex; only two of the planned three wings were built. In 1870 Wilhelm I took the cure here, and a telegram sent from Bad Ems to Bismarck became known as the Emser Depesche.