Bad Vilbel

Bad Vilbel
Old town hall
Coat of arms
Bad Vilbel
Location of Bad Vilbel within Wetteraukreis district
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Darmstadt
District	Wetteraukreis
Government
• Mayor	Thomas Stöhr (CDU)
Area
• Total	25.65 km2 (9.90 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	32,020
• Density	1,200/km2 (3,200/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	61101–61118
Dialling codes	06101
Vehicle registration	FB
Website	www.bad-vilbel.de

Bad Vilbel is a spa town in Hesse, Germany, famous for its many mineral water springs. Bad Vilbel is the largest town in the Wetteraukreis district and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area with its city center being located 8 km northeast of downtown Frankfurt am Main at the banks of the river Nidda.

History

Bad Vilbel was founded in 774 (first written document) but much older artefacts were found in the area. In 1848 during railway works, a Roman villa was scooped out with a Thermae and a Mosaic. A replica of this mosaic is presented in a modern exhibition in the spa gardens.

20th Century

population development

• 1998: 28,509
• 2000: 29,716
• 2002: 30,290
• 2004: 30,905
• 2006: 31,348
• 2008: 31,456
• 2010: 31,822

(as of December 31.)
Quelle: HSL

The town Vilbel got the label "Bad" (spa) in 1948 for its numerous mineral springs. The health spa operations stopped in the 1960s but the mineral water industry connected more springs of the Wetterau by pipelines to the bottling plant of Hassia in Bad Vilbel.

The hessian government reform formed 1971/72 Bad Vilbel (with Heilsberg), Dortelweil, Gronau and Massenheim to the new city Bad Vilbel. Since 1997 great areas have been developed for living and business, like the residential area of Dortelweil-West or the commercial park Quellenpark between Bad Vilbel, Massenheim and Dortelweil.

• 

  fountain near the old town-hall

• 

  old town-hall

• 

  Cultural center, old mill

• 

  Friedrich-Karl-Sprudel

• 

  Hassia mineral spring

• 

  exhibition of Roman mosaic

• 

  shopping & business center in Dortelweil

Transport

Bad Vilbel has four railroad stations (Bad Vilbel, Bad Vilbel Süd, Dortelweil and Gronau) on the Main–Weser Railway, served by Frankfurt's local transport network (S-Bahn line S 6 and RE Line 34). It has access to the A661 autobahn and the highway B3.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Bad Vilbel is twinned with:

• Glossop, United Kingdom
• Moulins, France
• Brotterode, Germany
• Eldoret, Kenya

The Glossop/Bad Vilbel Twinning Association was established in 1985 and the formal twinning ceremonies were held in Glossop and Bad Vilbel in 1987.

See also

• Bad Vilbel station
• English electronic music duo Autechre released a song entitled Second Bad Vilbel on their EP Anvil Vapre. The title derives from the town's twinning with Glossop, an area the group would have passed en route to Sheffield, from their homes in Rochdale.

External links

• Official site (German)