Bad Aibling
Place in Bavaria, Germany
title: "Bad Aibling" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bad-aibling", "rosenheim-(district)", "spa-towns-in-germany", "towns-in-bavaria"] description: "Place in Bavaria, Germany" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Aibling" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Place in Bavaria, Germany ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox German location"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| type | Town |
| image_coa | DEU Bad Aibling COA.svg |
| image_photo | Stadtmitte Bad Aibling mit Schloss Prantshausen und Sebastianikirche.jpg |
| image_caption | The former Prantshausen castle and the Church of Saint Sebastian |
| coordinates | |
| image_plan | Bad Aibling in RO.svg |
| state | Bavaria |
| region | Upper Bavaria |
| district | Rosenheim |
| elevation | 492 |
| area | 41.4 |
| postal_code | 83035–83043 |
| area_code | 08061 |
| licence | RO, AIB |
| Gemeindeschlüssel | 09 1 87 117 |
| divisions | 28 Stadtteile |
| mayor | Stephan Schlier |
| leader_term | 2020–26 |
| party | CSU |
| website | |
| :: |
|type = Town |image_coa = DEU Bad Aibling COA.svg |image_photo = Stadtmitte Bad Aibling mit Schloss Prantshausen und Sebastianikirche.jpg |image_caption = The former Prantshausen castle and the Church of Saint Sebastian |coordinates = |image_plan = Bad Aibling in RO.svg |state = Bavaria |region = Upper Bavaria |district = Rosenheim |elevation = 492 |area = 41.4 |postal_code = 83035–83043 |area_code = 08061 |licence = RO, AIB |Gemeindeschlüssel = 09 1 87 117 |divisions = 28 Stadtteile |mayor = Stephan Schlier |leader_term = 2020–26 |party = CSU |website =
Bad Aibling (; ) is a spa town and former district seat in Bavaria on the river Mangfall, located some 56 km southeast of Munich. It features a luxury health resort with a peat pulp bath and mineral spa.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Merian_aybling_1644.png" caption="''Hofberg''. Engraving by [[Matthäus Merian]], 1644."] ::
Bad Aibling and its surroundings were settled by Celtic tribes from about 500BC until 15BC. After Roman occupation, it was finally settled by Bavarii tribes in the 5th century AD. In 804, Bad Aibling was mentioned for the first time as "Epininga".
In mediaeval times, it was an administrative centre in the lordship of the Counts of Falkenstein. In 1166, it was mentioned in the Codex diplomaticus Falkensteinensis as "Aibilingen". After the obliteration of the Neuburg-Falkenstein dynasty, it became part of the realm of the Wittelsbach family.
In 1845, the first treatments with peat pulp were offered by the physician Desiderius Beck. Bad Aibling received the title "Bad" (spa or springs) in 1895.
In the year 1933, Bad Aibling officially became a town. After the Second World War, Bad Aibling was the site of POW Discharge Center #26, where German POWs were released from captivity to civilian status. In 1946, a DP camp housing former members of the Royal Yugoslav Army was set up on the grounds of the town's airbase. The camp was first operated by UNRRA, and later by the IRO. From 1948 onwards, the area was home to the IRO Children's Village, a DP camp for unaccompanied children and youth belonging to more than 20 nationalities. Over 2,300 inhabitants passed through this facility (the largest of its kind in the US Zone) before it was closed in late 1951. Later, the area evolved into a major centre for intelligence organizations and secret services.
In 2005, the American Bad Aibling ECHELON station (Field Station 81) closed after several decades of operation. After the departure of the NSA, parts of the station have been used by the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), with NSA employees moving to the Mangfall barracks. The radomes are still used intensively. The station is used in cooperation with the NSA, which provides the BND with search terms (such as email addresses), which then forwards the results back to the NSA.
The Thermae opened in 2007, complementing the traditional peat pulp baths with mineral water (Desiderius-Quelle). In the same year, the historical Ludwigsbad spa hotel, the nucleus of Bad Aibling's health resort business, burned down due to arson.
On 9 February 2016, a serious railway accident occurred near the town when two passenger trains collided, causing 11 fatalities.
Geography and demographics
The town of Bad Aibling, with about 18,000 inhabitants, is at 498 m above sea level and covers an area of 41.55 km2.
Bad Aibling consists of the neighborhoods (Stadtteile) of Abel, Adlfurt, Bad Aibling Mitte, Berbling, Ellmosen, Fachendorf, Gröben, Harthausen, Haslach, Heimathsberg, Heinrichsdorf, Holzhausen, Köckbrunn, Markfeld, Mietraching, Mitterham, Moos, Natternberg, Thalacker, Thürham, Unterheufeld, Weg, Westen, Westerham, Willing, and Zell.
File:Bad aibling glonn.png|Glonn river in downtown File:Bad aibling kirchzeile.png|Kirchzeile with Hofberg File:Bad aibling kirchzeile_2.png|Obere Kirchzeile File:Bad aibling klein_venedig.png|"Klein Venedig" (Little Venice) File:Bad aibling moorabbau.png|Peat mining in the Schuhbräu-Filze File:Bad aibling rosenheimer_str.png|Inner Rosenheimer Straße File:Bad aibling sebastianik.png|St. Sebastian's church File:Radomes of Bad Aibling Station 1.jpg|ECHELON station File:Bad aibling station 2.jpg|ECHELON station File:Bad aibling station 3.jpg|ECHELON station File:Bad aibling station 4.jpg|ECHELON station File:Bad Aibling Theresienmonument-1.jpg|Theresienmonument File:Bad aibling zentralfriedhof.png|Italian style central cemetery File:Bad Aibling, straatzicht langs het water 2012-08-06 15.05.JPG|Water through the town File:Bad Aibling, straatzicht2 Bahnhofstrasse-Sedanstrasse 2012-08-06 14.51.jpg|Bahnhofstrasse-Sedanstrasse File:Bad Aibling, straatzicht3 Bahnhofstrasse 2012-08-06 14.55.jpg|View to a street: die Bahnhofstrasse File:Klafferer_hofberg.png|View from the Klafferer to Hofberg
Economy and infrastructure
In Bad Aibling, there are several large spa hotels and rehabilitation hospitals that rely on peat pulp as a basic treatment. Additionally, in 2007 the new thermae were opened.
Companies based in Bad Aibling
Several companies in the pharmaceutical industry, textile manufacturing, electrical engineering, plastics manufacturing, and dairy processing are located in Bad Aibling.
Administration and public institutions
- Municipal institutions
- Employment office Bad Aibling
- Institutions of the Rosenheim district office (veterinary office, motor vehicle registration authority)
- Local court
- Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Federal Intelligence Service
Mayors
::data[format=table] | 2016– | – | | Kristin Sauter (SPD) | |---|---|---| ::
Education
- German football boarding school (Deutsches Fußballinternat Bad Aibling)
- Gymnasium Bad Aibling (high school for secondary education)
- Wilhelm-Leibl-Realschule (secondary school)
- Wirtschaftsschule Alpenland (secondary school for economics)
- Grund- und Hauptschulen (primary and secondary education)
- Sonderschule (primary and secondary education for children with special needs)
- Volkshochschule Bad Aibling (adult evening classes)
Number of inhabitants
- 1840: 2,597
- 1871: 3,479
- 1900: 5,181
- 1925: 6,218
- 1939: 7,764
- 1950: 10,908
- 1961: 9,991
- 1970: 10,860
- 1987: 12,583 (census)
- 2000: 16,437
- 2010: 18,272
- 2015: 18,408
Culture and attractions
Echelon festival
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Echelon_Festvial_2012_1.jpg" caption="The Echelon festival in the year 2012"] ::
The Echelon Open Air & Indoor Festival is an electro-, techno and house-festival that has taken place in Bad Aibling annually in August since 2009. With about 25,000 visitors in 2015 it is the largest festival of its kind in Bavaria. It is located on the abandoned Bad Aibling Station which was used for the festival's eponymous global surveillance network ECHELON.
Twin town
Bad Aibling has been twinned with
- Italy Cavaion Veronese, Italy, since 2006.
People affiliated with Bad Aibling
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Leibl_Selbstbildnis_d_Achtzehnjährigen.JPG" caption="Wilhelm Leibl Self-portrait at the age of 18"] ::
- Eleonore Baur(18851981), also known as "Sister Pia", a war criminal of the National Socialist era
- Desiderius Beck(), was a Bavarian court physician. In 1845, he opened the first Bavarian brine and peat mud baths in Bad Aibling in Rose Street, later Ludwig bathroom.
- Käthe Bierbaumer(1884?), Patron of the Thule Society and funder of Adolf Hitler
- Eduard Dietl(18901944), German general of World War II
- Amelie Kober(born 1987), German Federal Police officer and Olympic medalist in snowboarding
- Wilhelm Leibl(18441900), German realist painter of portraits and scenes of peasant life
- Johann Sperl(18401914), German painter
- Friedrich Meggendorfer(18801953), German psychiatrist and neurologist
- Joseph Maximilian von Maillinger (1820–1901), General of Infantry of Bavarian Army
- Franz Osten (1876–1956), German film director, who lived after the Second World War in the town
- Klaus Wennemann (1940–2000), actor
- Julian Weigl(born 1995), German footballer for Sport Lisboa e Benfica
References
References
- [https://www.statistik.bayern.de/wahlen/kommunalwahlen/bgm/ Liste der ersten Bürgermeister/Oberbürgermeister in kreisangehörigen Gemeinden] {{Webarchive. link. (30 June 2021 , [[Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik]], 15 July 2021.)
- Höschler, Christian. (2017). "Home(less). The IRO Children's Village Bad Aibling, 1948–1951". epubli.
- (18 June 2014). "NSA-Standorte in Deutschland: Bad Aibling". Der Spiegel.
- (1 May 2015). "Die Überwachungsfabrik". Süddeutsche Zeitung.
- (23 August 2015). "Der Vertrauensbruch – 3/4 In Bad Aibling gründeten BND und NSA eine Kooperation". Die Zeit.
- (25 September 2014). "Bad Aibling, rechtsfreier Abhörraum des BND". Die Zeit.
- "BND spioniert wieder mit der NSA". Tagesschau.
- (8 January 2016). "BND und NSA kooperieren wieder in Bad Aibling". Die Zeit.
- (2015-08-23). "ECHELON: Marihuana, Ecstasy und Amphetamin". rosenheim24.de.
- [http://www.echelon-openair.de/info.html Info – Echelon Open Air & Indoor Festival] {{webarchive. link. (31 August 2013 . In: echelon-openair.de. Retrieved 6 August 2012.)
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