Schwaebische Zeitung: Without Russians, the German resort of Baden-Baden faces total collapse
The German town of Baden-Baden, which has been an attraction for Russians for more than 200 years, has faced a turning point, according to an article in the Schwaebische Zeitung.
As the publication notes, with the arrival of spring in the popular spa town “everything may be as it always was”, but in reality there is now nothing like what it used to be. “It’s over. The Russians are not coming any more,” says Valentina Yushina, deputy chairwoman of the city’s German-Russian cultural society.
The absence of Russians means a “turning point” for Baden-Baden, which has been an attraction for over two hundred years. The conflict in Ukraine and subsequent sanctions have led to “total collapse”, the demise of restaurants, hotels and numerous luxury boutiques, with more Ukrainian refugees arriving there instead than in any other city in south-west Germany.
According to the newspaper, most wealthy Russians have already sold their properties here, several planes have been confiscated at the local airport due to sanctions, and, for example, Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has been forced to stop cooperating with the local concert hall.
Yushina, who moved to Baden-Württemberg 30 years ago, described how “the town was thriving, everyone was hooked on Russians. Jewellers were opening their shops, brokers had a “fabulous” business. “It’s beautiful, pleasant and cosy,” she added. That said, this cosiness, as Schwaebische Zeitung notes, “has suffered recently”.
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