View source for Bad Reichenhall

{{Infobox German location
|type               = Stadt
|image_photo       = REI Rathausplatz-1 07.jpg
|image_caption     = Town hall
|image_coa            = DEU Bad Reichenhall COA.svg
|coordinates       = {{coord|47|43|29|N|12|52|37|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan          = Bad_Reichenhall_in_BGL.png
|state        = Bavaria
|region  = Upper Bavaria
|district         = Berchtesgadener Land
|elevation              = 473
|area            = 41.92
|postal_code               = 83435
|area_code           = 08651
|licence               = BGL (''until 1979:'' REI)
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 09 1 72 114
|website           = [https://www.stadt-bad-reichenhall.de/ www.stadt-bad-reichenhall.de]
|mayor             = Christoph Lung<ref>[https://www.statistik.bayern.de/wahlen/kommunalwahlen/bgm/ Liste der ersten Bürgermeister/Oberbürgermeister in kreisangehörigen Gemeinden], [[Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik]], accessed 19 July 2021.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2020&ndash;26
|Bürgermeistertitel = Oberbürgermeister
|party             = CSU
}}
'''Bad Reichenhall''' ({{IPA|de|baːt ʁaɪçn̩ˈhal|-|De-Bad_Reichenhall.ogg}}; [[Central Bavarian]]: ''Reichahoi'') is a [[spa town]], and administrative center of the [[Berchtesgadener Land]] district in [[Upper Bavaria]], [[Germany]]. It is located near [[Salzburg]] in a basin encircled by the [[Chiemgau Alps]] (including Mount Staufen (1,771 m) and Mount Zwiesel (1,781 m)). Together with other alpine towns Bad Reichenhall engages in the [[Alpine Town of the Year]] Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the alpine arc. Bad Reichenhall was awarded [[Alpine Town of the Year]] in 2001.

Bad Reichenhall is a traditional center of [[salt]] production, obtained by evaporating water saturated with salt from [[brine]] ponds.

==History==
* The earliest known inhabitants of the area were tribes of the Glockenbecher-Culture (a [[Bronze Age]] Culture, from about 2000 B.C.)
* In the age of the [[La Tene culture]] (about 450 B.C.) organised salt production commenced utilising the local brine pools. In the same period a Celtic place of worship is placed at the "Langacker".
* From 15 B.C to 480 A.D, the city was part of a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] province, [[Noricum]].
* 1136 A.D bought the founding of a monastery [[St. Zeno]].
* In 1617–1619, a wooden pipeline for [[brine]] exportation to [[Traunstein]] was built, with a length of 31&nbsp;km, and more than 200 m in altitude difference.
* In 1834, two thirds of the city's buildings were destroyed by a major fire.
* The early 19th century saw the beginning of tourism, with Reichenhall becoming a famous health resort.
* From 1890 Reichenhall became known as "Bad Reichenhall".
* During [[World War II]] the area was bombed by Allied forces, killing 200 people on 25 April 1945. The town centre with many hospitals and the train station was nearly totally destroyed; the barracks did not suffer any damage. After the war the area was under American military governance (1945–1948).
* After World War II, the Americans established a [[Displaced Persons]] camp in the town, where [[Holocaust survivors]] lived for several years before immigrating to other countries.  
* In 1947, [[David Ben-Gurion]] visited the [[DP camp]], and saw the artworks created by [[Samuel Bak]], one of the Holocaust survivors living at the camp.
* On 1 November 1999, 16-year-old [[Martin Peyerl]] shot at people in the streets from his bedroom window, killing three and wounding several others, among them  actor [[Günter Lamprecht]]. He finally committed suicide after fatally shooting his sister and the family cat.
* In 2001 Bad Reichenhall was named [[Alpine Town of the Year]] and a few years later became a member of Alpine Pearls. <ref name="AlpinePearls">Website ''[https://www.alpine-pearls.com/reiseziele/deutschland/bad-reichenhall/]'' from alpine-pearls.com</ref>

==Ice rink disaster==
{{Main article|Bad Reichenhall Ice Rink roof collapse}}

Fifteen people, twelve of them children, died in the collapse of the Bad Reichenhall Ice Rink on 2 January 2006. Thirty-four people were injured in the accident.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/germany-roof-collapse/ |date = 2006 |title = Germany Roof Collapse|website = [[CBS News]] }}</ref>

==Notable people from Bad Reichenhall==
*[[Anni Friesinger-Postma]] (born 1977), German speed skater (born in Bad Reichenhall, lived in Inzell ~10&nbsp;km away and now lives in Salzburg)
*[[Johannes Frießner]] (1892–1971), World War II German Army general
*[[Lore Frisch]], well known German actress in the 1940s and 1950s. Moved from [[Traunstein]] to Bad Reichenhall in the mid-1930s and got her start in acting in Bad Reichenhall before becoming famous in Munich and Berlin.
*[[Hermann Gassner|Hermann Gassner Jr]] (born 1988), rally driver
*[[Walter Grabmann]] (1905–1992), German World War II [[Luftwaffe]] General
*[[Barbara Gruber]], ski mountaineer
*[[Regina Häusl]], alpine skier (born in Bad Reichenhall, started for the Ski-Klub Bad Reichenhall, lives in Schneizlreuth since her birth)
*[[Andreas Hinterstoisser]] (1914–1936), German mountaineer
*[[Andreas Hofer (composer)]], composer (1629–1684)
*[[Michael Neumayer]] (born 1979), ski jumper
*[[Georg Nickaes]] (born 1971), ski mountaineer
*[[Franz Oberwinkler]] (1939–2018), mycologist, expert on [[Heterobasidiomycetes]]
*[[Philipp Öttl]] (born 1996), World Super Bikes motorcycle racer for Team GoEleven<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldsbk.com/en/rider/Philipp+Oettl/3976 | title=WorldSBK }}</ref>
*[[Martin Peyerl]] (1983-1999), German mass murderer
*[[Günther Rall]] (1918–2009), World War II Luftwaffe ace, postwar Luftwaffe general
*[[Gerd Rasp]] (born 1960), physician of [[otorhinolaryngology]]
*[[Peter Schreyer]] (born 1953), car designer
*[[Hans Söllner]] (born 1955), singer-songwriter
*[[Walter F. Tichy]] (born 1952), computer scientist, initial developer of the [[Revision Control System|RCS]] [[revision control]] system
*[[Karl Ullrich]] (1910–1996), SS Oberführer

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Lattengebirge.jpg|View from above
REI Alte Saline 01.jpg|Alte Saline (old saltworks)
REI Ruine Karlstein 06.jpg|Karlstein castle ruins
REI NonnerK 03.jpg|St. George's church
REI Pulverturm 01.jpg|Powder tower
REI Pankrazkirche 07.jpg|St. Pancras church at night
</gallery>

==Also see==
#[[Eastern Alps]]
#[[Berchtesgadener Land]]
#[[Berchtesgaden Alps]]
#[[Berchtesgaden]]
#[[Jenner (mountain) | Jenner]]
#[[Hochkönig]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Bad Reichenhall}}
* [https://www.stadt-bad-reichenhall.de City of Bad Reichenhall] (in German)
* [https://www.bad-reichenhall.de Bad Reichenhall Tourist Centre] (in German)
* [https://www.alpine-pearls.com/ Alpine Pearls]
* [https://www.salzbergwerk.de/de/salzbergwerk/geschichte History Salt Mine] (in German)
* [https://www.reichenhallmuseum.de/startseite Museum] (in German)
* [https://alphaus.immo/ AlpHaus Immobilien] (in German)
* [https://www.stadt-bad-reichenhall.de/kultur-bildung/buechereien Library] (in German)


{{Commons category|Bad Reichenhall}}
{{Cities and towns in Berchtesgadener Land (district)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Spa towns in Germany]]
[[Category:Displaced persons camps in the aftermath of World War II]]
[[Category:Berchtesgadener Land]]