SPOT HOT

Eine Ausstellung zu den heißen Quellen

Wiesbaden is home to more hot springs than any other UNESCO-designated spa city in Europe. For around 25,000 years, these springs were the city’s source of energy, its wealth, and its lifeblood. After the Second World War, most of these 26 “hot spots” were sealed off. Since then, they have almost disappeared from the cityscape and from the collective urban memory.

How can we bring Wiesbaden’s hot springs back into public awareness—as part of the city’s identity and as a valuable natural resource? By telling their stories again, making their locations visible, and reconnecting them with everyday urban life, we can already begin to set change in motion. SPOT HOT offers first impulses for this process and creates a space for people to share their thoughts, knowledge, and memories. The long-term goal is to revive all 26 thermal hotspots within Wiesbaden’s Historic Pentagon and to re-establish Wiesbaden as a true city of springs. Come by and discover Wiesbaden’s hot springs with fresh eyes. Share your knowledge and opinions on site and help shape their future.

Opening hours: Mon–Sat 11 am – 7 pm, Thu until 8 pm – free admission.

What awaits you in the exhibition:

1. Discover

• Refresh your knowledge at the information stele (City Management / sam)
• 3D flight over Kochbrunnenplatz from 1890 to 1955 (Pascal Zufelde)
• A New Bubbling Heart: model for the redesign of Kochbrunnenplatz (Moritz Petrasch)

2. Take Part

• Spring Quiz – How well do you know Wiesbaden’s hot springs?
• Let Off Steam – Ask questions and share your opinion about the hot springs
• Our Spring Future – Vote on the hottest ideas for reviving the springs
• Your Personal Vision – Freely sketch your future vision of the hot springs as a drawing, a text, or both
• Your Hottest Story – Write down your personal thermal-spring story and pin it to the exhibition wall

3. Sneak Preview of the Digital SPOT HOT TOUR / Coming Soon

A first step toward making Wiesbaden’s identity visible again is the smartphone tour currently being developed: “SPOT HOT – THE HOTTEST MILE,” created in cooperation with City Management Wiesbaden and funded by the State of Hesse. The tour invites visitors to rediscover Wiesbaden’s urban DNA on an inspiring walk through the Historic Pentagon. An audio walk leads to nine significant historical sites and tells the bubbling story of the former world-famous spa city. Additional digital modules will make the hidden layers of the city newly accessible.

The exhibition table in the WDC Workshop Space and an accompanying flyer already present the route along which nearly all 26 hidden thermal springs are located. Two guided city walks on 15 August and the thematic event day on 29 August will also offer first insights into the future audio route (see events below).

Yvonne Kirchdorfer is a communication scholar, freelance writer, and project developer, and is among the co-founders of feuilleton, a magazine for art and culture in Wiesbaden. In 2024, she received the “Goldene Lilie” (Golden Lily) award for voluntary engagement in schools, as well as the City of Wiesbaden’s Special Prize for Democracy.

She is currently developing the digital tour “Spot Hot – The Hottest Mile in Wiesbaden” in cooperation with City Management Wiesbaden.

Project partners: Angelika Stehle / WIsion, Attorney Adam
Supported by: City Management Wiesbaden, Naspa Foundation.