I think this is Bad Schwalbach (im Taunus) and that's the Kurhaus on the right.

The building looks very similar to the Staatsoper in Hannover (wings, balcony, facade) but the landscape doesn't fit.

Wikipedia has a reverse view. (Bad Schwalbach used to be called Bad Langenschwalbach.)

The Dillons were in Germany in 1901, right?

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/gnmcauley] Yeah, June-July 1901. (They were in Bad Schwalbach on the 27th June - that's the Stahlbrunnen behind them.)

The 'Kurhaus' history - de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurhaus_(Bad_Schwalbach) And in 2008 via [https://www.flickr.com/photos/ubbz/] [https://www.flickr.com/photos/ubbz/3148136720/]

I think this may be a similar angle - pre 1832 via [https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/] [https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/11008525694/]

Like so many of these places, Mr Harris's "improvements" of the mid 20th century have made it difficult to reconcile with more modern pictures: goo.gl/maps/EyAaGMy6SMXuewa48

27 June 1901 was a Thursday ...

[Aside] Psst! Flickroonies - Oscar Wilde (in 1882?) seeks attention via [https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/] [https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/51224644593/] There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

Bubbles from the Brunnens of Nassau by Francis Bond Head, published in 1834, is credited with bringing Langen-Schwalbach (as it's known in the book) to the attention of the British travelling classes. You can download it from Project Gutenberg.

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/8468254@N02] I don't think we can blame Mr. Harris this time - there's a timeline of renovations of the Kurhaus available, and a lot seemed to have been done in 1912/13, 35/36 and 73/4. The page on the history of the town also mentions that it was more or less spared from bombings. (It not really being a military target, and far enough away from Wiesbaden, Mainz, Frankfurt etc...)

Some of the people mentioned in the gossip columns as visiting Langen-Schwalbach in 1900-1902:

- The Grand Duke Michael Michaelovitch and Countess Torby (Pall Mall Gazette - Saturday 14 July 1900) - The Marharajah of Gaekwar of Baroda and the Maharani. (St James's Gazette - Tuesday 11 September 1900) They were due to stay until December. - The Countess of Crewe and her son (Globe - Monday 15 July 1901) - Viscount and Viscountess Baring (Pall Mall Gazette Monday 12 August 1901) - The Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe (Pall Mall Gazette - Saturday 21 June 1902) The King of Denmark and his brother, Prince Hans of Glücksburg came from Wiesbaden for a day to visit her. - The Grand Duchess of Hesse (St James's Gazette - Tuesday 15 July 1902) She took the Villa Grebert, which in previous years had been used by her sister The Crown Princess of Roumania, and the late Empress Elizabeth. - The Duchess of Sparta (Westminster Gazette - Saturday 19 July 1902) - Lady Mildred Allsopp (Worcestershire Chronicle - Saturday 19 July 1902)

No mention of the Dillons. Edit: In June 1901 at the Metropole, "one of the first hotels in Shwalbach" terms were from 10 or 12 marks. The kurtax was about 10 marks. (The Queen - Saturday 22 June 1901) And in September 1902 several newspapers reported that £1,000 had been paid for the drinking glass used by the late Empress of Austria while taking the water at Langen-Schwalbach.

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet] I think the Villa in the distance could be the Villa Adria - "First class boarding house. Patronised by the best society. Close Kur-promenade and spring. - OTTO SCHROEDER, Proprietor" (Truth - Wednesday 20 May 1914). Herr Schroeder also advertised in 1906, stressing the moderate terms and excellent cuisine.

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner] Yeah, that was one of the ones I was looking at. We seem to be looking at the back of it, if that's the case, based on the pictures here.

A glimpse into life during the season at Schwalbach from The Gentlewoman on Saturday 18 August 1900, including the gossip about Countess Torby and her (previously?) favourite dog. SCHWALBACH, August 11th. In spite of the fact that Schwalbach has not had so good a season as this for many years, and in spite of the fact that the Grand Duke Michael Michaelovitch of Russia is here with his charming wife, the Countess Torby, the place is decidedly dull, and there is less going on than usual. The chief excitement is the theatre, to which everyone goes as often as a play is given. The tennis ground also is a favourite place, as the Grand Duke plays most afternoons. Unfortunately, the Countess Torby has been unable to play lately, as she has had her hand badly bitten by a favourite dog, and is obliged to keep quiet for the present. There is some talk of getting up a tennis tournament, but at present the weather is so uncertain that it is not possible to settle anything. The Grand Duke and the Countess Torby both intend to take part in the tournament, and there are a few other good players, but not so many as usual. One great amusement is to cycle to Hohenstein and have tea there, and when the weather is fine the road is always full of cyclists and carriages. The Countess Torby often cycles with her eldest daughter, who has become a very clever rider. It is as well for those who are thinking of coming to Schwalbach to order their rooms beforehand, as until the end of August the place is likely to continue very full. Amongst the private houses that are to be recommended are Villa Zillerthal, where there are an excellent chef and charming rooms, the Villa Gutenberg, near the Hotel Metropole. Stadt Coblens, Villa Friedeck on the Badeweg, and Villa Werner. The best hotels are the Metropole and the Nassauerhof. The Hotel Alleesaal is considered the first hotel, but it is exorbitantly dear, and almost all English visitors go to the Metropole, where rooms at all prices can be found and where pension is given at a very reasonable charge. Amongst present visitors are Lady Ulrich and Miss Thynne, Lady Sybil Primrose, Lady and Miss Grey, Prince Croy, the Due de Croy, Lady and Miss Lambert, Mr.'Francis Howard, Mrs. and Miss Gaskill, the Princess Sophie Gortachakoff, Prince Nicholas of Nassau, with the Countess Merenberg, Count and Countess George Meremberg, Colonel, Mrs., and Miss Beckett, Colonel and Mrs. Murray, Mr. and Mrs. Walker, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis-Scull, the Misses Erskine, the Misses Brambeer, Mrs. and Miss Hamilton Mr. and Mrs. Lyon ' Miss Lyon, Miss Stewart, Mrs. Bernard Pauncefote, the Countess Schwerin, Count and Countess von Kalcreuth, and Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. Mrs. Austin Lee has left Schwalbach, and is now staying at Schlangenbad as an after-cure.

I might make an excursion out to Bad Schwalbach if I get a chance in the near future. (Generally if I want to go to a German spa town that was popular with nobility and royalty in the late 19th/early 20th Century and is situated in the Taunus mountains, I end up in Bad Homburg, as it's much closer!)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner] Name-dropper!

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia] "I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying." - the Devine Oscar

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia] Regarding today's subject line, it's more Downton than Downtown.

@29809546@N00/ There is even a Downton connection - some time in the 1900s, the Earl of Carnarvon (owner of Highclere Abbey AKA Downton Abbey) was in a bad car accident in Bad Schwalbach. As a result, he had to spend winters in Egypt which led to his interest in archaeology. (I've seen dates of 1901 and 1903 for the accident online, but the newspaper article I found after a quick search was from 1909...)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet] Lord Carnarvon seems to have been a bit of a boy racer*. In 1900 he was fined £10 for driving his car in excess of the speed limit of 12 mph. A police superintendent was following him on his bicycle, riding at 12 mph, but the car was pulling away from him. The superintendent and a constable then timed him over a mile between a bridge and a rectory, and calculated his speed at 21 mph. *"an enthusiastic automobilist" according to the Cheltenham Looker-on.

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner] 1900 was pretty early to be racing around in an automobile, considering that Bertha Benz only made the first long distance car drive in August 1888!. I also noticed an article in the Irish Times from September 1900, talking about the then Prince of Wales’s visit to [Bad] Homburg, where they specifically mention that he "drove on an automobile to Schwalbach and back". (I really love the Bertha Benz story, particularly the fact that she apparently just left a note for her husband telling him they were off to visit Grandma. There’s now a signposted scenic route commemorating the journey.)

Via Trove from 1906 - with a pinch of salt? - trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/102707856?searchTerm=s...

Women Only ; No Men. Following is a curious line of news from Schwalbach, one of the famous German watering places: — This is the place where the fair sex comes for rest and reconstitution of rundown systems, and for such purpose I believe Schwalbach stands first. In Schwalbach men are at a discount. Doctors discourage their presence, and women do not want them. To use an Americanism, they have no use for them. In truth, the women who come here need bracing up, and man is detrimental. Under such circumstances, Schwalbach is the Adamless Eden. Should by chance the biped of the male persuasion happen this way he is made to feel uncomfortable. Hundreds of tho so-called weaker sex in lawn chairs lie extended in restful attitude, on the greensward beneath the trees, enjoying the perfection of rest cure, for one and all seem to be studying art, remaining perfectly motionless. Some read, others are dreaming the time away. Only when a despised male arrives do they show signs of vitality. Then up go their heads, for all the world like a herd of deer, and just as pretty.