Post-war years
The Kurhaus remained confiscated in the early summer of 1949, but by the end of the year, all the rooms had been released again so that preparations for restoration could begin. The first post-war season was then opened on 1 April 1950.
In August 1953, the Kurhaus was the venue for the Conference of Foreign Ministers from the European Coal and Steel Union. Representatives from six European countries came together in Baden-Baden under the chairmanship of Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. This was seen as an early step towards setting up the EC.
One of the highlights in the history of the Kurhaus during the 1950s was the Shah of Persia's visit, who came to Baden-Baden in March 1955 with Empress Soraya. 800 invited guests attended the reception given by the state government of Baden-Württemberg.
1960 was once again a year of construction work: the large and small theatre, the Kurhaus bar, the casino bar, part of the gambling rooms and the reception were completely redesigned, together with the wine bar and the "Schwarzwaldstübl".
From large and small theatre to "Pfauenstall"
The modern architecture of the 1950s that emerged during Germany's economic miracle also had its proponents for the Kurhaus. The old Stürzenacker architecture was deemed to be old-fashioned. The Düsseldorf architect Bernhard Pfau redesigned the large and small theatre (today's Bénazetsaal) according to the taste of the day. The most striking change must have been the installation of a luminous ceiling that completely covered the existing barrelled structure. The new ceiling consisted of 509 disc-shaped shade elements, resulting in various nicknames such as "beer mat ceiling", "dummy ceiling" or "Pfauenstall" for the whole room (literally "peacock stable" after the architect Pfau).
In 1961, the "Kupferkessel" (copper kettle) was opened in the restaurant wing. The new evening venue was built to plans by Viktoria von Schack from Berlin. In 1964/65, the front rooms used for Kurhaus catering were also subject to thorough refurbishment. However, over the next few years the Kurhaus restaurant areas were repeatedly redesigned, according to a constant stream of new requests and requirements from by the caterers.
1964 - The finest car parade in the world
In cooperation between the Bäder- und Kurverwaltung and the ADAC motoring organisation, on 26 and 27 September 1964 the German news magazine "Stern" held the "finest car parade in the world in Baden-Baden's spa garden.
The whole city was turned into one giant motor show, attracting visitors from near and far. On Saturday evening, the large theatre (today's Bénazetsaal) then acted as the venue for the "car ball", compèred by Vico Torriani. The stars appearing at the gala night included Josephine Baker, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Lil Babs, Peter Kraus, Morton Frazer, Freddy Frinton, Fritz Schulz-Reichel, Two Earles, the Joe Lord Sextett and the Kurt Henkels Orchestra.
From garden room to Weinbrennersaal
On discovering in 1965 that the historical garden room was structurally unsound, the decision was taken to restore the original classicist style used by Weinbrenner. The work was completed in record time in 1966 because the barrelled ceiling was in acute danger of collapsing. A few weeks before Friedrich Weinbrenner's 200th birthday, Baden-Baden decided to honour the master builder of the Kurhaus. The dilapidated old garden room became the Weinbrennersaal.
Source: Robert Erhard "Aus der Chronik der Kaiserallee", part 2