ParkArt – Art meets spa gardens

A Look Back at the 2026 Double Anniversary in Bad Mergentheim’s Spa Park 2026 is a very special year for the health resort town of Bad Mergentheim: **200 years ago**, the healing springs were discovered here—an event that would change the town’s history forever. **100 years ago** came the second milestone: the official designation as a city with the title **“Bad”**. Bad Mergentheim is celebrating this double anniversary with many special projects—one of the highlights is the major retrospective **“ParkArt – Art Meets the Spa Park”** in the Inner Spa Park. From April to October, the multi-award-winning Kurpark—over 130,000 square meters of natural art featuring historic trees, a graduation pavilion, a rhododendron grove, a rose garden, and expansive meadows—transforms into a vibrant open-air gallery. For the exhibition, selected works by artists who have particularly captivated visitors in recent years were invited. Five artistic approaches, five distinct styles—and a shared experience: contemporary art that harmoniously blends with nature. **Michael Ehlers – Geometry, Nature, and the Poetry of the Golden Ratio **He already captivated audiences in 2016 as part of the “Art Park in the Kurpark” exhibition: media artist Michael Ehlers returns to the Kurpark with his fascinating geometric spheres. His kinetic installations float among the trees, drawing on principles of the Golden Ratio and allowing visitors to rediscover the harmony of natural forms. Ehlers makes “nature’s blueprint” visible—light, floating, and yet full of quiet energy. **Kurt Grimm – Steel That Begins to Dance **Sculptor Kurt Grimm was a guest at the Kurpark in 2022 and demonstrates just how versatile and surprising steel can be. His sculptures, mostly rust-brown and developed from circular and looping forms, appear astonishingly light and organic despite their heavy material. His work invites discovery: for Grimm, form and content are inseparably linked; each sculpture speaks of concentration, patience, and inner clarity. The Kurpark offers diverse viewing angles—ideal for the dynamic geometry of his works. **Christoph Jakob – Stone in Balance **“SCHWER.PUNKT.STEIN” was the title of the exhibition in the Kurpark in 2024 and 2025. With impressive basalt and granite sculptures, Christoph Jakob creates calm, powerful accents amidst the greenery. His works thrive on the interplay between rugged, natural surfaces and the artist’s precise, sensitive interventions. Lines, openings, and graphic structures lend the sculptures a sense of lightness—despite the heavy material. Jakob opens up the stone to the visitor’s gaze and creates a harmonious interplay of nature, art, and space. **Thomas Reichstein – Figures Full of Grace and Mythical Power **Thomas Reichstein presented his “Bronze Art as a Guest in the Spa Park” from 2018 to 2020. Through his international works and the combination of bronze, brass, and mythical motifs, Thomas Reichstein enriches the exhibition with a signature style all his own. His figures—ranging from graceful human forms to mythical creatures—radiate optimism, sensuality, and a timeless elegance. In harmony with the historic trees and open lawns, Reichstein’s works unfold their special impact. **Hilde Würtheim – People Who Tell Stories **Hilde Würtheim’s life-size figures were a crowd-pleaser in both 2016 and 2023—and in 2026, her “people” will once again take their places in the Kurpark. With keen observational skills, the artist creates familiar-looking characters that blend unobtrusively yet impressively into their surroundings. Her figures invite visitors to pause and engage in a quiet dialogue with them—sometimes humorous, always human. **“ParkArt – Art Meets the Spa Park”** is more than an exhibition. It is a stroll through artistic developments of recent years and, at the same time, a tribute to the special atmosphere of the spa park—a place where culture and nature meet in a unique way. The retrospective invites both visitors and locals to rediscover the spa park, experience art in a new way, and celebrate the special significance of this anniversary year in an inspiring manner. **Admission to the exhibition is free. Dates:** April through October 2026 **Location:** Inner Spa Park, Bad Mergentheim