National soccer players walk through the spacious park, stroll past the shop windows of the nearby shopping street, buy an ice cream and get into conversation with citizens. International professional soccer players at your fingertips, unmolested by stern-looking security forces. Where can you find something like this? The answer is: in Bad Nauheim. At least that was the case in 2006 during the World Cup. At that time, according to the motto, the world was a guest of friends. And the national team of Saudi Arabia had taken up residence in the spa town.

Thorsten Winter

Correspondent of the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for Central Hesse and the Wetterau.

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"The Saudis in the cityscape – that was something positive," says Mayor Klaus Kreß in retrospect. Although he was not yet head of the town hall at the time, he has pleasant memories of those days, according to his own statements. "They were hands-on – very different from the Brazilians in Königstein at the time," adds Harald Hock, Managing Director of Stadtmarketing und Tourismus GmbH. In those days, Hock worked as manager of the Hotel Dolce, where the Saudis were staying.

Short distances for more sustainability

He still has a player in mind who drove the team bus to training in a freshly bought Porsche. Other kickers had stocked up on expensive watches in the village and delighted jewelers, as he continues. So the spa town had its own summer fairy tale in 2006. If it is up to Kreß and Hock, there will be a new edition next year for the European Championship.

Bad Nauheim was approached by the German Football Association after the experience gained in 2006 and then offered itself as host. To the great delight of the town hall, the municipality is one of the shortlisted locations. Whether it will actually come into play remains to be seen. Like all other local patriots, the mayor and head of city marketing have to be patient: the decision is to be made at the end of this year or the beginning of next year at the DFB headquarters on the Otto-Fleck-Schneise in Frankfurt. Because the draw for the final tournament will not take place until 2 December. Only then can the qualified teams choose accommodation, according to the DFB.

It is already clear that Bad Nauheim falls into the so-called Cluster South, which includes Munich and Stuttgart as well as Frankfurt. This results from the division of Germany into three large regions – north/northeast, west and south. Frankfurt forms a sub-region. From its own point of view, Bad Nauheim offers itself as a training base for teams that will play in Frankfurt's Waldstadion. The manageable route to the venue and back takes into account the idea of sustainability, as Kreß says.

Darmstadt, Mainz and Schweinfurt as competitors

The spa town wants to convince with a package of offers that includes the Hotel Dolce with a view over the spa gardens, the local Waldstadion as a training ground, the well-developed medical offer and, last but not least, the anticipation of many people in its ranks. The Dolce is the only hotel in the area that can provide the necessary 80 to 100 rooms for a delegation. The next largest house offers a total of 54 rooms, says Kreß. His city competes with Taunusstein and Darmstadt, Heidelberg and Mainz as well as Schweinfurt, among others.

As the most time-consuming part of the preparation so far, he mentions the talks with the clubs, which generally use the Waldstadion and would have to move to another venue for the time of the European Championship. "They're happy to potentially host a national team," he says, summing up the reactions. The renunciation of the Waldstadion should not be difficult for the hobby kickers for a few weeks, because the amateur leagues are pausing in the four weeks of the European Championship anyway. Regardless of this, Kreß and Hock's goal is: "We want to trigger a wave of enthusiasm in the city." And not only in a sporting sense.

Tourism important for trade and gastronomy

Hosting a European Championship team would have a positive impact on the tourism business. In the period before the pandemic, visitors to the city generated gross sales of up to 165 million euros, according to a study on tourism as an economic factor. After deducting VAT and intermediate consumption, an income contribution of around 93 million euros remained. This corresponds to almost one-tenth of the primary income in the city, i.e. the income generated within one year from the employment of just over 3000 people and the wealth received during this period.

If everything works out as hoped, Bad Nauheim could experience a "double boost", according to Kreß. In addition to the economic effects of hosting during the European Championships, there was also the income from the first full financial year of the new Sprudelhof-Therme, which is scheduled to open in autumn.

In addition, there would be a long-term effect for the local hotel industry: After 2006, the Saudis apparently made word of mouth for the spa town, because in the years that followed, football teams from the Arabian Peninsula kept quartering in Bad Nauheim.