Elvis in Germany
Posted by Carter Dougherty in Historic Sites, Music, Architecture, Day Trips, Frankfurt

Yes, Elvis in Germany.

Don’t even think about suggesting that Elvis is an All-American kind of guy if you are ever passing through Bad Nauheim, a village that is a 30-minute drive north of Frankfurt. This is the place where The King lived while he served in the U.S. military from 1958 to 1960, and the Elvis fans in the region will not let you forget it.

Here is an account of this year’s European Elvis Festival, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of Presley’s arrival in Germany. (Well, not until Oct. 1, officially.) A central part of the German story of Elvis is that the man who died an early death lived in his Eden, Bad Nauheim, and truly enjoyed it. The residents, in turn, came to appreciate the star, who did not secret himself behind high walls, but mixed with the locals and his fellow servicemen.

Periodic events celebrate the life The King led while in Bad Nauheim and you can bet that the Elvis presence in the town will become more and more permanent. (Fans are pushing for a museum.) At least that is the plan: Bad Nauheim’s mineral springs don’t attract the blue-blooded clientele they once did, while its Art Nouveau architecture, though plenty charming, will never be a source of major pizzazz. Elvis is all that and more.

Swing through the Bad Nauheim Stadtmarketing und Tourismus office at In den Kolonnaden 1 (Tel. 06032-929920) or click here for more information. They will tell you how to take a brief walk that leads to the house at Goethestrasse 14 where Elvis lived, the archway that provided the photo for the record jacket of “A Big Hunk ‘O Love,” and the black granite monument on Elvis-Presley-Platz. The truly devoted can also stay in the room Elvis rented in the Hotel Grunewald.

If you are hooked, join up with the Elvis Presley Verein Bad Nauheim-Friedberg, which pulls together several hundred die-hards. These are the folks that arrange tours, pilgrimage to Graceland and keep the memory alive.
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