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Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden (lit. 'meadow baths') is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden forms a conurbation with a population of around 500,000 with the neighbouring city of Mainz. This conurbation is in turn embedded in the Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region—Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr—which also includes the nearby cities of Frankfurt am Main, Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, and Hanau, and has a combined population exceeding 5.8 million.

The city is located on the Rhine (Upper Rhine), at the foothills of the Taunus, opposite the Rhineland-Palatine capital of Mainz, and the city centre is located in the wide valley of the small Salzbach stream. Wiesbaden lies in the Rheingau wine-growing region, one of Germany's 13 wine regions. Three of Wiesbaden's boroughs were part of the city of Mainz until 1945, and still bear the designation "Mainz" in their names—the so-called AKK-boroughs of Mainz-Amöneburg, Mainz-Kastel, and Mainz-Kostheim. This so-called AKK-Konflikt (de:AKK-Konflikt) is the main cause for the rivalry between Mainz and Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden Main Station is connected to Frankfurt am Main by the Rhine-Main S-Bahn rapid transit system.

Historically, Wiesbaden was a Nassauian city. From 1170 to 1629, it lay in the County of Nassau, and from 1629 to 1721, it was in the county and later principality of Nassau-Idstein, all of which were territories within the Holy Roman Empire ruled by branches of the House of Nassau. In 1728, the city found itself in the principality of Nassau-Usingen, and in 1744, Biebrich Palace became the main residence of the House of Nassau-Usingen. In 1806, the city became the capital of the Duchy of Nassau. Since 1841, the newly built Wiesbaden City Palace was the principal Nassauian residence. From 1868 to 1944, the city lay in the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau, and from 1944 to 1945, it was the capital of the Province of Nassau. In 1945, it became the capital of Greater Hesse and subsequently, in 1946, of Hesse.

Wiesbaden is one of the oldest spa towns in Europe. Its name translates to "meadow baths", and there are 15 mineral springs—14 of which are hot springs—in the city centre. With a yield of around 2 million liters daily, Wiesbaden is the second-most productive German spa after Aachen. Its location in a mountain basin at the southern foot of the Taunus, protected by the mountains in the north and west, gives Wiesbaden a mild climate. It has been called the "Nice of the North" because of its climate and architecture. The city of Wiesbaden is one of the wealthiest cities in Germany and one of those with above-average purchasing power. The United States Army Europe and Africa headquarters are located in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim.

Geographical setting
Wiesbaden is situated on the right (northern) bank of the Rhine, above the confluence of the Main, where the Rhine's main direction changes from north to west. The city is across the Rhine from Mainz, the capital of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Frankfurt am Main is located about 38 km east. To the north of the city are the Taunus Mountains, which trend in a northeasterly direction.

The city center, the Stadtmitte, is located in the north-easternmost part of the Upper Rhine Valley at the spurs of the Taunus mountains, about 5 km from the Rhine. The landscape is formed by a wide lowland between the Taunus heights in the north, the Bierstadter Höhe and the Hainerberg in the east, the Mosbacher Mountain in the south, and the Schiersteiner Mountain in the west, an offshoot of the Taunus range.

The downtown is drained only by the narrow valley of the Salzbach, a tributary of the Rhine, on the eastern flanks of the Mosbacher Mountain. The city's main railway line and the Mainz road (Mainzer Straße) follow this valley. Several other streams drain into the Salzbach within the city center: the Wellritzbach, the Kesselbach, the Schwarzbach, the Dambach, and the Tennelbach, as well as the outflow of many thermal and mineral springs in the Kurhaus (spa) district. Above the city center, the Salzbach is better known as the Rambach.

The highest point of the Wiesbaden municipality is located northwest of the city center near the summit of the Hohe Wurzel, with an elevation of 608 m above sea level. The lowest point is the harbour entrance of Schierstein at 83 m above sea level. The central square (the Schlossplatz, or palace square) is at an elevation of 115 m.

Wiesbaden covers an area of 204 km2. It is 17.6 km from north to south and 19.7 km from west to east. In the north are vast forest areas, which cover 27.4% of the urban area. In the west and east are vineyards and agricultural land, which cover 31.1% of the area. Of the municipality's 79 km-long border, the Rhine makes up 10.3 km.

Climate
Wiesbaden has a temperate-oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) with relatively cold winters and warm summers. Its average annual temperature is 9.8 °C, with monthly mean temperatures ranging from 1.0 °C in January to 18.6 °C in July.

Classical antiquity
While evidence of settlement at present-day Wiesbaden dates back to the Neolithic era, historical records document continuous occupancy after the erection of a Roman fort in 6 AD which housed an auxiliary cavalry unit. The thermal springs of Wiesbaden are first mentioned in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia. They were famous for their recreation pools for Roman army horses and possibly as the source of a mineral used for red hair dye (which was very fashionable around the turn of BC/AD among women in Rome).

The Roman settlement is first mentioned using the name Aquae Mattiacorum (Latin for "Waters of the Mattiaci") in 121. The Mattiaci were a Germanic tribe, possibly a branch of the neighboring Chatti, who lived in the vicinity at that time. The town also appears as Mattiacum in Ptolemy's Geographia (2.10). The Roman Empire built the Limes Germanicus, which was a line of Roman frontier fortifications in the Taunus. Wiesbaden is just south of the Taunus.

The capital of the province of Germania Superior, Mogontiacum (present-day Mainz), base of 2 (at times 3) Roman legions, was just over the Rhine and connected by a bridge at the present-day borough of Mainz-Kastel (Roman "castellum"), a strongly fortified bridgehead.

The Alamanni, a coalition of Germanic tribes from beyond the Limes, captured the fort around 260. Later, in the 370s, when the Romans and Alamanni were allied, the Alemanni gained control of the Wiesbaden area and were in charge of its defense against other Germanic tribes.

Middle Ages
After the Franks under Clovis I defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac in 496, the Franks eventually displaced the Alamanni in the Wiesbaden area over the course of the 6th century. In the 8th century, Wiesbaden became the site of a royal palace of the Frankish kingdom. The first documented use of the name Wiesbaden is by Einhard, the biographer of Charlemagne, whose writings mention "Wisabada" sometime between 828 and 830.

When the Frankish Carolingian Empire broke up in 888, Wiesbaden was in the eastern half, called East Francia (which would evolve into the Holy Roman Empire). The town was part of Franconia, the heartland of East Francia. In the 1170s, the Count of Nassau, Walram I, received the area around Wiesbaden as a fiefdom. When Franconia fragmented in the early 13th century, Nassau emerged as an independent state as part of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1232 Wiesbaden became a Reichsstadt, an imperial city, of the Holy Roman Empire. However, in 1242, during the war of Emperor Frederick II against the Pope, the Archbishop of Mainz, Siegfried III, ordered the city's destruction.

Wiesbaden returned to the control of the House of Nassau in 1270 under Count Walram II, Count of Nassau. However, Wiesbaden and the castle at Sonnenberg were again destroyed in 1283 in conflict with Eppstein.

Walram's son and successor Adolf would later become king of Germany from 1292 until 1298. In 1329, under Adolf's son Gerlach I of Nassau-Weilburg the House of Nassau and thereby, Wiesbaden, received the right of coinage from Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Bavarian.

In 1355, the County of Nassau-Weilburg was divided among the sons of Gerlach. The County of Nassau's holdings would be subdivided many times among heirs, with the parts being brought together again whenever a line died out. Wiesbaden became the seat of the County of Nassau-Wiesbaden under Count Adolf I (1307–1370), eldest son of Gerlach. It would eventually fall back to Nassau-Weilburg in 1605.

Modern era
Due to its participation in the uprisings of the German Peasants' War of 1525, Wiesbaden lost all its privileges for over 40 years. During this time, Wiesbaden became Protestant with the nomination of Wolf Denthener as first Lutheran pastor on 1 January 1543. The same day, the first Latin school was opened, preparing pupils for the gymnasium in Idstein. In 1566, the privileges of the city were restored.

The oldest remaining building of Wiesbaden, the old city hall, was built in 1609 and 1610. No older buildings are preserved due to two fires in 1547 and 1561. In 1648, at the end of the devastating Thirty Years' War, chronicles tell that Wiesbaden had barely 40 residents left. In 1659, the County of Nassau-Weilburg was divided again. Wiesbaden became part of the County of Nassau-Usingen. In 1744, the seat of Nassau-Usingen was moved to Biebrich. In 1771, the Count of Nassau-Usingen granted a concession for gambling in Wiesbaden. In 1810, the Wiesbaden Casino (German: Spielbank) was opened in the old Kurhaus. Gambling was later outlawed by Prussian authorities in 1872.

As a result of Napoleon's victory over Austria in the Battle of Austerlitz, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1805. On 12 July 1806, 16 states in present-day Germany, including the remaining counties of Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Weilburg, formally left the Holy Roman Empire and joined in the Confederation of the Rhine. Napoleon was its "protector". Under pressure from Napoleon, both counties merged to form the Duchy of Nassau on 30 August 1806.

At the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the Duchy of Nassau joined the German Confederation. The capital of Nassau was moved from Weilburg to Wiesbaden, and the city became the ducal residence. Building activity started to give the city a magnificent appearance. Most of the historical center of Wiesbaden dates back to this time.

In the Revolutions of 1848, 30,000 citizens of Nassau assembled in Wiesbaden on 4 March. They demanded a constitution from the Duke, which they received.

In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Nassau took Austria's side. This decision led to the end of the duchy. After the Austrian defeat, Nassau was annexed by Prussia and became part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. The deposed duke Adolph of Nassau in 1890 became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg (see House of Nassau). This turned out to be a fortunate change for the city, as it then became an international spa town. A rise in construction commenced after the aristocracy followed the lead of the Hohenzollern emperors, who began annual trips to Wiesbaden.

The period around the turn of the 20th century is regarded as the heyday of the city. Kaiser Wilhelm II visited the city regularly in summer, such that it became an unofficial "summer residence". The city was also popular among the Russian nobility. In the wake of the imperial court, numerous nobles, artists, and wealthy businessmen increasingly settled in the city. Many wealthy persons chose Wiesbaden as their retirement seat, as it offered leisure and medical treatment alike. In the latter part of the 19th century, Wiesbaden became the German city with the most millionaires.

In 1894, the present Hessian State Theater, designed by the Vienna architects Fellner and Helmer, was built on behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Weimar Republic and Third Reich (1919 to 1945)
After World War I, Wiesbaden fell under the Allied occupation of the Rhineland and was occupied by the French army in 1918. In 1921, the Wiesbaden Agreement on German reparations to France was signed in the city. In 1925, Wiesbaden became the headquarters of the British Army of the Rhine until the withdrawal of occupying forces from the Rhineland in 1930.

In 1929, an airport was constructed in Erbenheim on the site of a horse-racing track. In 1936, Fighter Squadron 53 of the Luftwaffe was stationed here.

In the Kristallnacht pogrom on 10 November 1938, Wiesbaden's large synagogue on Michelsberg was destroyed. The synagogue had been designed by Phillip Hoffmann and built in 1869. Another synagogue in Wiesbaden-Bierstadt was also destroyed. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, there were 2,700 Jews living in Wiesbaden. By June 1942 nearly all of them had been deported to the extermination camps in German-occupied Poland.

General Ludwig Beck from Wiesbaden was one of the planners of the 20 July 1944 assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler. Beck was designated by his fellow conspirators to be future Head of State (Regent) after elimination of Hitler. The plot failed, however, and Beck was forced to commit suicide. Today, the city annually awards the Ludwig Beck prize for civil courage in his honor.

Lutheran pastor and theologian Martin Niemöller, founder of the Confessing Church resistance movement against the Nazis, is an Honorary Citizen of Wiesbaden. He presented his last sermon before his arrest in Wiesbaden's Market Church.

World War II
In World War II, Wiesbaden was the headquarters for Germany's Wehrkreis XII. This military district included the Eifel, part of Hesse, the Palatinate, and the Saarland. After the Battle of France, this Wehrkreis was extended to include Lorraine, including Nancy, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The commander was General der Infanterie Walther Schroth.

Wehrkreis XII was made up of three subordinate regions: Bereich Hauptsitze Koblenz, Mannheim and Metz.

 * Bereich Hauptsitz Koblenz was the headquarters for 12 Unterregion-Hauptsitze, namely Trier I, Trier II, Koblenz, Neuwied, Kreuznach, Wiesbaden, Limburg an der Lahn, Lahn, Mainz, Worms, Darmstadt, and Luxembourg.
 * Bereich Hauptsitz Mannheim was the headquarters for 10 Unterregion-Hauptsitze, namely Saarlautern, Saarbrücken, St. Wendel, Zweibrücken, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Ludwigshafen (Rhein), Mannheim I, Mannheim II, and Heidelberg.
 * Bereich Hauptsitz Metz was the headquarters for Unterregion-Hauptsitze Metz, Diedenhofen (Thionville), and Saint-Avold.

During the war, Wiesbaden was, between August 1940 and the end of 1942, bombed by the Royal Air Force and from 1943 through to March 1945, was attacked by both RAF and United States Air Force bombers on 66 days. In the attacks, about 18% of the city's homes were destroyed. During the war, more than 25% of the city's buildings were damaged or worse and 1,700 people were killed.

Wiesbaden was the location of a camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust), and two subcamps of the Hinzert concentration camp, mostly for Luxembourgish prisoners.

Wiesbaden was captured by U.S. Army forces on 28 March 1945. The U.S. 317th Infantry Regiment attacked in assault boats across the Rhine from Mainz while the 319th Infantry attacked across the river Main near Hochheim am Main. The attack started at 01:00 and by early afternoon the two forces of the 80th U.S. Infantry Division had linked up with the loss of only three dead and three missing. The Americans captured 900 German soldiers and a warehouse full of 4,000 cases of champagne.

After the war's end, American rock artist Elvis Presley was stationed in Friedberg and often visited Wiesbaden.

Cold War and contemporary history
After World War II, the state of Hesse was established (see Greater Hesse), and Wiesbaden became its capital, though nearby Frankfurt am Main is much larger and works as Hesse's economic and financial centre. Wiesbaden however suffered much less than Frankfurt from air bombing. There is a persistent rumour that the U.S. Army Air Force spared the town with the intention of turning it into a postwar HQ, but USAAF sources claim this to be a myth, arguing that Wiesbaden's economic and strategic importance simply did not justify more bombing. Wiesbaden was host to the Headquarters, U.S. Air Forces, Europe based at the former Lindsey Air Station from 1953 to 1973.

American armed forces have been present in Wiesbaden since World War II. The U.S. 1st Armored Division was headquartered at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield, just off the autobahn toward Frankfurt, until the Division completed relocation to Fort Bliss, Texas, in 2011. Wiesbaden is now home to the U.S. Army Europe Headquarters and the General John Shalikashvili Mission Command Center.

Bathing and gambling
Wiesbaden has long been famous for its thermal springs and spa. Use of the thermal springs was first documented by the Romans. The business of spring bathing became important for Wiesbaden near the end of the Middle Ages. By 1370, 16 bath houses were in operation. By 1800, the city had 2,239 inhabitants and 23 bath houses.

By 1900, Wiesbaden, with a population of 86,100, hosted 126,000 visitors annually. Famous visitors to the springs included Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, and Henrik Pontoppidan. In those years, more millionaires were living in Wiesbaden than in any other city in Germany.

Gambling followed bathing en suite, and in the 19th century, Wiesbaden was famous for both. Its casino (Spielbank) rivalled those of Bad Homburg, Baden-Baden, and Monaco. In 1872, the Prussian-dominated imperial government closed down all German gambling houses. The Wiesbaden casino was reopened in 1949.

The Palace Square
The Schloßplatz ("palace square") is situated in the center of the city, surrounded by several outstanding buildings. The ducal palace was begun under William, Duke of Nassau. Its foundations were laid in 1837 and it was completed in November 1841 (two years after William's death). For the twenty-six remaining years of ducal authority it was the residence of the ruling family. It later served as a secondary residence for the King of Prussia 1866 to 1918. It was later used as a headquarters for French and British occupying forces after World War I, then as a museum.

Since 1945, the building has served as Landtag (parliamentary building) for the state of Hesse. The site of the palace had been that of a castle, probably from the early Middle Ages, around which the city had developed. While nothing is known of the former castle, remains of it were uncovered during excavations after World War II. The new town hall was built in 1887. A tile mosaic in front of the town hall shows the heraldic eagle of the Kingdom of Prussia (of which Wiesbaden was a part at the time), the coat of arms of the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau, and the fleur-de-lis of Wiesbaden. The old town hall, built in 1610, is the oldest preserved building in the city center and now is used as a civil registry office.

The Protestant Marktkirche ("market church") was built from 1852 to 1862 in a neo-Gothic style. Its western steeple is 92 m in height, making the church the highest building in the city.

Kurhaus and Theater

The monumental Neo-Classical Kurhaus ("spa house") was built at the request of Kaiser Wilhelm II between 1904 and 1907. Its famous Spielbank (casino) is again in operation.

In front of the Kurhaus is a lawn known as the Bowling Green. To one side of the Bowling Green is the Kurhaus Kolonnade. Built in 1827, the 129 meter structure is the longest hall in Europe supported by pillars. To the other side is the Theater Kolonnade, built in 1839. It is adjacent to the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, built between 1892 and 1894.

St. Bonifatius
St. Bonifatius, the first church for the Catholic community after the Reformation, was built from 1845 until 1849 by Philipp Hoffmann in Gothic Revival style and dedicated to Saint Boniface.

St. Elizabeth's Church
The Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Elizabeth, called Griechische Kapelle (Greek chapel) locally, was built on the Neroberg from 1847 to 1855 by Duke Adolf of Nassau on the occasion of the early death of his wife Elizabeth Mikhailovna, who died in childbirth. The architect was again Philipp Hoffmann.

Other sights
Another building from the regency of Duke Wilhelm is the Luisenplatz, a square named for the Duke's first wife. It is surrounded by Neoclassicist buildings, and in the middle of the square is the Waterloo Obelisk, commemorating the 683 Nassauers who died on 18 June 1815 near Hougoumont Farm in the respective battle against Napoleon. Apart from the palace in the center, the ducal family had a large palace on the banks of the Rhine, known as Schloss Biebrich. This baroque building was erected in the first half of the 18th century.

North of the city is the Neroberg. From the top of this hill it is possible to view a panorama of the city. The Nerobergbahn funicular railway connects the city with the hill. South of it, the Nerotalanlagen are a park along a creek, created in 1897/98 as an English landscape garden.

One of the three Hessian state museums, Museum Wiesbaden is located in Wiesbaden.

Other churches are the Bergkirche, completed in 1879 in Gothic Revival style, and the Lutherkirche, finished in 1910 in Jugendstil. The church Mariä Heimsuchung is a tall concrete landmark in the Kohlheck suburb.

Oriental Christianity is also represented with the St. Isaiah Syriac Orthodox Church on the Willi-Juppe-Straße in Dotzheim, built in 2016 by Suryoye-Assyrians.

The Warmer Damm park is a 4.5-hectare park on the east side of Wilhelmstrasse and south of the State theater and Kurhaus which features a lake, a fountain, various statues, and large grassy areas. The park was created in 1859–1860 and is named after the medieval fortifications around a pond into which the warm waters of the town's 26 warm springs flowed.

Boroughs of Wiesbaden
The city of Wiesbaden is divided into 26 boroughs: five in the central city and 21 suburban districts. The 21 suburban districts were incorporated in four phases from 1926 to 1977. The former Mainz suburbs on the right bank of river Rhine viz. Amöneburg, Kastel and Kostheim have belonged to Wiesbaden since 1945.

Population

Wiesbaden has a population of about 280,000. In 1946, when Wiesbaden became the capital of Hesse state, it had a population of about 188,000. At that time, Wiesbaden was a part of American occupied zone and parts of the city of Mainz, which was the right side on the Rhine river, became a part of Wiesbaden. In 1950s many Americans came to Wiesbaden due to its jobs by military bases. Many people who work in Frankfurt live in Wiesbaden due to its high rent of the city. Wiesbaden is one of the most international cities in Germany with people from over 180 countries.

List of largest groups of foreign residents of Wiesbaden:

Mayor
The current mayor of Wiesbaden is Gert-Uwe Mende of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who was elected in 2019.

The most recent mayoral election was held on 26 May 2019, with a runoff held on 16 June, and the results were as follows:

! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate ! rowspan=2| Party ! colspan=2| First round ! colspan=2| Second round ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % ! colspan=3| Valid votes ! 110,383 ! 98.9 ! 66,104 ! 98.6 ! colspan=3| Invalid votes ! 1,202 ! 1.1 ! 937 ! 1.4 ! colspan=3| Total ! 111,585 ! 100.0 ! 67,041 ! 100.0 ! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout ! 208,686 ! 53.5 ! 208,821 ! 32.1
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Gert-Uwe Mende
 * align=left| Social Democratic Party
 * 29,940
 * 27.1
 * 41,000
 * 62.0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Eberhard Seidensticker
 * align=left| Christian Democratic Union
 * 26,997
 * 24.5
 * 25,104
 * 38.0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Christiane Hinninger
 * align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens
 * 25,849
 * 23.4
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Sebastian Rutten
 * align=left| Free Democratic Party
 * 11,590
 * 10.5
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Eckhard Müller
 * align=left| Alternative for Germany
 * 6,859
 * 6.2
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Ingo von Seemen
 * align=left| The Left
 * 5,336
 * 4.8
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Christian Bachmann
 * align=left| Free Voters
 * 3,812
 * 3.5
 * 4.8
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Christian Bachmann
 * align=left| Free Voters
 * 3,812
 * 3.5
 * 3.5
 * colspan=7| Source: City of Wiesbaden (1st round, 2nd round)
 * }
 * }

The following is a list of mayors since 1945:

 * 1849–1868: Heinrich Fischer
 * 1868–1882: Wilhelm Lanz
 * 1882–1883: Christian Schlichter
 * 1883–1913: Carl Bernhard von Ibell
 * 1913–1919: Karl Glässing
 * 1919–1929: Fritz Travers
 * 1930–1933: Georg Krücke
 * 1933–1937: Alfred Schulte
 * 1937–1945: Erich Mix
 * 1945–1946: Georg Krücke
 * 1946–1953: Hans Heinrich Redlhammer
 * 1951–1954: Georg Kluge
 * 1954–1960: Erich Mix
 * 1960–1968: Georg Buch
 * 1968–1980: Rudi Schmitt
 * 1980–1982: Georg-Berndt Oschatz
 * 1982–1985: Hans-Joachim Jentsch
 * 1985–1997: Achim Exner
 * 1997–2007: Hildebrand Diehl
 * 2007–2013: Helmut Müller
 * 2013–2019: Sven Gerich
 * 2019– : Gert-Uwe Mende

City council
The Wiesbaden city council (Stadtverordnetenversammlung) governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 14 March 2021, and the results were as follows:

! colspan=2| Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! colspan=3| Valid votes ! 83,885 ! 95.9 ! ! ! ! colspan=3| Invalid votes ! 3,597 ! 4.1 ! ! ! ! colspan=3| Total ! 87,482 ! 100.0 ! ! 81 ! ±0 ! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout ! 209,347 ! 41.8 ! 1.6 ! !
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
 * align=left| Daniela Georgi
 * 1,526,381
 * 23.5
 * 1.2
 * 19
 * 1
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
 * align=left| Christiane Hinninger
 * 1,390,605
 * 21.4
 * 7.3
 * 17
 * 6
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)
 * align=left| Hendrik Schmehl
 * 1,320,299
 * 20.3
 * 5.6
 * 17
 * 4
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)
 * align=left| Christian Diers
 * 675,021
 * 10.4
 * 0.6
 * 8
 * ±0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)
 * align=left| Eckhard Müller
 * 423,519
 * 6.5
 * 6.3
 * 5
 * 6
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| The Left (Die Linke)
 * align=left| Ingo von Seemen
 * 402,735
 * 6.2
 * 0.0
 * 5
 * ±0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Volt Germany (Volt)
 * align=left| Daniel Weber
 * 246,454
 * 3.8
 * New
 * 3
 * New
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Free Voters (FW)
 * align=left| Christian Bachmann
 * 163,942
 * 2.5
 * 1.1
 * 2
 * 1
 * align=left| Initiative Pro Auto Wiesbaden (Pro Auto)
 * align=left| Christian Hill
 * 105,047
 * 1.6
 * New
 * 1
 * New
 * align=left| Citizens' List Wiesbaden (BLW)
 * align=left| Monika Becht
 * 73,255
 * 1.1
 * 0.6
 * 1
 * ±0
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Die PARTEI (PARTEI)
 * align=left| Lukas Haker
 * 51,343
 * 0.8
 * New
 * 1
 * New
 * align=left| Independent List Wiesbaden (ULW)
 * align=left| Veit Wilhelmy
 * 50,920
 * 0.8
 * 0.2
 * 1
 * ±0
 * align=left| Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG)
 * align=left| Faissal Wardak
 * 44,344
 * 0.7
 * 0.4
 * 1
 * 1
 * align=left| Liberal Conservative Reformers (LKR)
 * align=left| Thomas Preinl
 * 25,988
 * 0.4
 * New
 * 0
 * New
 * ±0
 * align=left| Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG)
 * align=left| Faissal Wardak
 * 44,344
 * 0.7
 * 0.4
 * 1
 * 1
 * align=left| Liberal Conservative Reformers (LKR)
 * align=left| Thomas Preinl
 * 25,988
 * 0.4
 * New
 * 0
 * New
 * 0.4
 * New
 * 0
 * New
 * colspan=8| Source: Statistics Hesse
 * }
 * }

Roads
Wiesbaden is well connected to the German motorway (Autobahn) system. The Wiesbadener Kreuz is an Autobahn interchange east of the city where the Bundesautobahn 3 (A 3), Cologne to Würzburg, and the Bundesautobahn 66 (A 66), Rheingau to Fulda, meet. With approximately 210,000 cars daily it is one of the most heavily used interchange in Germany. The Bundesautobahn 66 (A 66) connects Wiesbaden with Frankfurt.

The Bundesautobahn 643 (A 643) is mainly a commuter motorway which starts in the south of the city centre, runs through the southern part of Wiesbaden crosses the Rhine via the Schierstein Bridge and connect in the northwestern part of Mainz to the A60. The Bundesautobahn 671 (A 671) is a very short motorway in the southeastern part of Wiesbaden which primarily serves as a fast connection between the city centre and the Bundesautobahn 60 to serve the cities like Rüsselsheim, Darmstadt and the Rhine-Neckar region (Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg).

The downtown area is bordered on the north side by Taunusstrasse, which has once featured many antique stores. The east side is constrained by Wilhelmstrasse, created by Christian Zais. This 1,000 meter-long street is named after Duke William of Nassau (German Wilhelm), not Emperor Wilhelm II, as many mistakenly believe.

The streets of central Wiesbaden are regularly congested with cars during rush hour. Besides some areas, especially the Ringroad and not directly in the centre, and the southern arterial roads like the Mainzer Straße, Biebricher Allee and Schiersteiner Straße.

Rail

Wiesbaden's main railway station and several minor railway stops connect the town with Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Mainz, Limburg, and Koblenz via Rüdesheim. Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof is connected to the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line by a 13-kilometer branch line. Hamburg, München, Leipzig, Dresden, Stuttgart, Mannheim, and Hanover are connected directly to Wiesbaden via long-distance service of the Deutsche Bahn. More services to locations outside the immediate area connect through Mainz or Frankfurt Airport or Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. Regional trains and bus services are coordinated by the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund.

Public transport
Wiesbaden is connected to the Frankfurt S-Bahn network and served by three lines which connect Wiesbaden with the densely populated Rhine Main Region. All routes have an at least 30 minute service during the day, in the rush hour partially every 15 minutes schedule. It provides access to nearby cities such as Mainz, Rüsselsheim, Frankfurt, Hanau, and Offenbach am Main, and smaller towns that are on the way.
 * S-Bahn

The city's public transportation service ESWE Verkehr connects all city districts to downtown by 45 bus lines in the daytime and 9 bus lines in the night. Five more bus lines, operated by the public transportation service of the city of Mainz, connects Wiesbaden's districts Kastel and Kostheim to Mainz downtown.
 * Bus

Airports
The city can be accessed from around the world via Frankfurt Airport (Flughafen Frankfurt am Main) which is located 15 km east of Wiesbaden. The airport has four runways and serves 265 non-stop destinations. Run by transport company Fraport it ranks among the world's 10 busiest airports by passenger traffic and is the second busiest airport by cargo traffic in Europe. The airport also serves as a hub for Condor and as the main hub for German flag carrier Lufthansa. Depending on whether total passengers or flights are used, it ranks second or third busiest in Europe alongside London Heathrow Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Passenger traffic at Frankfurt Airport in 2011 was 56.5 million.
 * Frankfurt Airport

The airport can be reached by car or train and has two railway stations, one for regional and one for long-distance traffic. The S-Bahn lines S8 and S9 (direction Offenbach Ost or Hanau Hbf) departing at the regional train station take 30 minutes from the airport to Wiesbaden Central Station, the ICE trains departing at the long-distance railway station take also 30 minutes to the central station.

Despite the name, Frankfurt Hahn Airport (Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn) is not located anywhere near Frankfurt but is instead situated approximately 100 km from the city in Lautzenhausen (Rhineland-Palatinate). Hahn Airport was a major base for low-cost carrier Ryanair. This airport can be reached by car or bus. The nearest train station is in Traben-Trarbach, it is ca. 17 km from the airport, on foot. The roads are not lit.
 * Frankfurt Hahn Airport

Port
There are small container port operations nearby on the rivers Rhine and Main.

Military
Lucius D. Clay Kaserne (formerly Wiesbaden Army Airfield or WAAF) is located adjacent to Wiesbaden-Erbenheim and is home to the US Army in Europe (USAREUR) headquarters, the 2nd Signal Brigade and the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade. The airfield was one of the points of origin for flights to Berlin in support of Operation Vittles (the Berlin airlift) during the Soviet blockade of Berlin. General Clay, the commander of the US occupation zone in Germany, was the architect of the airlift.

The United States Army runs a garrison in Wiesbaden. The facilities for US soldiers and families are spread across various locations including: Aukamn, Hainerberg, Mainz-Kastel and the Wiesbaden Army-Airfield, where the names of the streets are named after servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives during the Berlin Airlift.

Economy
Wiesbaden hosts a number of international companies, which have their German or European headquarters there including Abbott Laboratories, DXC Technology, Ferrari, Federal-Mogul, Melbourne IT, Porsche, Norwegian Cruise Line, and SCA. Several German companies also have their headquarters in Wiesbaden, including SGL Carbon, Dyckerhoff, KION Group, DBV-Winterthur, and R + V Versicherung. Wiesbaden is also home to the "Industriepark Kalle-Albert", an industrial park in the southern quarter of Biebrich. It is one of the largest in Germany with over 80 companies from the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, including Agfa-Gevaert, Clariant, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, and Shin-Etsu Chemical. The park was founded by chemical company Hoechst AG in 1997.

The Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Statistical Office of Germany are both based in Wiesbaden, along with many Hessian ministries such as the Hessian State Criminal Police Office.

At approximately €77,500, Wiesbaden has the second largest gross domestic product per inhabitant in Hesse, after Frankfurt, making it one of the richest cities in Germany. The purchasing power per inhabitant is €22,500.

Culture
Wiesbaden's most important stage is the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Concert halls include the Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Saal of the Kurhaus. Wiesbaden has a State Library and a conservatory, where Max Reger studied and taught as a young man. Choirs such as the Wiesbadener Knabenchor, Schiersteiner Kantorei and Chor von St. Bonifatius are known in the region and even internationally.

International May Festival
The International May Festival is an annual arts festival presented by the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden every May. Established in 1896, it is one of the most distinguished international theatre and music festivals in the world. The festival features performances of plays, musicals, operas, and ballets. Concerts from a wide array of music are featured, as are artistic circus acts and modern dance presentations. Lectures, recitals, cabaret performances, and readings are also featured.

Rheingau Wine Festival
The wines and sparkling wines of the close Rheingau are presented annually at the ten-day festival in August, Rheingauer Weinwoche (Rheingau Wine Week) around the Wiesbaden City Hall, on the Schlossplatz (Palace Square), the square Dern'sches Gelände and in the pedestrian area. At 118 booths, Rheingau and Wiesbaden vintners offer their wine and sparkling wine and invite to discover the already well known and favored, but also new vintages. Every year thousands of visitors use this opportunity to get acquainted with Rheingau Riesling wines and all their various facets and flavors. Regional specialities compatible with the wines are offered as well. A diversified musical program entertains the wine festival guests. Initiated more than 30 years ago by the Rheingau vintners, this wine festival has a long tradition.

Shooting Star Market
Wiesbaden's Sternschnuppenmarkt is located at the central Schlossplatz and the neighbouring streets of the parliamentary building, old town hall, and market church. The Sternschnuppenmarkt takes place from the end of November until 23 December every year and is open from Monday until Thursday 10:30 – 9:00 pm, Friday and Saturday 10:30 – 9:30 pm, and Sunday 12:00 – 9:00 pm.

The market is related to the city arms of Wiesbaden: the colours blue and gold and the three lilies are characteristic. Four gates and an illuminated floral roof symbolizing Fleur-de-lis, consisting of twelve over ten metre high and twelve metre wide luminous lilies, emboss the Sternschnuppenmarkt.

Over 110 booths are decorated in oriental style, coloured blue and gold, offering Christmas style goods, arts and crafts as well as nostalgic carousels and a toy train. A Christmas tree more than 28 m tall is decorated with 1000 blue and golden ties, 2500 electric bulbs and 30 flash bulbs. The nativity scene displays life-sized wooden figures.

Rheingau Musik Festival
From the beginning in 1988 the Rheingau Musik Festival has staged summer concerts in the Marktkirche and in the concert hall of the Kurhaus now named Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Saal.

Sport
Since 2007 Wiesbaden has been home to SV Wehen Wiesbaden, an association football team that formerly played in nearby Taunusstein. The club was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga in 2019, but relegated back to the 3. Liga in 2020.

Twin towns – sister cities
Town twinning between Wiesbaden and other cities began with Klagenfurt in 1930, one of the first town-twinnings in Germany. Wiesbaden is twinned with:

 * 🇦🇹 Klagenfurt, Austria (1930)
 * Montreux, Switzerland (1953)
 * 🇩🇪 Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (Berlin), Germany (1964)
 * 🇧🇪 Ghent, Belgium (1969)
 * 🇫🇷 Fondettes, France (1975)
 * 🇸🇮 Ljubljana, Slovenia (1977)
 * 🇮🇱 Kfar Saba, Israel (1981)
 * 🇪🇸 San Sebastián, Spain (1981)
 * 🇵🇱 Wrocław, Poland (1987)
 * 🏴 Royal Tunbridge Wells, England, United Kingdom (1989)
 * 🇩🇪 Görlitz, Germany (1990)
 * 🇳🇮 Ocotal, Nicaragua (1990)
 * 🇹🇷 Fatih, Turkey (2012)
 * 🇺🇦 Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine (2023)

Coat of arms
Wiesbaden's coat of arms features three fleurs-de-lys, stylized representations of the city's heraldic symbol, the lily. The blazon is: "Azure, two and one fleurs-de-lys Or".

Notable people

 * Kathrin Ackermann (born 1938), actress
 * Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (born 1817, Biebrich Palace), reign 23 November 1890 – 17 November 1905
 * Norbert J. Becker (1937–2012), agricultural scientist and specialist in the area of vine breeding and viticulture
 * Adolphus Busch (1839–1913), founder of Anheuser-Busch
 * Sarah Colonna (born 1974), American stand-up comedian
 * Shlomo Eckstein (1929–2020), Israeli economist and President of Bar-Ilan University
 * Gisela Ehrensperger (born 1943), Swiss operatic soprano
 * Petra Fuhrmann (1955–2019), member of the Hessian Landtag
 * Biruté Galdikas (born 1946), Lithuanian-Canadian primatologist
 * Jürgen Grabowski (1944–2022), footballer
 * Peter Hanenberger (born 1942), automotive specialist for General Motors, previously chairman of Holden
 * Franz Kaiser (1891–1962), astronomer, discoverer of asteroid 717 Wisibada and asteroid 765 Mattiaca, both named in honour of the city of Wiesbaden
 * Wilhelm Kempf (1906–1982), Catholic theologian, Bishop of Limburg 1949–1981
 * Michael Kessler (born 1967), actor and comedian
 * Alfred Koerppen (1926–2022), organist, music pedagogue, composer and academic teacher
 * Otto Krebs (1873–1941), industrialist and art collector
 * Günther Lütjens (1889–1941), admiral and commander of the World War II naval Operation Rheinübung, aboard the battleship GERMAN BATTLESHIP Bismarck
 * Bruce Maxwell (born 1990), American baseball player (born on a U.S. military base)
 * John McEnroe (born 1959), American tennis player (born on a U.S. military base)
 * August Momberger (1905–1969), racing driver and engineer
 * Melody Perkins (born 1974), American actress
 * Emil Pfeiffer (1846–1921), physician
 * Bud Pierce (born 1956), American politician
 * Dieter Rams (born 1932), industrial designer, former head of design for Braun
 * Rudolf von Ribbentrop (1921–2019), captain in the Waffen-SS, recipient of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross for bravery
 * Nico Rosberg (born 1985), Finnish-German racing driver, 2016 Formula One World Champion
 * Volker Schlöndorff (born 1939), film director
 * Kristina Schröder (born 1977), politician (CDU)
 * Henry Schwarzschild (1925–1996), American activist for civil rights and human rights
 * Kiki VanDeWeghe (born 1958), American basketball player, coach and executive
 * Valerie Weigmann (born 1989), Filipino-German actress, host and Miss World Philippines 2014 titleholder
 * Silvia Weiss, soprano
 * William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (born 1852, Biebrich Palace), reign 17 November 1905 – 25 February 1912
 * Maria Yakunchikova (1870–1902), Russian painter and graphic artist
 * Schoolboy Q (born 1986), American rapper (born on a U.S. military base)
 * Leona Riemann (born 1952) German writer, author, and publisher

Notable residents

 * Peter Carl Fabergé, fled Russia to Germany, settled first in Bad Homburg and then in Wiesbaden
 * Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian Expressionist painter, lived there in 1922–1941 and died there
 * Hava Lazarus-Yafeh (1930–1998), Orientalist, scholar, editor, and educator; born in Wiesbaden.
 * Béla Kéler, Hungarian composer, he lived in Wiesbaden from 1863 until his death in 1882. He led the orchestra of the Second Regiment of the Duke of Nassau (1863–1866), and later also the spa orchestra (1870–1872).
 * Vladimir Nabokov, Russian novelist, poet, translator and entomologist, writes in his autobiography about his memories of his childhood in Wiesbaden
 * Priscilla Presley, lived in Wiesbaden with her parents. It was here that she met Elvis Presley.
 * Max Reger, studied in Wiesbaden
 * Mickey Rourke, resides in Wiesbaden at least part-time with his Russian-born girlfriend Anastassija Makarenko
 * Debby Ryan, American actress, lived in Wiesbaden for three years
 * Richard Wagner, settled in Biebrich (now part of Wiesbaden) in 1861, after the political ban against him in Germany was lifted. It was there that he began work on Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
 * Reese Witherspoon, lived in Wiesbaden with her parents
 * Mayte Garcia, American belly dancer, actress, author, singer and choreographer, lived in Wiesbaden with her parents. It was here that she met her future husband, the singer Prince, backstage at one of his concert
 * Eno, rapper, lives in Wiesbaden

Notable visitors

 * In the 19th century, visitors to the Wiesbaden's famous hot springs included Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johannes Brahms. Brahms' Symphony No. 3 (Op. 90) was composed in Wiesbaden in the summer of 1883.
 * Washington Roebling, chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, came to Wiesbaden—along with his wife, Emily Warren Roebling—in 1873, hoping that the warm springs would ameliorate the effects of the decompression sickness he suffered as a result of working in caissons of the bridge.
 * Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, who suffered from an acute gambling compulsion, allegedly lost his travelling money in Wiesbaden's Spielbank casino in 1865. The experience became the inspiration of his 1866 novel The Gambler (Russian Игрок), set in the fictitious place "Roulettenburg". Some historians have disputed this account, saying that Bad Homburg was the location for Dostoevsky's real-life misfortune.
 * Wiesbaden's Bowling Green has been very popular in recent years since various open-air concerts have been held there by artists like Elton John (2009, 2011 & 2019), Rod Stewart (2009), Eric Clapton (2008), R.E.M. (2003), Sting (2001), Bryan Adams (2000), Simply Red (1999), José Carreras (1992), and Luciano Pavarotti (1993). Lionel Richie and Plácido Domingo (2nd time in Wiesbaden) have also performed there.

Rivalry with Mainz
Mainz, on the opposite side of the Rhine, is Wiesbaden's archrival – the two cities are the capitals of their respective Bundesländer, and citizens of both cities jokingly refer to those on the other one as "living on the wrong side of the river".

Fictional references

 * In his short story "The Horror of the Heights" (1913), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle refers to an aerial region over Wiesbaden and Homburg in which aircraft mysteriously vanish.
 * In the 1983 American television movie The Day After, Wiesbaden was the first city to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon during the escalating war between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces that eventually leads to a full-scale nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union.
 * The historical novel series Romanike (2006–2014) by Codex Regius features Wiesbaden in the Roman age, or Aquae Mattiacorum, as one of its main locations.

title: Wiesbaden


text:
Around the World in Eighty Days

Around the World in Eighty Days (Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a wager of £20,000 (equivalent to £ million in ) set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works.

Plot
Phileas Fogg is a wealthy English gentleman living a solitary life in London. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives modestly and carries out his habits with mathematical precision. He is a member of the Reform Club, where he spends the best part of his days. Having dismissed his valet for bringing him shaving water at a temperature slightly lower than expected, Fogg hires Frenchman Jean Passepartout as a replacement.

On the evening of 2 October 1872, while at the Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in The Morning Chronicle (or The Daily Telegraph in some editions) stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days. He accepts a wager for £20,000, half of his fortune, from his fellow club members to complete such a journey within this period. With Passepartout accompanying him, Fogg departs from London by train at 8:45 p.m.; to win the wager, he must return to the club by this same time on 21 December, 80 days later. They take Fogg's remaining £20,000 with them to cover expenses during the journey.

Fogg and Passepartout reach Suez on time. While disembarking in Egypt, they are watched by a Scotland Yard policeman, Detective Fix, dispatched from London in search of James Strand, a bank robber. Since Fogg fits the vague description Scotland Yard was given of Strand, Detective Fix mistakes Fogg for the criminal. Since he cannot secure a warrant in time, Fix boards the steamer (the Mongolia) conveying the travellers to Bombay. Fix becomes acquainted with Passepartout without revealing his purpose. Fogg promises the steamer engineer a large reward if he gets them to Bombay early. They dock two days ahead of schedule.

In India, they take a train to Calcutta. Fogg learns that the newspaper article was wrong; an 50 mi stretch of track from Kholby to Allahabad has not yet been built. Fogg purchases an elephant, hires a guide and starts toward Allahabad.

They come across a procession in which a young Indian woman, Aouda, is to undergo sati. Since she is drugged with opium and hashish and is not going voluntarily, the travellers decide to rescue her. They follow the procession to the site, where Passepartout takes the place of her deceased husband on the funeral pyre. He rises from the pyre during the ceremony, scaring off the priests and carries Aouda away. The twelve hours gained earlier are lost but Fogg shows no regret.

The travellers catch the train at the next railway station, taking Aouda with them. At Calcutta, they board a steamer (the Rangoon) going to Hong Kong, with a day's stopover in Singapore. Fix has Fogg and Passepartout arrested. They jump bail and Fix follows them to Hong Kong. He shows himself to Passepartout, who is delighted to again meet his friend from the earlier voyage.

In Hong Kong, the group learns Aouda's distant relative, in whose care they had been planning to leave her, has moved to Holland, so they decide to take her with them to Europe. Still without a warrant, Fix sees Hong Kong as his last chance to arrest Fogg on British soil. Passepartout becomes convinced that Fix is a spy from the Reform Club. Fix confides in Passepartout, who does not believe a word and remains convinced that his master is not a robber. To prevent Passepartout from informing his master about the premature departure of their next vessel, the Carnatic, Fix gets Passepartout drunk and drugs him in an opium den. Passepartout still manages to catch the steamer to Yokohama but cannot inform Fogg that the steamer is leaving the evening before its scheduled departure date.

Fogg discovers he missed his connection. He searches for a vessel that will take him to Yokohama, finding a pilot boat, the Tankadere, that takes him and Aouda to Shanghai, where they catch a steamer to Yokohama. There, they search for Passepartout, believing he arrived on the Carnatic as initially planned. They find him in a circus, trying to earn the fare for his homeward journey. Reunited, the four board a paddle-steamer, the General Grant, taking them across the Pacific to San Francisco. Fix promises Passepartout that now, having left British soil, he will no longer try to delay Fogg's journey but instead support him in getting back to Britain, where he can arrest him.

In San Francisco, they board a transcontinental train to New York, encountering several obstacles along the way: a herd of bison crossing the tracks, a failing suspension bridge and a band of Sioux warriors ambushing the train. After uncoupling the locomotive from the carriages, Passepartout is kidnapped by the warriors. Fogg rescues him after American soldiers volunteer to help. They continue by a wind-powered sledge to Omaha and then get a train to New York.

In New York, having missed the ship China, Fogg looks for alternative transport. He finds a steamboat, Henrietta, destined for Bordeaux, France. The captain of the boat refuses to take them to Liverpool, whereupon Fogg consents to be taken to Bordeaux for $2,000 per passenger. He then bribes the crew to mutiny and makes course for Liverpool. Against hurricane winds and going on full steam, the boat runs out of fuel after a few days. When the coal runs out, Fogg buys the boat from the captain, then has the crew burn all the wooden parts to keep up the steam.

The companions arrive at Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland, take the train to Dublin and then a ferry to Liverpool, still in time to reach London before the deadline. Once on English soil, Fix arrests Fogg. A short time later, the misunderstanding is cleared up – the actual robber had been caught three days earlier in Edinburgh. Fogg has missed the train and arrives in London apparently five minutes late, certain he has lost the wager.

The following day Fogg apologises to Aouda for bringing her with him since he now has to live in poverty and cannot support her. Aouda confesses that she loves him and asks him to marry her. As Passepartout notifies a minister, he learns that he is mistaken in the date – it is not 22 December, but instead 21 December. Because the party had travelled eastward, their days were shortened by four minutes for every degree of longitude they crossed; thus, although they had experienced the same amount of time abroad as people had experienced in London, they had seen 80 sunrises and sunsets while London had seen only 79. Passepartout informs Fogg of his mistake and Fogg hurries to the Club just in time to meet his deadline and win the wager. Having spent almost £19,000 of his travel money during the journey, he divides the remainder between Passepartout and Fix and marries Aouda.

Background and analysis
Around the World in Eighty Days was written during difficult times, both for France and Verne. It was during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) in which Verne was conscripted as a coastguard; he was having financial difficulties (his previous works were not paid royalties); his father had died recently; and he had witnessed a public execution, which had disturbed him.

The technological innovations of the 19th century had opened the possibility of rapid circumnavigation, and the prospect fascinated Verne and his readership. In particular, three technological breakthroughs occurred in 1869–1870 that made a tourist-like around-the-world journey possible for the first time: the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in America (1869), the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), and the linking of the Indian railways across the sub-continent (1870). It was another notable mark at the end of an age of exploration and the start of an age of fully global tourism that could be enjoyed in relative comfort and safety. It sparked the imagination that anyone could sit down, draw up a schedule, buy tickets and travel around the world, a feat previously reserved for only the most heroic and hardy of adventurers.

The story began serialization in Le Temps on 6 November 1872. The story was published in installments over the next 45 days, with its ending timed to synchronize Fogg's December 21 deadline with the real world. Chapter XXXV appeared on 20 December; 21 December, the date upon which Fogg was due to appear back in London, did not include an installment of the story; on 22 December, the final two chapters announced Fogg's success. As it was being published serially for the first time, some readers believed that the journey was actually taking place – bets were placed, and some railway companies and ship liner companies lobbied Verne to appear in the book. It is unknown if Verne submitted to their requests, but the descriptions of some rail and shipping lines leave some suspicion he was influenced.

Concerning the final coup de théâtre, Fogg had thought it was one day later than it actually was because he had forgotten that during his journey, he had added a full day to his clock, at the rate of an hour per 15° of longitude crossed. At the time of publication and until 1884, a de jure International Date Line did not exist. If it did, he would have been made aware of the change in date once he reached this line. Thus, the day he added to his clock throughout his journey would be removed upon crossing this imaginary line. However, Fogg's mistake would not have been likely to occur in the real world because a de facto date line did exist. The UK, India, and the US had the same calendar with different local times. When he arrived in San Francisco, he would have noticed that the local date was one day earlier than shown in his travel diary. Consequently, it is unlikely he would fail to notice that the departure dates of the transcontinental train in San Francisco and of the China steamer in New York were one day earlier than his travel diary. He would also somehow have to avoid looking at any newspapers. Additionally, in Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet?, John Sutherland points out that Fogg and company would have to be "deaf, dumb and blind" not to notice how busy the streets were on an apparent "Sunday", with the Sunday Observance Act 1780 still in effect.

Real-life imitations
Following publication in 1873, various people attempted to follow Fogg's fictional circumnavigation, often within self-imposed constraints:
 * In 1889, Nellie Bly undertook to travel around the world in 80 days for her newspaper, the New York World. She managed to do the journey within 72 days, meeting Verne in Amiens. Her book Around the World in Seventy-Two Days became a best seller.
 * In 1889, Elizabeth Bisland working for the Cosmopolitan became a rival to Bly, racing her across the world to try to achieve the global crossing first.
 * In 1894, George Griffith carried out a publicity stunt on behalf of C. Arthur Pearson by circumnavigating the world in 65 days, from 12 March to 16 May. The tale of his journey was told in Pearson's Weekly in 14 parts between 2 June and 1 September 1894, bearing the title "How I Broke the Record Round the World". It was later published in book form in 2008 under the title Around the World in 65 Days.
 * In 1903, James Willis Sayre, an American theatre critic and arts promoter, set a world record for circling the earth using public transport: 54 days, 9 hours and 42 minutes.
 * In 1908, Harry Bensley, on a wager, set out to circumnavigate the world on foot wearing an iron mask. The journey was abandoned, incomplete, at the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
 * In 1928, 15-year-old Danish Boy Scout Palle Huld travelled around the world by train and ship in the opposite direction to the one in the book. His trip was sponsored by a Danish newspaper and made on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Jules Verne. The trip was described in the book A Boy Scout Around the World. It took 44 days. He took the Trans-Siberian Railway and did not go by India.
 * In 1984, Nicholas Coleridge emulated Fogg's trip, taking 78 days; he wrote a book titled Around the World in 78 Days.
 * In 1988, Monty Python member Michael Palin took on a similar challenge without using aircraft, as a part of a television travelogue, called Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin. He completed the journey in 79 days and 7 hours.
 * Since 1993, the Jules Verne Trophy has been given to the boat that sails around the world without stopping and with no outside assistance in the shortest time.
 * In 2009, twelve celebrities performed a relay version of the journey for the BBC Children in Need charity appeal.
 * In 2011, the Brazilian businessman and TV host Álvaro Garnero and the journalist José Antonio Ramalho make a bet with a pub owner in London and travel all the world trying to repeat the feat of complete the 80-day world crossing which was an Record (TV network) TV series called "50 by 1 - Around the World in 80 Days". Both Brazilians crossed from England all the Atlantic and Pacific, USA, Canada, Alaska, Japan, South Korea, China, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic nations, all the Scandinavia, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France to end again in London in 81 days (they arrived in London with 80 days but the pub closed in the night).
 * In 2017, Mark Beaumont, a British cyclist inspired by Verne, set out to cycle across the world in 80 days. He completed the trip in 78 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes, after departing from Paris on 2 July 2017. Beaumont beat the previous world record of 123 days, set by Andrew Nicholson, by cycling 18,000 mi across the globe visiting Russia, Mongolia, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, US and a number of countries in Europe.

Origins
The idea of a trip around the world within a set period had clear external origins. It was popular before Verne published his book in 1873. Even the title Around the World in Eighty Days is not original. Several sources have been hypothesized as the origins of the story.

Another early reference comes from the Italian traveler Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri. He wrote a book in 1699 that was translated into French: Voyage around the World or Voyage du Tour du Monde (1719, Paris).

Around the World by Steam, via Pacific Railway, was published in 1871 by the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and an Around the World in A Hundred and Twenty Days by Edmond Planchut. In early 1870, the Erie Railway Company published a statement of routes, times, and distances detailing a trip around the globe of 23,739 mi in 77 days and 21 hours.

American William Perry Fogg traveled the world, describing his tour in a series of letters to The Cleveland Leader newspaper, entitled, Round the World: Letters from Japan, China, India, and Egypt (1872).

In 1872, Thomas Cook organised the first around-the-world tourist trip, leaving on 20 September 1872 and returning seven months later. The journey was described in a series of letters published in 1873 as Letter from the Sea and from Foreign Lands, Descriptive of a tour Round the World. Scholars have pointed out similarities between Verne's account and Cook's letters. However, some argue that Cook's trip happened too late to influence Verne. According to a second-hand 1898 account, Verne refers to a Cook advertisement as a source for the idea of his book. In interviews in 1894 and 1904, Verne says the source was "through reading one day in a Paris cafe" and "due merely to a tourist advertisement seen by chance in the columns of a newspaper." Around the World itself says the origins were a newspaper article. All of these point to Cook's advert as being a probable spark for the idea of the book.

The periodical Le Tour du monde (3 October 1869) contained a short piece titled "Around the World in Eighty Days", which refers to 140 mi of the railway not yet completed between Allahabad and Bombay, a central point in Verne's work. But even the Le Tour de monde article was not entirely original; it cites in its bibliography the Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, de la Géographie, de l'Histoire et de l'Archéologie (August 1869), which also contains the title Around the World in Eighty Days in its contents page. The Nouvelles Annales were written by Conrad Malte-Brun (1775–1826) and his son Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun (1816–1889). Scholars believe that Verne was aware of the Le Tour de monde article, the Nouvelles Annales, or both and that he consulted it or them, noting that the Le Tour du monde even included a trip schedule very similar to Verne's final version.

A possible inspiration was the traveller George Francis Train, who made four trips around the world, including one in 80 days in 1870. Similarities include the hiring of a private train and being imprisoned. Train later claimed, "Verne stole my thunder. I'm Phileas Fogg."

Regarding the idea of gaining a day, Verne said of its origin: "I have a great number of scientific odds and ends in my head. It was thus that, when, one day in a Paris café, I read in the Siècle that a man could travel around the world in 80 days, it immediately struck me that I could profit by a difference of meridian and make my traveller gain or lose a day in his journey. There was a dénouement ready found. The story was not written until long after. I carry ideas about in my head for years – ten, or 15 years, sometimes – before giving them form." In his April 1873 lecture, "The Meridians and the Calendar", Verne responded to a question about where the change of day occurred since the international date line only became current in 1880 and the Greenwich prime meridian was not adopted internationally until 1884. Verne cited an 1872 article in Nature, and Edgar Allan Poe's short story "Three Sundays in a Week" (1841), which was also based on going around the world and the difference in a day linked to a marriage at the end. Verne even analysed Poe's story in his Edgar Poe and His Works (1864).

Adaptations and influences
The book has been adapted or reimagined many times in different forms.

Literature

 * The novel Around the world in 100 days by Gary Blackwood (2010) serves as a sequel to the events in 80 days. The book follows Phileas's son as he travels around the world by car instead of train, hence the longer time limit.
 * The novel The Other Log of Phileas Fogg by Philip Jose Farmer (1973) tells the secret history of Phileas Fogg's unprecedented trip, in which two alien races contend for Earth's mastery.

Theatre

 * The novel was converted into a play by Verne and Adolphe d'Ennery for production in Paris in 1874. The play was translated into English and brought to the United States by The Kiralfy Brothers.
 * Orson Welles produced a musical version with Cole Porter in 1946 called Around the World.
 * Another musical version, 80 Days, with songs by Ray Davies of the Kinks and a book by playwright Snoo Wilson, directed by Des McAnuff, ran at the Mandell Weiss Theatre in San Diego from 23 August to 9 October 1988, receiving mixed responses from the critics. Davies's multi-faceted music, McAnuff's directing, and the acting were well received, with the show winning the "Best Musical" award from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle.
 * Mark Brown adapted the book for a five-actor stage production in 2001. It has been performed in New York, Canada, England, South Africa, and Bangladesh.
 * Toby Hulse created an adaptation for three actors, which was first produced at The Egg at The Theatre Royal, Bath in 2010. It was revived at the Arcola Theatre in London in 2013 and The Theatre Chipping Norton in 2014.

Radio

 * The novel was adapted twice by Orson Welles for his Mercury Theatre broadcasts, 23 October 1938 (60 minutes) and 7 June 1946 (30 minutes).
 * Jules Verne – Around the World in Eighty Days, a 4-part drama adaptation in 2010 by Terry James and directed by Janet Whittaker for BBC Radio 7 (now BBC Radio 4 Extra), starred Leslie Phillips as Phileas Fogg, Yves Aubert as Passepartout and Jim Broadbent as Sergeant Fix.

Film

 * ln 1923, a silent film was released. Produced in Germany and starring Conrad Veidt as Phileas Fogg, the film's original German title was Die Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen. Its original 2 hour and 11 minute running time was later cut by seven minutes. The film was considered lost as of 2002.
 * ln 1923, a silent serial based on the book was released. Titled Around the World in 18 days, the serial told the story of Fogg's descendant, Phileas Fogg III, and his attempt to recreate his grandfather's journey.
 * In 1938, a French/English co-production entitled An Indian Fantasy Story featured the wager at the Reform Club and the rescue of the Indian Princess. However, the production was never completed.
 * In 1956, Michael Anderson directed a film adaptation starring David Niven and Cantinflas. The film won five Oscars, including Academy Award for Best Picture
 * In 1963, a comedy film The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze starring The Three Stooges in the Passepartout role was released to exploit the popularity of the 1956 film and the Stooges resurgence in popularity that began in 1959.
 * In 2000, Warner Bros. released Tweety's High-Flying Adventure in which Tweety flies around the world in 80 days collecting cat paw prints in order to raise money for a children's park. The film was also adapted into a game for the Game Boy Color that same year.
 * In 2004, a film was made, loosely based on the book, starring Steve Coogan and Jackie Chan in the roles of Fogg and Passepartout respectively. The adaptation bears less resemblance to the book. The film was nominated for two Razzie Awards.

Television

 * Around the World in Eighty Days, an Australian-produced 1972 cartoon series.
 * The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots, a 1976 cel-animated film.
 * Wielka Podróż Bolka i Lolka, a 1978 15-episode miniseries in the Polish Bolek and Lolek cartoon franchise, where Bolek and Lolek must compete with Fogg's descendant in a bet to repeat his fabled journey.
 * Around the World with Willy Fog, a Spanish-Japanese animated television adaptation in 1983.
 * Pierce Brosnan starred as Phileas Fogg in the 1989 mini series with Julia Nickson.
 * Sir Michael Palin partially attempted to recreate the journey for a documentary series: Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin.
 * Mickey Mouse Works "MouseTales" segment and House of Mouse episode "Mickey and Minnie's Big Vacation", with Mickey Mouse in the role of Phileas Fogg, Goofy as Jean Passepartout, Scrooge McDuck as Lord Abermarle, and Minnie Mouse as Princess Aouda.
 * David Tennant starred as Phileas Fogg in a 2021 television adaptation, Around the World in 80 Days.

Games

 * There have been several board games based, often loosely, upon the story.
 * The 2004 mobile video game Around the World in 80 Days is based on the 2004 film.
 * The 2005 PC video game 80 Days (2005 video game), developed by Frogwares, is based on the novel.
 * The 2014 game of the same name, 80 Days (2014 video game), developed by Inkle, is loosely based on the novel while introducing various science fiction elements.

Internet

 * Flightfox created a trip, "Around the World in 80 Hours", to see if flight experts could find cheap flights following the same path as described in the book. The online travel company then wrote a fictional eBook based on the results of the contest.

Other

 * Worlds of Fun, an amusement park in Kansas City, Missouri, was conceived using the novel as its theme.
 * Starting in the second half of the 20th century, and continuing up to the present day (2022), a number of airlines had "Around the World in 80 Days" fares, in which one could take as many flights in one direction as one wanted within the requisite time frame.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Around the World in Eighty Days


text:
McLibel case

, known as "the McLibel case", was an English lawsuit for libel filed by McDonald's Corporation against environmental activists Helen Steel and David Morris (often referred to as "The McLibel Two") over a factsheet critical of the company. Each of two hearings in English courts found some of the leaflet's contested claims to be libellous and others to be true.

The original case lasted nearly ten years which, according to the BBC, made it the longest-running libel case in English history. McDonald's announced it did not plan to collect the £40,000 it was awarded by the courts. Following the decision, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in Steel & Morris v United Kingdom that the pair had been denied a fair trial, in breach of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to a fair trial), and their conduct should have been protected by Article 10 of the Convention, which protects the right to freedom of expression. The court awarded a judgment of £57,000 against the UK government. McDonald's itself was not involved in, or a party to, this action, as applications to the ECHR are independent cases filed against the relevant state.

Franny Armstrong and Ken Loach made a documentary film, McLibel, about the case.

Background
Helen Steel and David Morris were two environmental activists of London Greenpeace, a small environmental campaigning group that existed between 1972 and 2001. In 1986 they distributed "a few hundred copies" of a six-page leaflet titled "What's wrong with McDonald's: everything they don't want you to know" in Strand, London. The leaflet accused the company of paying low wages, cruelty to animals used in its products, damaging the environment, and other malpractices. The group were not affiliated with the larger Greenpeace International organisation, which they declined to join as they saw it as too "centralised and mainstream".

Libel charges
In 1990, McDonald's brought libel proceedings against five London Greenpeace supporters, Paul Gravett, Andrew Clarke and Jonathan O'Farrell, as well as Steel and Morris, for distributing the sheet on the streets of London. This case followed past instances in which McDonald's threatened to sue more than fifty organisations for libel, including Channel 4 television and several major publications. In all such cases, the media outlets settled and apologised.

Under English defamation law at the time, the defendant had to show that each disparaging statement made was substantively true. This could be an expensive and time-consuming process. Gravett, Clarke and O'Farrell apologised as requested by McDonald's, but Steel and Morris chose to defend the case.

The two were denied legal aid, as was policy for libel cases, despite having limited income. Thus, they had to represent themselves, though they received significant pro bono assistance, including from Keir Starmer. Steel and Morris called 180 witnesses, seeking to prove their assertions about food poisoning, unpaid overtime, misleading claims about how much McDonald's recycled, and "corporate spies sent to infiltrate the ranks of London Greenpeace". McDonald's spent several million pounds, while Steel and Morris spent £30,000; this disparity in funds meant Steel and Morris were not able to call all the witnesses they wanted, especially witnesses from South America who were intended to support their claims about McDonald's activities in that continent's rainforests.

In its libel allegation, McDonald's asserted all claims in the pamphlet to be false. They found it difficult to support this position despite the indirectness of some of the claims. The case eventually became a media circus. McDonald's executives, including Ray Cesca, entered the witness box, enabling cross-examination by the defendants.

In June 1995 McDonald's offered to settle the case (which "was coming up to its [tenth] anniversary in court" ) by donating a large sum of money to a charity chosen by the two. They further specified they would drop the case if Steel and Morris agreed to "stop criticising McDonald's". Steel and Morris secretly recorded the meeting, in which McDonald's said the pair could criticise McDonald's privately to friends but must cease talking to the media or distributing leaflets. Steel and Morris wrote a letter in response saying they would agree to the terms if McDonald's ceased advertising its products and instead only recommended the restaurant privately to friends.

High Court
The case was adjudicated by Mr Justice Rodger Bell. On 19 June 1997, Bell delivered his more than 1,000-page judgment largely in favour of McDonald's, finding the claims that McDonald's was responsible for starvation and deforestation were false and libellous. The ruling was summarized by a 45-page paper read in court. Steel and Morris were found liable on several points, but the judge also found some of the points in the factsheet were true. McDonald's considered this a legal victory, though it was tempered by the judge's endorsement of some of the allegations in the sheet. Specifically, Bell ruled that McDonald's endangered the health of their workers and customers by "misleading advertising", that they "exploit children", that they were "culpably responsible" in the infliction of unnecessary cruelty to animals, and they were "antipathetic" to unionisation and paid their workers low wages. Furthermore, although the decision awarded £60,000 to the company, McDonald's legal costs were much greater, and the defendants lacked the funds to pay it. Steel and Morris immediately appealed against the decision.

In 1998 a documentary film was made about the case, also titled McLibel. This was updated in 2005 after the verdict of the final appeal.

In September 1998, the pair sued the Metropolitan Police for disclosing confidential information to investigators hired by McDonald's and received £10,000 and an apology for the disclosure.

Court of Appeal
An appeal began on 12 January 1999, and lasted 23 court days, ending on 26 February. The case was heard in Court 1 of the Court of Appeal in the Royal Courts of Justice. The case was adjudicated by Lord Justices Pill and May and Mr Justice Keene. The defendants represented themselves in court, assisted by first year law student Kalvin P. Chapman (King's College London). McDonald's were represented by libel lawyer Richard Rampton, and a junior barrister, Timothy Atkinson, and Ms Pattie Brinley-Codd of Barlow, Lyde & Gilbert. Steel and Morris filed a 63-point appeal. They had requested a time extension, but were denied. The verdict for the appeal was handed down on 31 March, in Court 1 at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The judges ruled it was fair comment to say that McDonald's employees worldwide "do badly in terms of pay and conditions" and true "if one eats enough McDonald's food, one's diet may well become high in fat, etc., with the very real risk of heart disease".

As a result of their further findings against the corporation, the three Lord Justices reduced Mr Justice Bell's award of £60,000 damages to McDonald's by £20,000. The court ruled against the argument by Steel and Morris that multinational corporations should no longer be able to sue for libel over public interest issues. Steel and Morris announced their intention to appeal over these and other points to the House of Lords, and then take the UK government to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

In response to the verdict, David Pannick said in The Times: "The McLibel case has achieved what many lawyers thought impossible: to lower further the reputation of our law of defamation in the minds of all right thinking people."

Steel and Morris appealed to the Law Lords, arguing that their right to legal aid had been unjustly denied. When the Law Lords refused to accept the case, the pair formally retained solicitor Mark Stephens and barrister Keir Starmer to file a case with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), contesting the UK government's policy that legal aid was not available in libel cases, and setting out a highly detailed case for what they believed to be the oppressive and unfair nature of UK libel laws in general, and in their case in particular. In September 2004, this action was heard by the ECHR. Lawyers for Steel and Morris argued that the lack of legal aid had breached the pair's right to freedom of expression and to a fair trial.

European Court of Human Rights
On 15 February 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the original case had breached Article 6 (right to a fair trial) and Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights and ordered that the UK government pay Steel and Morris £57,000 in compensation. In their ruling, the ECHR criticised the way in which UK laws had failed to protect the public right to criticise corporations whose business practices affect people's lives and the environment (which violates Article 10); they also ruled that the trial was biased because of the defendants' comparative lack of resources and what they believed were complex and oppressive UK libel laws.

In particular the Court held: "in a democratic society even small and informal campaign groups, such as London Greenpeace, must be able to carry on their activities effectively and that there exists a strong public interest in enabling such groups and individuals outside the mainstream to contribute to the public debate by disseminating information and ideas on matters of general public interest such as health and the environment."

- ECHR judgment, para. 89

"The safeguard afforded by Article 10 to journalists in relation to reporting on issues of general interest is subject to the proviso that they act in good faith in order to provide accurate and reliable information in accordance with the ethics of journalism ..., and the same principle must apply to others who engage in public debate."

- ECHR judgment, para. 90

"It is true that large public companies inevitably and knowingly lay themselves open to close scrutiny of their acts and, as in the case of the businessmen and women who manage them, the limits of acceptable criticism are wider in the case of such companies."

- ECHR judgment, para. 94

In response to the European Court of Human Rights' decision, Steel and Morris issued the following press release:

Having largely beaten McDonald's ... we have now exposed the notoriously oppressive and unfair UK laws. As a result of the ... ruling today, the government may be forced to amend or scrap some of the existing UK laws. We hope that this will result in greater public scrutiny and criticism of powerful organisations whose practices have a detrimental effect on society and the environment. The McLibel campaign has already proved that determined and widespread grass roots protests and defiance can undermine those who try to silence their critics, and also render oppressive laws unworkable. The continually growing opposition to McDonald's and all it stands for is a vindication of all the efforts of those around the world who have been exposing and challenging the corporation's business practices.

Post court developments
In the course of the UK undercover policing relationships scandal it was revealed that one of the authors of the "McLibel leaflet" was Bob Lambert, an undercover police officer who infiltrated London Greenpeace. John Dines, another undercover officer, was Helen Steel's partner for two years; she was unaware of his true identity and motives.

The Defamation Act 2013 brought some changes to libel cases, which were expected to make it harder for corporations to abuse libel law.

The McLibel case also raised awareness about how defamation proceedings can harm the reputation of companies that raise them, similarly to the Streisand effect.

McDonald's response
The McLibel film quoted McDonald's as offering little comment on the European Court decision, other than to point out that it was the Government and not McDonald's who was the losing party and that "times have changed and so has McDonald's".

On a website aiming to state its view on issues raised about it, McDonald's stated that the case is in the past and the issues more so, and that both sides in it have moved on (although Morris and Steel did continue related litigation).

Later events
Chapter 5 of Paul Lewis and Rob Evans' 2012 book Undercover: The True Story of Britain's Secret Police is titled "McSpies". In recounting the history of the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) it recounts the involvement of undercover policemen Bob Lambert and John Dines in the activities which led up to the trial. The Guardian later reported that Lambert had co-written the leaflet that was central to the libel trial. Steel has stated that Dines became treasurer of London Greenpeace.

Documents from the case showed that McDonald's private investigators had been receiving information from the Metropolitan Police. The Metropolitan Police were sued over this, which was settled out of court and with an apology and the Metropolitan Police undertaking not to share information from police computers with corporations.

Media
A feature-length documentary film, McLibel, was made about the case by Franny Armstrong and Ken Loach in 1997. An extended version was produced in 2005, with estimated viewing figures in excess of 25 million.

The documentary features courtroom reconstructions of the trial. It also features interviews with Eric Schlosser (author of the 2001 book Fast Food Nation), Morgan Spurlock (writer/director of the 2004 film Super Size Me), Keir Starmer (who provided free legal support to the McLibel defendants for many years) and Howard Lyman who appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show about Mad Cow disease.

In April 2022 the case was the subject for a programme in the BBC Radio 4 series The Reunion.

title: McLibel case