The Stadtwiki Baden-Baden

The Stadtwiki Baden-Baden is the digital memory of our region – a free, independent archive shaped collaboratively by the community, connecting the history of our city with everyday tips for today.

Our Mission

In keeping with our guiding principle, “Collect, preserve and share local knowledge,” we want to be the most reliable digital reference work for Baden-Baden:

• Independent: We don’t let ourselves be paid for content – what counts is its relevance to you, not an organiser’s marketing budget.
• Neutral & factual: We steer clear of sensationalist clickbait. On controversial topics we present arguments and counter-arguments as even-handedly as possible.
• Making diversity visible: Voluntary work and small local projects are close to our heart, and we fill the gaps in the digital information on offer.
• Reliable & interconnected: Our articles are based on verifiable facts and follow a consistent, well-linked format.
• With enjoyment: The Stadtwiki is no dry encyclopedia – where it fits, we whet your appetite for the Baden-Baden experience.

What is a Stadtwiki?

At its core it’s a small Wikipedia for Baden-Baden and the surrounding region – except that we deliberately work out in full detail the local topics that the big Wikipedia considers too insignificant: the sports club around the corner, the history of a single street. From the very beginning, the Stadtwiki has been a do-it-yourself project in which a great deal was tried out. Like every wiki, it thrives on participation – yet in a small town only a few people end up carrying the portal, because the complicated wiki syntax and the steep learning curve put many off. That’s why, in June 2026, we completely rebuilt the technology and are replacing editing in the browser with a simple form: anyone can send us improvements and new content, no prior knowledge required. You, too, are warmly invited – at the bottom of every article you’ll find a call to take part, such as this one:

Our Evolution since 2009

• 2009/2010: The project is set up modelled on the Stadtwiki Karlsruhe and built on MediaWiki, the software behind Wikipedia. In mid-2010 the website officially goes online under the domain stadtwiki-baden-baden.de.
• 2012: Through press releases and informal get-togethers we draw attention to the project. During this time we receive a large donation of scanned historic postcards – for example from Gustav Salzer – which we are allowed to publish.
• 2013: We introduce structured data – we record addresses, opening hours, geo-coordinates and further fields as the basis for the map and for smart connections such as “show me all restaurants and shops on Sophienstraße.”
• 2015–2019: Further experiments expand what we offer: aerial photographs taken by quadcopter, a switch to a plain, mobile-friendly design, and YouTube videos about the Winzertage and the Yburg.
• 2021–2025: Professional commitments slow down further development. The occasional small edits aren’t enough to keep the roughly 1,000 articles up to date.
• 2026: With the relaunch, we want to give it another shot – a complete technical overhaul, new ways to get involved, and the targeted use of AI to keep the portal up to date.

These captures of the home page show how the Stadtwiki’s appearance has changed over the years:

Who is behind it?

The Stadtwiki was founded by me, Moritz Grenke. With a great deal of diligence and even more idealism, I’ve grown the portal to around 1,000 articles and some 3,000 images. I grew up in Baden-Baden and greatly value the diversity of our city – the Stadtwiki is my way of giving something back to the region and, as an independent information portal, of having a positive influence on its development. At the same time, the Stadtwiki is my perfect experimental laboratory: from modern web design through future-proof CMS architectures to the sensible use of AI, here I can try out technology directly in practice and make it useful for our community.