Nestled on the edge of the Black Forest in Germany, Baden-Baden is one of the world’s most famous spa towns. It houses an equally as famous casino, which was the spot where Russian author Dostoevsky got his inspiration for his novel The Gambler.
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is one of the most famous novelists of all time. Crime and Punishment is his magnum opus, but many of his best studies of human character and behavior can be found in his shorter writings. One of those is The Gambler, influenced by his time at Baden-Baden in Germany and his love of the casino there.
Baden-Baden Spa
Originally, the town of Baden-Baden had been founded by the Romans as a health farm. Today, it remains a fairly small settlement, much as it was then. The Black Forest looms over its shoulder and France is a few kilometres away, which still brings in visitors. Today the spa is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside some of the other great spa towns of Europe. Yet its casino is just as famous as its healing waters, as it was one of the first major gambling establishments in Europe.
Today, gambling has changed somewhat, in Germany and around the world. The provision of operators such as Jackpot City online casino has meant that people can access table games like Dostoevsky’s favorite roulette, wherever they are in the world. Bonuses also let people play without using their bankroll for a short time, and they don’t need to travel miles to a spa town to do so as he did.
The casino itself sits in what is known as the Kurhaus. This is the larger resort, which houses the spa, conference rooms, and gambling floors. Gambling was recorded here as far back as 1748. It has now been standing for 200 years with a main structure designed in 1824. The casino itself became popular around 1830 when it managed to capitalize on a gambling ban in nearby France.
Much like gambling itself, the German resort has been a story of highs and lows. It boomed in the Belle Epoch era as the wealthy young and rich began to take over from Europe’s historical families. Yet during the First World War, it largely fell into disrepair.
The Gambler
The Gambler is a fairly short novel, especially when compared to some of Dostoevsky’s other epics. It is the story of a young tutor, who is in the employment of a former Russian general. The general is in debt to a French man and is eager to find ways out of his predicament while his family stays at the hotel. Namely, this involves waiting for an elderly relative to shuffle off her mortal coil.
At the same time, the main character, who tells the story, is hopelessly in love with the general’s stepdaughter. She keeps sending him on errands, namely placing bets at the local casino. All of this dynamic is sent into chaos when the elderly relative arrives and promptly tells the family they won’t be getting any money at all.
The end of the story is quite open. After these events, the main character Alexei becomes a professional gambler. He is later told that his love is now financially secure and wants him to join her. He must then make a choice between staying and playing the roulette tables or going to live a new life with her.
Dostoevsky’s Time in Baden-Baden
Most of the knowledge of Dostoevsky’s time in Baden Baden comes not from the writer himself but from a friend, Leonid Tsypkin. He wrote an account of it named Summer in Baden-Baden, chronicling the time he and his friend Dostoevsky had there.
From this, you can deduce that Dostoevsky and Anna Grigoryevna, his wife, spent five weeks in Baden-Baden. Grigoryevna was pregnant at the time. In a case of life imitating art, the pair had met when Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina had begun working as a stenographer on his proposed book ‘The Gambler.’ Within a month they had been married and traveled to Europe and Baden-Baden. Unfortunately, her husband lost all his fortune here including all the money he had earned from Crime and Punishment. Later, she would take over all of her husband’s finances quite successfully.
It was also noted that at this point he had a quite large argument with the writer Ivan Turgenev. This would not only influence just his writing in The Gambler, but also themes in his other famous works The Idiot.
It was apparent immediately that he loved roulette, and would spend most of their money playing the game. This also had a huge influence on the book: This Swinging Pendulum of Risk and Reward. To distract him, she would send him on errands, obviously a huge part of the love interest in the novel.
Even in todays modern online casino culture, the themes inherent in The Gambler remain relevant. Today, safer gambling initiatives are in play at the top online casinos that were lacking then. Yet in the novel, gambling is simply a metaphor for the games played in relationships: Risky, rewarding and exciting. That remains just as relevant now as it did then.
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