Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which became famous as a "Weltbad" in the 19th century.

At that time, Kissingen was under the domination of Fulda Abbey, later it fell to the Counts of Henneberg and was sold to the bishops of Würzburg in the 14th century.

Other well-known visitors to the resort included author Leo Tolstoy, composer Gioachino Rossini and artist Adolph von Menzel.

In June 1911 Alfred von Kiderlen-Waechter, German Secretary of State, and the French ambassador Jules Cambon had negotiations in Bad Kissingen about Morocco without achieving a solution.

As a result, efforts were made to attract a new kind of clientele, helped in no small part by the EMNID survey which named Bad Kissingen Germany's best-known spa town.

[12] The springs are located in the Kissingen-Haßfurt fault zone, absorbing minerals from Permian aged sediment layers.

The town hall of today is the former mansion of the noble family von Heußlein, built by Johann Dientzenhofer in 1706.

Between 1838 and 1913, the arcade (Arkadenbau) was built around the spa garden by Friedrich von Gärtner, as well as the halls for the use of the mineral water ("Brunnenhalle") and for promenades ("Wandelhalle"), following a design by Max Littmann.