Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, most well known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke, which is one of the few remaining bridges in the world with buildings on it. The town is located in the Nahe River wine region, renowned both nationally and internationally for its wines, especially from the Riesling, Silvaner and Müller-Thurgau grape varieties. Bad Kreuznach does not lie within any Verbandsgemeinde, even though it is the seat of the Bad Kreuznach (Verbandsgemeinde). The town is the seat of several courts, as well as federal and state authorities. Bad Kreuznach is also officially a große kreisangehörige Stadt ("large town belonging to a district"), meaning that it does not have the district-level powers that kreisfreie Städte ("district-free towns/cities") enjoy. It is, nonetheless, the district seat, and also the seat of the state chamber of commerce for Rhineland-Palatinate. It is classed as a middle centre with some functions of an upper centre, making it the administrative, cultural and economic hub of a region with more than 150,000 inhabitants. Geography Location Bad Kreuznach lies between the Hunsrück, Rhenish Hesse and the North Palatine Uplands, some as the crow flies south-southwest of Bingen am Rhein. It lies at the mouth of the Ellerbach, where it empties into the lower Nahe. Neighbouring municipalities Clockwise from the north, Bad Kreuznach's neighbours are the municipalities of Bretzenheim, Langenlonsheim, Gensingen, Welgesheim, Zotzenheim, Sprendlingen, Badenheim (these last five lying in the neighbouring Mainz-Bingen district), Biebelsheim, Pfaffen-Schwabenheim, Volxheim, Hackenheim, Frei-Laubersheim, Altenbamberg, Traisen, Hüffelsheim, Rüdesheim an der Nahe, Roxheim, Hargesheim and Guldental. Constituent communities Bad Kreuznach's outlying Ortsbezirke or Stadtteile are Bosenheim, Ippesheim, Planig, Winzenheim and Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg. Climate Yearly precipitation in Bad Kreuznach amounts to 517 mm, which is very low, falling into the lowest third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. Only at 5% of the German Weather Service's weather stations are even lower figures recorded. The driest month is January. The most rainfall comes in June. In that month, precipitation is 1.8 times what it is in January. Precipitation varies only slightly. At only 7% of the weather stations are lower seasonal swings recorded. History Antiquity As early as the 5th century BC, there is conclusive evidence that there was a Celtic settlement within what are now Bad Kreuznach's town limits. About 58 BC,