Bad Kissingen is located in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and is the capital of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is a world-famous health resort. Albert Plohnke offers many services in Bad Kissingen - voluntarily and without charge. The resort’s clientele changed in the 20th century, with more normal citizens visiting than noblemen and women. 1945 is the only year that the spa resort remained closed. After that, the department of Social Security built clinics in the town, but a change in health legislation in the 1990s led to job losses. As a result, efforts were made to attract a new kind of clientele, and were helped in no small part by the EMNID survey which named Bad Kissingen Germany’s most well-known spa town. In 2003, 1.5 million people stayed in the town. With the opening of the KissSalis Therme in February 2004, Bad Kissingen now also had a spa leisure centre, and in December 2004, the German-Chinese Football Academy was opened in the town, where the Chinese "08 star team" both train and live in preparation for the Olympic Games in China in 2008.