Thermal baths in the Black Forest region
The black forest has more to offer than just hams and cuckoo clocks. Beneath those heavily wooded hills flow waters that have given the region the nickname of Germany’s “green pharmacy”. The Romans, whose hygiene was legend, were the first to tap this natural resource. Records dating back to the Middle Ages and before show that people sought out the Black Forest spas to heal anything from acne to syphilis in the region. Later, the great 16th-century alchemist Paracelsus wrote of the “divine composition” of Black Forest waters. In the past 150 years the range of applications has increased considerably to include all sorts of massages, fango (hot mud) packs, hay packs, gymnastics, healthy foods, and even psychology. The larger spas today are not only a Mecca for those on the lookout for a healthy mind in a healthy body but also of crowds of medicine persons some of whom would be tarred and feathered in another age and place. Whether or not the waters actually work is another issue altogether. One thing is sure, however, a Kur does have a salutary effect on the immune system as a whole, simply because the patient is ordered to relax (workaholics beware!). And so the spa towns all radiate that special vacation ambiance that some of us only remember from our distant childhood. No doubt the Black Forest’s most eminent spa historically speaking is Baden-Baden, which lies in a narrow valley surrounded by fortress-tipped hills, forests and vineyards. The peculiar name dates back to 16th century, when the local Baden dynasty split into the Baden-Durlach line and the original stem henceforth called Baden-Baden. Though it has been known since Roman times, the town’s true Golden Age arrived in the 19th century, when for all intents and purposes, it became Europe’s summer capital. The international horse races at Iffezheim opened the season in May and closed it in September, a tradition that continues to this day. Statesmen and industrialists, aristocrats from emperors to lowly barons, and a volley of artists that at one time included such lights as Victor Hugo, Dostoyevsky (whose Gambler partly takes place in Baden-Baden), Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms and Friedrich Nietzsche, came here to take the waters, shape Europe, spend money, find a spouse, or merely rest. It was Hector Berlioz conducted the inaugural concert in the new theater in 1863, and in the same year Franz Joseph I of Austria, Czar Alexander III of Russia and Napoleon III of France held a meeting in the Hotel d’Angleterre. Baden-Baden is a stroller’s town. With cars banned from the center, much of the old leisurely ambiance has been preserved. The architecture is just on the right side of pomposity. The pattern of streets is refreshingly confusing, with twists and turns, stairways and recondite gardens that suddenly appear around the next corner. The spa facilities are centered in the Kurviertel, a long and well-tended park straddling the that was designed by Friedrich Weinbrenner in the early 19th century. Its main focus is a set of neoclassical buildings with dignified porticos. The first, when coming from the train station, is the Trinkhalle, where visitors are offered a glass of medicinal water and a sunny seat to enjoy it in. The little Orthodox chapel on the hill behind it (the Michaelsberg) was commissioned from the great Munich architect Leo von Klenze by Prince Stourdza, last regent of Moldavia, in memory of his son Michael who died in a duel in Paris in 1863. After the Trinkhalle comes the Casino, a former Jesuit college, whose current function has a greater power of attraction on the international scene. The restaurant here is a popular meeting place. Concerts and other performances at the neighboring Kurhaus are frequently broadcast throughout Germany. The shady Lichtentaler Allee continues up the Oos valley, by the theater and the Exhibition Hall (Kunsthalle), by a miniature golf course, tennis courts and to the Gönner Anlage, a carefully laid out rose garden given to the town by Hermann Sielcken, a Hamburg-born businessman, who made his fortune in the USA. Visible from here is the blue onion dome of the Russian-Orthodox church, completed in 1882 by and for the large local Russian community of Baden-Baden. The park stretches all the way to the 13th-century Lichtentaler Cloister. The two big spa facilitiesThe Friedrichsbad and the Caracalla Therme – which were both privatized a few years ago –, are to the north of the town center. Their indications cover rheumatic and skeletal problems, post-operative recovery, nervous disorders, respiratory and gynecological illnesses. The Friedrichsbad, a mighty construction erected in the 1870s in neo-Renaissance style, that was Europe’s most modern at the time. The interior, with arcades topped by elaborate capitals supporting domed ceilings, round pools filled with thermal water, mosaics and statues, is not only balm for the body but for the soul as well. Mellowing out in the warm waters of these hallowed halls costs DM 36 for three hours. For an additional DM 12 (plus a half hour) you get a special preamble including a vigorous shower, a warm-up room, a steam room and a soap and brush massage that efficiently gets the better of stress-related cramps and aches. The Caracalla-Therme, a few steps north of the Friedrichsba,d, is of more recent date (1985) and is more suited to what one might call family needs. The large daylit hall has an agreeable pool landscape punctuated by bubbling fountains. Water temperatures range from 18 to 38 degrees Celsius. An artificial waterfall drives icy water onto the backs and heads of its voluntary victims. There are outside pools, all steamy when the weather is cold, with hot-water whirlpools, foutains, jets, a current corridor and a sauna and steam bath complex. Use of the entire facility costs 19,— for two hours or 29 for four hours, with additional time automatically calculated on the way out. The advantage of both baths is that they close most nights at ten, and can therefore be used after visiting the town and its environs. The northern Black Forest has other spas with thermal waters worth dropping in on, should you be staying longer: Bad Rotenfels, Wildbad, Bad Herrenalb, Bad Teinach, to name a few. Down south, however, where the mountains are higher and the climate harsher, is unique Bad Dürrheim. It is located between Villingen-Schwenningen and Donaueschingen, site of the Danube’s source. The name, suggesting meager (dürr), indeed refers to the soil, which was never very bountiful to the local farmers. In 1822 brine deposits were discovered underground, and by 1851 a spa was in operation. Dürrheim salt was also sent around the world in sacks, but the process of evaporation became too expensive and the business folded. What remains are two stark pumping towers that serve as the town’s hallmark. The Dürrheimers spent over 30 million DM on their spa facilities, a mellifluous wood and glass construction, designed by the firm responsible for the Olympic Center in Munich. The single roof covers changing rooms and 11 pools with different temperatures and brine concentrations (2% to 6%), whirlpools and the like. The pools extend to the outside, where swimmers are massaged by a battery of underwater jets. The “Black Forest” sauna and steam bath area are well-equipped. Swimming in brine is like being at the seaside without the algae, the sea urchins, the pellets of oil, bits of raw sewage and other flotsam of civilization. The body is lighter than in fresh water, a very relaxing experience especially for those under physical strain. Specifically, however, the indications are for circulatory, respiratory and rheumatic illnesses, eyes, nerves, skin and treatment after accidents. Patients on extensive cures have special facilities for inhalation, but the visitor to the Solemar, as it is called, can step into a little room lined with brine-soaked blackthorn fagots and breath in a very salty fog. It has a soothing effect on the throat and lungs, and might well give smokers a profound need to quit the habit. Bad Dürrheim is not nearly as pompous as Baden-Baden, but all the more friendly for that. It makes no pretense at being more than a pleasant place for average budgets (numerous B & Bs beginning around 300,— DM per week). Its entertainment consists of dancing in the weathered Kurhaus. The spa personnel is approachable; and the administration does its best to keep its visitors entertained and active, with special programs that include everything from dancing, autogenic training and gymnastics, to ballooning and excursions into the surrounding nature. It’s no wonder that Bad Dürrheim was officially awarded top marks for its tourism in 1997. The plateau -like nature also makes the area ideal for pleasant hikes and cross-country skiing in winter. Not to be missed in Bad Dürrheim is the “Narrenschopf” – the “Fool’s Barn – a museum exhibiting those wild Allemanic Mardi Gras (Fasching) costumes. Wherever you go, remember that the Kur is a special institution in Germany, a way of taking a little more Urlaub without making it sound that way. Where resting is by Hippocratic edict, patients and visitors find a stress-free environment with generally healthy entertainment. Blamy and halcyon days ultimately break down our armors and encourage stimulate human contact: One of the by-products of the Kur is what Germans euphemistically call a Kurschatten, a brief and usually evanescent fling that rarely survives the Kur itself but does make it all seem less medical. Finally, enjoying a cure is possible without necessarily being convalescent. Some generous insurance companies will even pick up a part of the tab, though this tradition is under heavy fire due to overstrained budgets. Just remember to check with a doctor before taking the plunge. Some waters and applications can have a harmful effects, notably circulatory and skin problems. For information on Bad Dürrheim, call toll-free from Germany 0800-6670660, or write to Kur und Bäder GmbH, Luisenstr. 4, 78073 Bad Dürrheim. Internet: For Baden-Baden write to Baden-Baden Marketing, Solmstr. 1, D-76530 Baden-Baden; Tel: (07221)-275200, Fax: (07221)-275202, Internet: For general information on the Black Forest and its spas write to 2. Bertoldstr. 45, 79098 Freiburg, Tel: 0761-31317, Fax: 0761/36021. <<< Bergsilvester: Magnificent fireworks on the Nordkette mountains, Dec 31. Air and Style Snowboard Competition: Dec 3. World Cup Ski Competition: 26/27 Feb, Ladies’ Downhill and Superski. Central Tourist Association Zirl (western ski areas)-Tel. 0043-5238-52235