A bit of an intro

Thermalism, for many central Europeans like Swiss, Germans, Italians and French, is a bit like fishing for Americans, it is relaxing, self-centered and self-rewarding.  It is still seen as healing by some, complete pampering by others, and maybe both by most. I personally feel rejuvenated after a visit to a spa not only through the healing power of mineral water but through the use of these facilities as well. Most modern thermal baths are generally very large facility with several pools, jacuzzis, hydrotherapy, with favorites like goose neck jets, in-pool jets, saunas and steam baths. A bit like an amusement park, but centered around water, the Disneyworld of bathing. Some have a lot of history, some have been designed by star architects, some are fabulously located, sometimes all of this is combined.

Switzerland is intrinsically linked to water; with the Alps taking a lot of the Swiss landscape, mineral water and springs are everywhere. Rivers, rain, snow and glaciers are part of every Swiss' psyché. Both Rhine and Rhône, two of the longest rivers in Europe have their source in the Swiss Alps. Almost every town has a public swimming pool and pupils generally have swimming lessons as part of their weekly PE from primary schools to high school. So it is no wonder that Swiss people embrace thermalism and so are their neighbors, French, Italian, Austrian and Germans. The author being French and Swiss is no exception.

In my early twenties, I discovered the roman-irish bathing rituals at Scuol, in the Swiss Alps. Now all the hype in Switzerland and Germany with many thermal baths competing for clients with this particular offer, it was at that time quite unique and felt like an ancient ritual resuscitated from the Roman times for the modern visitors. Over the following 20 years, I started visiting more and more of these thermal baths and learning about the rise (and most often fall) of the spa towns of the 19th century. And when a full blown spa town with large public thermal baths is not available, like in most of the world outside central Europe by now, I seek hotels with large spa facilities. There is nothing more relaxing then indulging in an hour or two of pool, bubbly jacuzzi, self-massage under different goose neck jets after a good day of hiking, touring or a long drive. And what more enchanting than a heated outdoor pool with a view of the night sky or overlooking a city. And when by freezing temperatures, you relax outside in a warm pool surrounded by snowy mountain peaks this becomes unforgettable. Then it is time for dinner. 

I have been scouring the internet to find a website with everything about spa and thermalism, but probably because the anglo-saxon world is much less versed in this than say Germans or French, there is nothing. As for the websites in German or French or Italian, most focus on their own country. This is an attempt to fill this gap and share this wonderful world to a wider audience. 

Following a lecture in Cork given by Captain Richard Tappin Claridge in 1842, Dr. Richard Barter (1802-1870), an Irish doctor, who completed his studies at London's Royal College of Physicians in 1828, took an interest in the therapeutic benefits of cold water. Claridge published a book (Hydropathy; or The Cold Water Cure, as practised by Vincent Priessnitz) after spending some time at Vincenz Priessnitz's clinic in Gräfenberg, in then Austrian Silesia (today Lázně Jeseník in Czech Republic). Barter, already convinced of the benefits of hydrotherapy during the 1832 cholera epidemic, founded St Anne's Hydrotherapy Establishment in 1843 at Blarney in Cork County. In 1856, after reading David Urquhart's Pillars of Hercules, he added the first Turkish bath in the then United Kingdom. Seeking greater perspiration, which was obstructed by the moisture-laden air of turkish bath, he fine-tuned his system by turning to dry hot air, like the laconicum in the baths of ancient Rome. By 1859, he took out a patent for his 'Improved Turkish Bath'. These Victorian-era Turkish baths then blossomed everywhere in the UK, Australia (1859), Germany (1860), the US (1863), France (1868), Canada (1869), New Zealand (1874).  In Germany, these Turkish baths took the name Roman-Irish baths (Römisches-Irisches Bad) in reference to Barter's origin.  The most famous of them, the Friedrichsbad, opened in 1877 in Baden-Baden, at which time only the dry hot air bath was named Roman-Irish. It is only in the late 20th century that the whole experience has been remarketed as Roman-Irish bath, leading a trend which can now be seen across Switzerland and Germany. 

Unfortunately, the 20th century saw the closure of many of these Victorian-era Turkish baths, especially outside Germany. There only a few survived and enjoyed a revival in the late 20th century and through the 21st century, like Baden-Baden's Friedrichbad, Wiesbaden's Karl-Friedrich-Bad and Munich's Müller'sches Volksbad. In Switzerland, Scuol and Leukerbad took on the trend and created in 1993 each their Roman-Irish baths as part of new thermal bath facilities (the Walliser Alpentherme in Leukerbad and the Bogn Engiadina in Scuol).

The ritual itself changes depending on the location and is never strict, always left to the appreciation of the bathers, but it is generally spread over 10+ "stations" and involves going through increasingly hotter dry air baths staying 10-15 minutes in each to increase perspiration, then showers, then sometimes reinvigorating brush massage, then increasingly warmer steam baths with different mineral pools of different temperature, sometimes some moisterizing cream application, before being wrapped in warm blanket and relaxing for 30+ minutes in a quiet room. The whole ritual lasting 2-3h and needs timed reservation as only 2-4 people are let to enter the circuit to prevent crowding. Click here for a detailed description by station at Baden-Baden's Friedrichsbad. Below is the process at Scuol's Bogn Engiadina.

To be naked or not naked, that is the question (or WTF is FKK??)

In most German-speaking regions, the ritual is done naked, hence it takes people not used to this a few minutes adjustment to get over the awkwardness.  Zurich and Leukerbad are not naked. In Germany, the culture of taking the waters naked is anchored in this philosophy termed FKK, Freikörperkultur or culture of the free body, more on the Wikipedia article here.

Where to find these bathing rituals today

Switzerland: Leukerbad, Scuol, Zürich, Säntis-Park, Berne

Germany: Baden-Baden

To go deeper

There is an excellent resource I stumbled upon while writing this first newsletter that is dedicated to the topic, a full complete website titled The rise and fall of Victorian Turkish Baths by Malcolm Shifrin. He also wrote a book you can find in the Reading section.

Other sources

Bogn Engiadina Scuol wiki

Bogn Engiadina official website

Friedrichsbad official website

The Corkman who invented the Roman-Irish baths article in the Irish Examiner about Barter

Das Römisch-Irische Bad in Baden-Baden sorgt für Verwirrung (German article on Baden-Baden Friedrichsbad)

Irish-Römisches Bad (German)