Wellness trip in Germany: where spa gardens meet thermal baths

Between the Baltic Sea and Allgäu, Germany is peppered with special cities: They all have a “bath” in their name and promise relaxation through natural remedies. Six tips for a wellness trip.

The addition of “bath” to the name has to be earned: in addition to spa parks and clinics, around 200 cities also have natural remedies such as moor, mineral, brine or thermal water. And the best air quality.

In addition to the classic baths, there are numerous other health resorts and seaside spas in this country. If you have not been prescribed a cure, you can still ensure your well-being there and find relaxation in certified baths. Six soothing baths from north to south.

Bad Malente-Gremsmühlen: Kneipp therapy in northern Switzerland

If you get off the train in the small community, you will find yourself in the middle of a hilly landscape characterized by rustling forests and lakes: Holstein Switzerland. Certified as a Kneipp spa back in 1955, natural water sources still lure you to ice-cold arm and water treading pools. One complex is hidden in the spa gardens not far from the train station, but the most popular and attractive is directly on the banks of the Dieksee, at the mirror ponds.

If you follow the hiking trail between the game reserve and the train tracks from the train station, you will arrive at the source of broken hearts. And it is precisely this, it is said, that is healed by those who drink their water. Maybe it was Malente’s good air that helped the German national team to triumph at the 1990 World Cup. Between 1974 and 1990 the national team prepared for the upcoming world championships at the local training camp.

Bad Bevensen: healing in the heath

Bad Bevensen in Lower Saxony awaits with all kinds of beauty: roses entwine old half-timbered facades, in the spa garden on the Ilmenau it is green and blooming. On top of that, the resort is in the east of the Lüneburg Heath nature reserve. To the south of the city, the Klein Bünstorfer Heide invites you to go on bike tours or walks, especially when the heather is in bloom in summer.

The fact that the small town became a spa town is thanks to a thermal spring. It gushes out of the depths a little outside of the village and founded the construction of a spa center. Recognized as a mineral spa in 1975, the name was changed to Bad Bevensen one year later.

Whether for spa guests or simply as a search for rest and relaxation: the iodine-brine thermal baths with saunas, massages or mineral rasul-healing earth bath are a magnet for visitors.

Bad Belzig: Weightless in Brandenburg’s youngest bath

Bad Belzig in Brandenburg has only been nicknamed “Bad” since 2010. Located between Berlin and Magdeburg in the Hoher Fläming Nature Park, visitors can not only wander through lush greenery, explore the pretty historic town center and castles. At the entrance to the Steintherme you can also shed your stress.

Six thermal brine pools – including an outdoor pool – relax tense muscles with water at over 30 degrees and strengthen the immune system. The light-sound room is an experience for all the senses. With a salt content of 4.5 percent, which is salty than the North Sea, you seem to float on the warm thermal water. Wrapped in soft sounds and plays of light.

Bad Wildungen: healing springs instead of cauldrons

The history of the city on the Wilde had dark chapters – for example the Wildung witch trials up to 1664. As early as the 19th century, spa tourism flourished with the discovery of several healing springs. Bad Wildungen has officially been a spa since 1906.

The historical foyer formed the center. Equipped with drinking cups, spa guests literally strolled through these halls. The building is located in the original part of the spa park, to which the site of the former state horticultural show in 2006 was attached. Walking and terrain spa trails lead through the lush green park. To this day, residents and guests alike can tap mineral-rich spring water at seven urban “medicinal water filling stations”.

Bad Ems: Baden like Goethe and Dostoevsky once did

The list of important spa guests is impressively long: whether Kaiser Wilhelm I or Tsar Alexander II, whether Wagner, Goethe or Dostoevsky – they all once traveled to Bad Ems. The Rhineland-Palatinate city on the Lahn, blessed with numerous thermal springs, advanced to a health resort with promises of salvation early on.

The imposing Kurhaus, built in 1715, still tells of the heyday of imperial spa culture. It is not for nothing that Bad Ems joins the eleven outstanding spa towns from seven countries that have been nominated as Great Spas of Europe for entry on the Unesco World Heritage List. These also include Bad Kissingen, Baden-Baden, the British city of Bath and Vichy in France.

Bad Ems also attracts with wonderful Lahn hikes and wine enjoyment. On top of that, holidaymakers can explore other sights in the region, such as Stolzenfels Castle and the Marksburg.

Bad Aibling: Soothing mud fight

Whether rheumatism or gout, circulatory disorders or osteoporosis: Bad Aibling’s “black gold” promises relief. Spa town since 1895, it is considered Bavaria’s oldest mud spa. Heat plus minerals and plant hormones have a pain-relieving and relaxing effect.

At the same time, thermal water containing sulfur, fluoride and iodine gushes from a depth of more than 2000 meters. The Desiderius spring has been officially recognized as a healing spring since 2008, making it Bavaria’s youngest thermal bath. From the peaks of the nearby Chiemgau Alps, mountain hikers can look down on their evening relaxation program in the Mangfall Valley from a great distance: the Bad Aibling thermal baths with their eight futuristic-looking white domes. Quiet and pure regeneration await you on 10,000 square meters.

This article was written by Von Dörte Nohrden, dpa

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