When
my boyfriend said “let’s go to Baden-Baden and visit a famous spa built above
ancient Roman baths with natural thermal and mineral waters” I had no idea it
would be such an amazing experience. But indeed it was and so much so I want to
share it with all of you.
First
of all I need to mention that this spa typifies the German attitude towards
practicality and cleanliness. In the same way that they approach the separation
of different cleaning cloths and the rigid recycling of waste, so too they
insist on their spas being “textile free”, aka nude, simply because you can’t
get into a bath tub in a swimming suit and expect it to be as clean as if you
went in nude. But then they’ve been doing this for generations and would be
horrified at the notion of sitting in a steam room or sauna with a bathing suit
on. It is considered quite normal and natural to allow your body to breathe
freely, detoxify without being strangled by clothing, and sweat out those
impurities evenly. The first thing one notices too is that there is every
imaginable shape and size walking around quite comfortably, it’s as if being in
the same state puts everyone onto an equal playing field and nobody gives
anyone else a second glance.
Now
that we have that out of the way let me tell you about Friedrichsbad Spa which
is probably the only one of it’s kind in the world.
This “temple to the art of wellbeing,” as its calls itself,
was built in 1877 as a relaxation facility for German soldiers. It sits
directly next to the ruins of Roman baths and is driven by natural thermal
streams that surface from 6,500 feet deep and contain minerals like sodium
chloride, lithium, cesium, silica, boric acid, manganese, magnesium, and traces
of cobalt, zinc and copper.
Housed in a monumental, gorgeously decorated classical building,
the baths offer separate bathing days for men and women on Mondays, Thursdays
and Saturdays, except for the two central pool areas which are always mixed. We
just happened to go on a Friday so it was mixed throughout the whole process,
but I found that preferable as I was able to enjoy the entire experience with
my boyfriend.
According
to signage inside the spa, this is the last bath house in the world to offer a
wet sauna heated entirely with thermal heat. The 17-stage bathing process
gradually heats then cools your body, utilizing dry air, steam, baths,
scrubbing and massage. So it goes without saying that this experience is
one-of-a-kind, and therefore shouldn’t be missed. In a letter to a friend, Mark
Twain wrote, “Here at the Friedrichsbad you lose track of time within 10
minutes and track of the world within 20….”
A
temple to the art of wellbeing
Stages 1 – 3: Hot air
After undressing and leaving our clothes in lockers
activated with an electronic chip on a wrist tag, the greeting attendants gave
us a sheet and sandals and directed us to the shower for an initial wash-off.
The showers draw water from natural hot springs and are diluted with cold water
with a temperate control lever, but the pressure is constant, a little like
standing under a mild waterfall.
The 54 and 68 degree saunas that followed were heated
from below, and we simply laid back on our sheets on fragrant wooden loungers, starting
our relaxation as we gazed up at high ceilings with unusually painted tiles.
Stages 4 – 6: Soap scrub
Since toxins had already begun to seep from our pores,
it was time to shower again before presenting ourselves to the soap and brush
massage attendants. What followed was an exhilarating full-body scrub and
massage, including the tummy and the bottoms of our feet, and it ended with a
customary slap on the bum!
Stages 7 – 11: The aquatic life
We then showered off the soap and headed to the first of
the steam rooms, now free of our sheets but carrying a square seat pad that the
attendants handed to us. After that we had another shower and indulged in the whirlpools
and pools that offer a successive reduction of heat, soaking in the mineral
salts of the thermal water supposedly offering the greatest health benefits. Throughout
we enjoyed the high ceilings and decorative tiles, culminating in the 17m-high domed
central pool area with a natural mineral circular pool.
Stages 12 – 15: Winding down
After the big pool, it was back again for an optional
cold-water plunge (18° C or 64°F) which I always enjoy although my boyfriend
had to think twice about it before joining me for a quick plunge. Then, yet
another shower before we dried off with a large bath towel before being taken
upstairs for a cream massage to nourish our skin after all the saunas, steam
rooms and pools. The cream massage was an additional €10 but oh, so worth it!
Stages 16 – 17: Relaxation
Lastly, the attendants asked us if we wanted to sleep
and as it was part of the process we duly nodded our heads and were directed
into a large private room ringed with beds. We laid our sparkling clean bodies
onto our fresh sheets on top of a blanket and were then swaddled up like babies
by two attendants before being told to sleep and left alone in the semi-dark
and quiet room. Feeling as secure as a baby, the intention was for us to slowly
drift off to sleep but one look at my boyfriend and we both started laughing at
the look of each other wrapped up a little like mummies. So I confess we ended
up skipping the sleep and escaping our wrappings for the change rooms.
There is actually a last process, the reading room,
which we didn’t go into, but the intention is to lounge in a towel and enjoy a
gradual return to focused thought.
All in all, it was an amazing few
hours that left me feeling rejuvenated, healthy and ready to tackle the sights
of Baden-Baden, a truly unique town with a truly unique spa.
