Medico-Palais (Bad Soden)
The Medico-Palais in Bad Soden am Taunus is a building at the foot of the Burgberg in Parkstraße at the eastern exit of the old spa park . It was once the largest inhaler in Europe. Today it houses the Bad Soden Inhalatorium & Oxygen Center as well as several medical practices.
history
Previous construction
The first inhalatorium in Bad Soden am Taunus was created in 1884 on the initiative of the Soden spa doctors Köhler, Otto Thilenius , Stöltzing, Fresenius and Haupt. They set up the inhalatorium in the old Krughaus in the old spa park . It was built in 1845 by Sodener Aktiengesellschaft in the southern part, right on the border with the Paulinenschlösschen property . The Krughaus was initially used for the shipping of mineral water by the Nassau state government. From 1865 the building belonged to the municipality of Soden. After the building was no longer used, the community left it to the local medical association. In 1898/99 this building was expanded and in 1901 the name of Krughaus was changed to "Park Inhalatorium". The park inhalatorium was closed in 1916 and was used as a local museum from 1919. In 1945 the building was hit by a fire bomb and burned down completely. The remains were removed a few years later. The garden terrace of the Paulinenschlösschen was built on the area of the house in the 1950s. Today it is difficult to guess the location because the area was planted with trees and lawn.
Burgberg Inhalatorium
However, since discussions between the community and the medical association became more frequent, plans for a new inhalatorium were worked out from 1909 onwards. This enabled the doctors to become more independent from the community. The construction is financed solely by the doctors 'association and the doctors' private finances. In the summer of 1911, the building application was submitted to the architect Rückgauer. However, before the foundation stone could be laid, problems arose with the construction method. There were particular concerns about the statics of the building. A steel structure was planned. At that time, the construction method was still in its infancy and was still viewed rather skeptically. However, it was then agreed on a certain mixing ratio of the building material. The foundation stone was then laid on January 26, 1912. The first visitor was welcomed in July of the same year. Up to 300 patients could be treated here at the same time. In 1913 Grand Duchess Adelheid von Nassau visited the Medico Palais.
Due to the First World War , the number of visitors to the spa fell and with it the income. The debt could no longer be paid off. So the senior physician Hughes took out a mortgage of 50,000 marks on his house. During the war, a new form of therapy was introduced, namely that of the sunlamps. An extra room has been made available for this. After the French occupied Bad Soden, most of the spa guests stayed away. The restricted freedom of travel made the visit to Bad Soden difficult. Until 1926, Hughes was the chief physician general of the inhalatorium. After his retirement, Zippel was hired. In 1927 the elevator was installed, as was a preferred entrance area. The current revolving door was added in 1930. The Second World War caused another stagnation of spa guests in Bad Soden. The then general doctor Zippel was killed in a bomb attack. The building itself was neither damaged nor destroyed. After the war, the treatments were offered again.
At the beginning of the 1950s, the Burgberg Inhalatorium was renovated. In 1967 the building was leased to Sodener Kur GmbH. In 1982 the medical association, which was already established in Burgberg-Inhalatorium e. V. was renamed to hand over the building to the city of Bad Soden.
Medico-Palais today
After the building was taken over by the city in 1983, the building was renovated over several years. In 1993 the Burgberg Inhalatorium became the Medico-Palais. After the closure of the Kur GmbH, several medical practices moved into the building. But inhalations and baths are still offered here today. In 2012 the building celebrated its 100th anniversary. For this purpose , an exhibition was opened in the Medico-Palais on the day of the open monument , September 9th.
Architecture and equipment
The Medico Palais has a square floor plan. The front is intended to be reminiscent of old Roman and Greek thermal baths. At the front there is also the staircase with a balcony, as well as two statues of the spa treatment. Inside there is an atrium with a fountain made up of several columns of water. Before the renovation in the 1980s and 1990s, a fountain bubbled here with water from a Bad Soden spring. On the walls there are reliefs depicting old Roman bathing scenes. The entire building was built in Art Nouveau style.
literature
- Gunther Krauskopf: Bad Soden am Taunus . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2009, ISBN 978-3-86680-386-2 .
- Joachim Kromer: Bad Soden am Taunus life from the sources . Waldemar Kramer publishing house, Frankfurt am Main 1990.
- C. Schalles: “100 Years of the Burgberg Inhalatorium” (1912–2012) . 2012 (brochure).
Web links
- The Medico-Palais. Bad Soden am Taunus, accessed on September 9, 2017 .
- 2012 - 100 years of the Burgberg Inhalatorium. Historical Association Bad Soden am Taunus e. V., accessed on September 9, 2017 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jens Beck and Barbara Vogt: History of the spa park Bad Soden a. Ts. (= Materials for the Bad Soden history . Issue 14). 1993.
Coordinates: 50 ° 8 ′ 45 ″ N , 8 ° 30 ′ 13 ″ E