Bad Steben thermal baths

Therme Bad Steben: Pavilion of Hearing (right) next to the column walk hall in the spa park (center)

The Bad Steben thermal baths go back to a mineral spring known since the Middle Ages in what is today the Bad Steben market in the Hof district . Due to the healing properties of the springs, the municipality of Steben was awarded the title of Royal Bavarian State Bath in 1832. Today the spa facilities of the health resort and spa are called Therme Bad Steben .

history

Medicinal springs

A mineral spring in Steben was first mentioned in 1443 and 1444, other documents from the 15th and 16th centuries attest to the Sauerbrunnen. In 1687 the Bayreuth court chaplain and professor of history described Johann Georg Layritz the Gerold Green drinking source (now Max-Marien-source), 1690 under the name Crenae Stebenae the first release on the medical effects of Stebener acidulous water through the high Princely Brandenburg life annuities, Court and Stadtmedikus Gottfried Stein zu Bayreuth published.

The second healing spring (today the temple spring) was mentioned for the first time in 1729, according to other records it already existed in 1691. The first quantitative analysis of the Stebener Säuerlings dates from 1736; the Tornesi spring, excavated in 1790, was abandoned in 1828; The third well was dug in 1802 and the fourth in 1804; in 1855 seven different wells were available.

In 1809 the hourly water quantities of the four springs were described as follows:

First source	28,559 cubic inches
Second source	42,119 cubic inches
Third source	29,423 cubic inches
Fourth source	30,414 cubic inches

In total, it was 130,515 cubic inches or about 5,000 liters per hour.

In 1851 the Max-Marien-Quelle was given its name on the occasion of a visit by the Bavarian King Maximilian II and Queen Marie . The meadow spring was drilled in 1871 and the temple spring in 1874.

Today's sources:

Temple source: water containing radon
Meadow source: calcium - magnesium - hydrogen carbonate - sourling
Max-Marien-Quelle: Calcium hydrogen carbonate sourling
Jean-Paul-Brunnen: The water has not contained any minerals for many years and is fed directly into the sewer system.

Development of the spa facilities

Map of Bad Steben with spa facilities around the end of 1800, beginning of 1900

In 1787, the royal governor, Philipp Ludwig von Weitershausen, had a font advertising the “mineral health wells in Steben and Langenau” distributed in Leipzig and Hof. In addition to the description of the inns and other accommodations with a total of 38 rooms as well as the various healing effects of the "healthy well", extensive suggestions for improving the infrastructure and building a bathhouse are presented in this document. A kind of visitor's tax has also already been proposed: "A small collecte could be collected from the bathers every month, and everyone will probably be happy to contribute to it". In 1788 the first printed spa list from Steben appeared.

The first state spa hotel was built in 1788, but not used as such for various reasons.

The community of Steben was elevated to the status of the "Royal Bavarian State Bath " in 1832 , and in 1834 the community sold the mineral springs to the Bavarian state for 600 guilders . In the following years, from 1837 to around 1850, various spa facilities were created: a bathhouse with a foyer , the first state spa hotel (Bayerischer Hof) and the first spa park (today Sachsenruh). Around 1870 Bad Steben had 600 spa guests a year. The second state spa hotel (Parkhotel) was added in 1892 and the third (Parkschlößchen) in 1902. In 1911 the Kurhaus was inaugurated.

Bad Steben thermal baths

The predecessor of today's thermal baths, the bathhouse Jean-Paul-Bad, was built between 1974 and 1979. In 1997 the state spa facilities were privatized, and Markt Bad Steben has a 26 percent stake in the newly founded Bayerische Staatsbad Bad Steben GmbH. After major renovations and extensions to the Jean-Paul baths, the Bad Steben thermal baths opened in December 2004. The slate typical of the Franconian Forest was used in the design.

Spa facilities

Water worlds

The heart of the Bad Steben thermal baths is the large bathing hall with the bathing pool heated to 30 ° C and the whirlpool with a water temperature of 36 ° C. Also in the interior, there is the vitality hall, the pavilion of hearing and the Pavilion of feeling.

In the outdoor area, visitors can look forward to massage jets , neck showers and whirlpool loungers in the 36 ° C warm brine outdoor pool, “champagne loungers”, an external flow channel and a scented grotto.

Sauna area

The sauna area consists of an aromatic steam bath and four other saunas. The infusion sauna and two other log cabin saunas can be reached from the inside: the Finnish fire sauna and the organic herbal sauna. The earth sauna is located in the sauna garden.

Wellness dome

In September 2007 the range of thermal baths was expanded to include the wellness dome. In a slate cave, visitors experience a day on the beach from sunrise to sunset within an hour.