Heavy

In our hot springs associated blog we sometimes takes some side roads.

One of which was a post on mud bathing, which seems to be the best read entry if I'm to believe the google produced statistics. Odd, here you have a blog dedicated fanatically to soaking in European hot springs, whereas it turns out that the main interest of its readers is in mud. Difficult to justify all my hard work!

Anyway, there's more to just mud, even what was listed back in 2013. 

It might need a remake of the original posting, but while that might still take place, I'm going to look into more depth to some of the heavier stuff I recently experienced: loam. Loam as in loam bath. So not mud, nor a derivative of mud. Wikipedia defines loam as:

'Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand, silt , and a smaller amount of clay. By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–silt–clay, respectively. These proportions can vary to a degree, however, and result in different types of loam soils: sandy loam, silty loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and loam'.

So just to clarify not mud, nor organic (as in peat), nor clay alone. A mixture.

Honors

We now take a further side step, as we are shifting to German wellness guru's of the past so as to get us some more background.

And yes, wellness guru's are a thing. Alive (Apr. 24, 2015) has an article on exactly this subject. Homeopathy / hydrotherapy, Kneipp / Bircher-Benner and other trailblazers are mentioned, whom all advocated nature based therapies. 

One also mentioned is Leopold Felke who's life transcends the late 19th / early 20th century. As a church pastor, he advocated homeopathy which lead to followers entitling him as a healer. Throughout his life he researched more and more on alternatives to traditional medicines. The article is unclear how his involvement with loam baths came about but they became a significant part of his therapies:

'When he introduced therapeutic baths in earthy loam in 1912, he became famous as the Loam Pastor. Felke believed that when a person came into contact with the earth, an interchange took place that would draw diseased matter from the body and put healthy matter in its place. Felke's patients would dig low trenches and fill them with loam, freshly dug and stirred into a mash with water. The loam bath was a half-bath patients would spread the mash up to their lower ribs. Afterwards, they would wipe it off roughly, letting some of it dry on the skin during the ensuing gymnastics. The loam was later rubbed off in a self-massage which increased the blood supply to the skin'.

There are quite a few sources of info on Felke, his life, his beliefs, though most are in German. There is though an English wiki page:

'By 1914, Felke spas had been established in Berlin, Aachen, Krefeld, Kettwig, Dortmund, and Stettin. These institutions were not allowed to use the name Repelen method or Felke method unless they received confirmation from Felke that they had been trained and authorized by him. During this time a number of Felke societies were formed in Germany, totaling more than 2,500 members. A Felke journal was also published at this time.

When World War I broke out, development was abruptly stopped. The spa facilities were used as a military hospital. Added to this was the fact that in 1912 Felke had to give up his rectory because of infidelity and now had no income at all because even after doing this he continued to provide his homeopathic treatments free of charge. So Felke moved to Sobernheim in 1915 to stay with one of his students and there he built up a thriving spa once again.

After the war, even though Felke went to Repelen every 14 days, business at the spa there never returned to the original levels it had once had. As a result, the spa closed; the Jungborn Society ended up selling the hotel to an innkeeper, and in 1934 it ceased all activities. Felke was active in Sobernheim until his death and he was a big part of the reason why this town on the Nahe River became a successful spa destination. This is why a monument was erected in his honor there, he was made an honorary resident, and there is a Felke museum'.

The village of Sobernheim eventually gained the much coveted honor of being able to prefix Bad before the village's name, thus celebrating continuation of Felke's ideas which can nowadays still be taken at various local spa's. There are in fact 3 places in or nearby Bad Sobernheim which provide the Felke kur complete with loam bath:

• Vital Resort Menschel
• Bollants 
• Hotel Maasberg

The first in the list is actually a continuation of Felke's practice. One of his avid followers was Alfons Menschel. His offspring still operate the Vital Resort Menschel where the standard treatment (= Kur; if there's a Dr on the payroll it's a Kur, otherwise it's considered wellness) is as decreed by Felke: the 4 elements: water-air-light-earth. In this case loam applications together with good nutrition and recreation (Felke Kur).

Beaten

Beyond Bad Sobernheim, loam bathing has not become widespread, even in Germany. Clay yes (which has many similar characteristics, though loam applications are usually very thick), but it's not overtly clear whether it's loam itself or locally found loam which is required. I suspect not as the previous endeavors of Felke took place in a totally different part of Germany. Then again the local soils are very loamy. This website actually indicates how the loam is delved (locally) from a meter deep and de-stoned.

The thickness of loam means that full baths are not possible, it's simply too heavy. Half baths and the rest spread on. Or body packings centimeters thick. 

The loam closes off the body and serves to insulate the body. The high alkaline content assists the therapeutic effect (detoxification)

There still is an active Felke organisation which also maintain a museum.
Read more here concerning Emanuel Felke. Or here more on loam baths.

Finishing off is a personal experience (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 25 Oct. 2019). Translated:

'Everyone gets a beating. To do this, we climb into flat green zinc tubs that are ankle-deep in cold water. The air temperature on this gray October morning is as refreshing as Nicole Praß-Anton's mood. The light-blonde, well-trained woman motivates about twenty early risers to step into the ice-cold "sit-down bath". "Kick, kick, kick! Rub, rub, rub!" She shouts happily. And the spa guests eagerly kick their legs and fearlessly shovel cold water onto their bellies with their hands. Everyone is naked, including the physiotherapist Praß-Anton. After two minutes in the tub, everyone is wide awake.

...

So off to the clay bath! The reddish-brown mud is finely sifted and warm and moist and can be easily smeared on the body. Sitting in a steam room with other muddy creatures, you smear and rub until your skin is as dark as if you've been sizzling in the sun on the Costa Brava for three weeks. The clay comes from a pit 200 meters from the hotel, is alkaline and is said to help against skin diseases, detoxify and "purify" the body - although the clay pastor Felke did not explain in detail how exactly the mud pulls this slag out of the skin. Anyway, as long as you don't rub the stuff in your eyes, it's kinda good. A fashion expression fits here like the fist on the mud eye: You feel totally grounded'.

Despite the above, the article manages to embrace the personal with the history of Germany's Kur-culture, while simultaneously looking into the prospects of the wellness sector.

Postscript 2022 (late): solely based on wellness, there's quite little to base a figure on. But the resort has more. I'll stick with a seven.