Bubbles

Apologies. Yet another post on Baden's baden. This time we are going to share the free soaking experience to be had. Basically what this blog is about.

But let's see what we have posted over the past two years concerning Baden and it's thermal heritage:

• Relating Baden's Fortyseven Wellness Therme experience (26-9-22).
• Extensive news on Bad zum Raben crowd-funded purchase and Baden bathing developments (8-8-2022).
• News on the opening of Fortyseven Wellness Therme plus start up issues as well as the free bathing initiatives (8-1-2022).
• Short item on Roman finds (7-7-2021) while construction of Fortyseven Wellness Therme took place.

With reference to what's already been shared here (above), I'll try to move forward and describe how the free thermal experience really feels like.

Breathing fresh air into the millennea old thermal experience of Baden has been undertaken with the construction of the Fortyseven Wellness Therme over what has been the local thermal source. 

Additionally nearby apartments were  constructed and along the Limmat river a continuation of the riverside pedestrian boulevard took place, but minus the beautiful greenery elsewhere evident. Thus a new thermal district has come into existence.

Unfortunately this new set up contains huge amounts of cement and stone, not really enticing. But it  looks modern. And simultaneously fake.

As part of the rejuvenation the original thermal source (Limmatquelle Thermalquelle) which is located directly along the Limmat riverside, received a redevelopment:

Here you can witness the waters bubbling up. The Baden town website notes on this:

'Here, Baden's thermal water bubbles visibly to the surface.

What has been hidden for a long time is finally visible again: Baden's thermal water. The thermal water that represents Baden's origins and the birthplace of Baden's spirit. It is flowing powerfully out of the Limmat spring.

The redesigned spring pavilion encloses the only visible spring fountain in the public area. This bubbling fountain stands symbolically for the reawakening of the baths'.

Rush

From the Limmatquelle, continuing downstream just beyond the west turn of the Limmat river itself, three tubs have been constructed: deep, less deep and shallow. They are also correspondingly (too) hot, hot and warm. On a Saturday summer evening there were about 10-12 persons enjoying the baths, though the hottest tub was conspiciously empty most of this time.

The tubs are built right at the river edge, 2-3m above the Limmat river itself. 

One soaker (who has just enjoyed the the hot tub) cooled off by jumping over the river railing, heading into the chilly river water. It wasn't designed as such, the Limmat's river flow quite often too forceful to be safely enjoyed. But others have done likewise and now a rope is tied to the railing, enabling a return back to the (hot) tubs.

On the opposite river bank directly perpendicular to Baden's baths, there is the bath of Ennetbaden. Probably with less tourists, though note that both soaks as well as Baden city itself are not attracting many foreign tourists.

There are a few benches closeby where users leave their clothes behind after changing (more or less discreetly). 

Rinse oneself off, then head to the middle bath which is pleasantly warm and deep enough. 

After being heated up, it's the hottest and deepest pool that needs to be challlenged. 

All the time, bathers are coming and going, as well as pedestrians passing. Lots of chatter, while at the same time one can enjoy the views over the rushing Limmat river towards Ennetbaden.

All 'n all, a very good vibe by which these small baths act as a good socializer.

Occupancy

Sharing from what can be delved from internet. 

Starting off with Baden's no. 1 info on soaking site, Bagno Populare, which is a website dedicated to crowd interest in Baden's thermal resouces. Translated:

'The two hot fountains have been open since November 6th, 2021 and are operated by the municipalities of Baden and Ennetbaden. They are warm every day from around 7 a.m. to around 10 p.m. The pools are between 37 and 43°C (depending on the weather) and are fed by undiluted, natural thermal spring water from the Schwanenquelle (Ennetbaden) or Heissem Stein/Limmat- and St. Verenaquelle (Baden). Every Monday , Wednesday and Friday they are cleaned and cannot be used at this moment'.

It notes a number of rules / regulations. These rules are also available on the Baden town website. 

Bagno Populare adds:

'The thermal water fountains were developed by the Bagni Popolari association and donated by the local community of Baden and the community of Ennetbaden. The wells are now entrusted to your personal care. Please treat and use them with appropriate care so that everyone can enjoy this wonderful gift! We thank you!

Google has reviews of both soaks. 

That of Baden notes a healthy 4.7 stars from 24 reviews. A good review:

'Hier ist das Wasser ungefiltert, ungekühlt, einfach Original. Das Wasser kommt ca. 47 Grad heiss raus und kühlt jedes Becken etwas ab. Das Angebot besteht nur aus 3 Betontrögen, ist jedoch kostenlos. Keine Umziehkabine, jedoch hat es in 50m Entfernung eine öffentliche Toilette. Ab 21 Uhr ist das Wasser abgestellt und die Becken kühlen ab. Die Belegung schwankt enorm 😋 mal geniesst man es alleine, mal sind es über ein Dutzend Personen. Da die Wannen nicht gross sind, füllen 4 Personen eine'

The Ennetbaden bath (photo below, taken from Baden) has fewer reviews (9) but with a marginal better score (4.8 stars). There's this feedback:

'Um die 40 Grad. 1 Becken. 5m entfernt ein sauberes WC / Umzieraum. Alles kostenlos & sehr gepflegt. Nebenann Sitzgelegenheiten mit Fussbad'.

Both are so new that Tripadvisor has no mention of these.

There's even an extensive Wikipedia entry solely dedicated to Baden's thermal resources, though only in German. Google translate assists a lot:

'Of the total of 21 springs, 18 are in Baden and three in Ennetbaden. The water has an average temperature of 46.6 °C and has a particularly high proportion of calcium and sulphates. With a total mineralization of 4450 mg/l, it is the richest in minerals in the entire country'.

Probably, if you're more interested in the history of the thermal baths, head here.

Another great source of historic info on Baden's Badkultur are articles published by archaeologist Andrea Schaer. For instance this published (Dec. 30, 2021) on the website of Stiftung Baukultur Schweiz which goes deeper into the background of the current construction for thermal purposes. Plenty of explanantion. 

Other of her articles concern more the various historic periods when the baths were in full schwung. A recent article (Sep. 22, 2022) for the Swiss National Museum describes the conditions of Baden's baths during the Middle Ages.

Finally, I'd like to add is that the addition of these free-to-use baths in themselves are just a very small development, but the feelgood factor towards Baden's own citizens is huge. In the times I passed here, there was always something going on with considerable social interaction. 

Public involvement concerning the whole redevelopment process has probably been enhanced by the main project being delayed too often. This meant there was sufficient time for the general public (read those passionate enough) to organize themselves and express their wishes. 

The result was increased cooperation between the public / private institutions concerned and public interest groups. It's also sustainable: the public groups are now actively seeking to gain access to more waters (read purchasing an older thermal establishment) and redevelop them such that they also become part of Baden's current thermal heritage simultaneously creating a public good (art installations / access to all).

A good lesson for all public institutions involved with (re-)developement whereever.

A good video of construction of and the recent opening of the Heisser Brunnen as well as explaining the philosophy behind the baths:

Norms

In the last few years the Swiss town of (how could it otherwise be called?) Baden has been bringing its thermal bathing facilities up to date; more 21st century than 19th ...

Foremost in these efforts has been the construction of the new Fortyseven Wellness-therme (henceworth referred to as Fortyseven) building, neatly located in the inside of a sharp turn of the Limmat river. 

Its grand opening was just last year; never a good time to start a business (think Corona pandemic). Actual construction took three years.

The name, Fortyseven, refers to the temperature in which the waters spring from earth, apparently hottest of Switserland.

This past summer I found myself with a couple of days to spare and decided to spend these in Baden. 

Baden is quite lively, exuding charm with a pleasant backdrop (though nothing like Swiss Alp norms ...) with the swift flowing Limmat river gushing along Baden as well as seperating it from the other smaller towns nearby.

Prominently on our must-see itinerary list to Baden was a visit to Fortyseven. Eager to see what a 21st century answer to sedate hot spring bathing might be.

Pre-visit, the research: the Fortyseven website is a plethora of how to's and tips and tricks with little regards as to the website being user friendly. 

Once cracking the website, this was the plan then: Sunday mornings summerwise are cheap and the bathing building opens at 08:00. Nine-thirty there's an hour long free public yoga class which you should make reservations for. Catering seems to do neat breakfast.

So entrance tickets were ordered online (summer discount was on offer; otherwise (Sep. 22): 39CHF-45CHF weekends (€40-€46)) for three hours (10CHF for every additional hour). Yoga class reservation made. 

We would turn up at 8-sh, have a swim, breakfast thereafter, then yoga, then hit the sauna's. All within the 3 hour timeframe. Achievable?

Experienced

Just past eight we park the car in the underground parking space with it's internal stairway to Fortyseven's reception. 

Not too busy, my wife is discussing with restaurant staff what to take for breakfast at restaurant public front. 

Don't forget that your Baden City Ticket entitles you to free towel rental, might come handy. 

You receive your electronic bracelet and you can head onwards to the changing rooms. Quite a few cubicles, most intended for smaller groups (2 persons). Beyond are the lockers, all very neat. 

We changed into swimmers, then headed to the pool area. 

To get there we needed to pass the showers, which didn't seem too handy to use. Kept my eye on them, hardly anybody uses them! How is this acceptable?

Once past the showers, there's a long  and broad hallway off which lie a number of indoor pools: some smaller hotter ones, others mid thirties Centigrade which also head off outside to the infinity pool and a cold pool. From the outside infinity pool you can look to the adjacent river Limmat bank, the Limmat river itself and it's ongoings (kayaks passing, swans foraging). 

Outside there's also a natural (cool and untreated) pool. And there are a couple of "daybeds" which could be reserved for additional cost (39 CHF/day) . 

marcel.baden presents the infinity pool:

Feierabend geniessen beim Baden in Baden

As planned it's just a touch of relaxing, swimming a bit and making use of the massage showers. 

After  a 45 minute soak (note, water temperature was in the lower thirties; due to Europe's sizzling summer), we head to the inside of the on-site restaurant. Surprise: while the exterior of the restaurant opens at 8, the inside only at 9. Tough luck. 

We while ourselves a bit and then head upstairs to the yoga area. Despite all the reservations, there seems to be more participants than capacity. So much for reserving. Pity this.

After the good stretch, we head back downstairs for a breakfast. Service though is ok, it still seems to take a while, again not really ok. 

Modern-day European hot spring / therme endulgence is never quite complete without a variety of sauna's on offer such that these sauna compliments often become the main attraction.

However marketingwise, the thermal pools are usually meant for the broader public, whereas the sauna's are often directed to the couple's / adults; partially because sauna fanatics insist on a clothesfree environment, which seems unsafe for the younger generations?

So likewise, Fortyseven has a smattering of sauna's on offer as well, though whereas most modern therme's have seperate area's the border's between sauna / thereme in Fortyseven are blurred. 

Swimming naked is not on offer (alas). 

And the original plans had only a small textile free area, with more space give to textile sauna's. However this set-up resulted in some backlash shortly after last year's opening. Back in January this was already discussed. Apparently there were extensive complaints around sauna's and clothing. 

Adjustments have been made since, so that the easily accesible and best for views Limmat Sauna also became clothesfree. 

So where we? 

Ah yes, we then seek to find this textile-free sauna area. It's hidden upstairs, potential visitors looking around clueless. 

Once found, you have a non-working (?) steam bath, a big panorama sauna with view of the riverside, a cold dip bath, a showering corner and a small outside and inside rest area. Not many visitors make it here it seems. Or not many visitors are interested in enjoying the sauna au naturel.

Then there's an outdoor walkway to a smaller sauna area (the Limmat Sauna), again textile free (but oddly the walkway there not). Here there is a sauna directly above the riverside walkway, though due to the inside nakedness, the window has been partially obscured, so hapless walkers can't look in. Thus meaning you have less opportunity to look out.

Verdict

Eventually after a more than 3 hours stay (means you have to pay a topping up of the entrance fee), we head back out.

Our findings? 

Overal I would give this place a seven out of ten. Why? 

• The maze like set-up of the therme and the website which also seems to be a maze, 
• Not quite cheap, especially because of the yoga hour you end up paying for this extra hour ,
• Poor showering policy (please, please fellow soakers, use a shower on forehand!), 
• Lack of a clothes free pool,
• Late opening of interior restaurant (why?)

Positives are the setting (and views), the large panorama sauna, but also the ability to cater to not only the older public but also attract a younger more culturally diverse crowd.

I also tried to see what internet thinks of Fortyseven. 

Based on the past 3 months (contentswise):

• Google - overal 4.3 stars (800+ reviews). Discoveries: most reviews are in German, aufguss only in the afternoon, slower service, steambath non-functioning, too many oblivious textilers in the textile-free areas, food smells near pools.
• Tripadvisor - overall 3 stars out of 5 (22 reviews). Mostly in German. Notes: expensive, more or less same as above (men in the women's only section)
• Their Facebook page has (wisely?) no space for reviews ...

Furthermore not too many reviews or reports have been shared online.

Surfs-up

Elsewhere as said there's a lot going for Baden, so no need to only focus on solely on Fortyseven for a succesful sojourn.

• The riverfront just outside Fortyseven (where there are free soaks to be had) is great for viewing kayaking. And river surfing:

• Fortyseven lies beyond the town center, between there's a nice park belonging to the Grand Casino. 
• One can also stroll alongside the riverside, at a certain point there's even a lift to the upper bank. Take some time to have a drink/food at Café Kajüte.
• An 200+ year old covered wooden bridge (gedeckte Holzbrücke).

• The Stein castle  on top of the hill overlooking Baden.
• Historical Museum (which includes a section on Baden's thermal history.
• The Sunday afternoon was spent at the Museum Langmatt (think French impressionists) which also actively encourages visitors to lie arond in the surrounding gardens.

Baden's Cityticket has more worthwhile discounts. Not very well-known the ticket can be obtained from local hotels and enables you f.i. (besides the above mentioned) free entance to the Langmatt Museum or free local public transport.

Idleness

Finally, a forgotten part: downstairs in the parking area behind a door there's a glassfront from which you can see the original preserved thermal baths. I believe it concerns the Kesselbad, dating back to Medieval times (12/13th century, source).

The Kanton Aargau (7 Feb. 2012, translated) elaborates:

'During the excavations in the Limmatknie, the remains of several bathing pools and other buildings from the 2000-year-old Roman thermal baths were uncovered. The dimensions of the examined ruins testify to a monumental thermal complex that is hardly inferior to facilities in other large Roman thermal spa towns such as Bath (GB) or Aachen (D).

The excavations and building studies on the urban development of the spa quarter in the High Middle Ages provided completely new insights. It could be proven that in the 11th century the area under the Verenahof area was drained and that the springs there were possibly reused in order to build new baths and inns here. For the first time, the origin of the spatial structure of the spa district, which is still valid today, can be grasped.

The most impressive witnesses to the medieval baths are the bathhouse from the 13th or early 14th century in the Hotel Ochsen and the "Kesselbad" in the bathing inn in the backyard, which is to be made accessible to the public again as it looked around 1500 in the planned new building of the thermal baths'.

As stated above, Baden's soaking history already goes back a long time.  Interesting in this is a blog (Andrea Schaer, Mar. 11, 2022) by Switserland's National Museum. It describes the history of the existence of Baden's baths, first noted during Roman times:

'The Romans built extensive thermal bath complexes at the 47°C mineral hot springs in the curve of the Limmat. Aquae Helveticae (Latin for the “healing waters in the land of the Helvetii”) soon became a popular health resort and tourist destination. Politician and historiographer Publius Cornelius Tacitus (c. 58 AD to c. 120 AD) described the place as: “locus, amoeno salubrium aquarium usu frequens”, a small town that was frequented for the “delightful location of its healing springs”. Local people and travellers from further afield, but also soldiers, military officers and government officials on vacation or passing through, sought out the thermal baths of Aquae Helveticae. It is likely that members of the prominent families of the Helvetic Civitas also appreciated the slower pace of life and the pleasant idleness, the otium, in the spa resort on the Limmat. But these guests have left few archaeological traces that provide information about their origin and the motivation for their stay in Aquae.

...

In the Middle Ages and up until the 17th century, Baden was a popular gathering place for the great and the powerful.

...

From the 15th century onwards, scores of travel reports and spa recommendations carried Baden’s reputation out into the wider world. The apostolic secretary and distinguished humanist Giovanni Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459), who visited Baden in 1416 and, in a letter, described the local baths as the very likeness of the Garden of Eden full of happy people, got the ball rolling. Poggio’s description quickly found its way into every corner of Europe, becoming the actual publicity piece for Baden that still carries weight today – and Baden became the ideal of the late medieval mineral springs resort.

...

“Taking the waters” gave the aristocracy and the upper middle classes an opportunity to escape from domestic duties and shake loose from societal constraints for a while, and to combine the functional – looking after their health – with the pleasurable – socialising and spending time among like-minded people. A spa trip, referred to as a Badenfahrt, was always associated with entertainment, because the spa-goers anticipated not only healing baths but also all kinds of distractions such as theatre performances, parlour games and games of chance, and magnificent banquets and balls. But less well-to-do people also found their way to the healing waters and were able to be part of the hustle and bustle and diverse pastimes of the spa resort, at least on the periphery'.

The Bäderplatz in Baden with the public baths, the outdoor pool in the background and the St Verenabad in the foreground; this is where the poorer and needy guests spent their spa stay. Aquatint, Heinrich Keller, 1805.

Historisches Museum Baden

As I understand in the situation above, the elite bathed indoors, the rif-raf outdoors (and free); sharing is caring? Though in the evenings elite women would head over to the then empty St Verena baths, as they have specific qualities believed to be of assitance to this gender. 

Beyond the soaking history there is an extensive German language Wikipedia entry on the thermal baths of Baden. Some pointers:

There are 21 sources, 18 of which are on the western side om the Limmat (Baden), three on the eastern bank (Ennetbaden).

Finally, in a separate post (still upcoming) I'll share our experiences concerning the free outdoor hot pots.

Blown

stefanie.gehringer

ÍSLAND ganz nah ..

Auch bei uns gab es früher eine Badekultur in warmen Quellen .. wo ist sie hin?

Danke @bagno_popolare 💙

Starting off this line up from Switzerland. 

The above is especially topical. From the town of Baden where besides the free baths, there's now crowd funding action whereby the initiators are seeking to buy an apartment bottom floor with baths and hot spring sources: Rabenbaden.

Then to the southern side of the Alps and another mountainous hot spring from France.

antjeskodock

#bagnidicraveggia #terme #onsernone #ticino #italy #craveggia

lorena.aymo

Llega el día

Y entonces lo sabes

Construye tus alas y vuela 💫

Lugares magicos❤️‍🔥

Treasures

ariol_buzi

Heading now south and southeast wards, nothing special just some photo's worth sharing.

worldthermalsprings

Из Москвы в Турцию на своей машине. 10 июня 2022 года. Мы едем по Восточной Турции, Турецкому Курдистану. Сворачиваем с трассы, которую постоянно пересекали стада домашних животных, и едем в сторону Bedekli. Я читала, что в местных термальных источниках зимой купаются буйволы. Их мы встретили сразу же. Продолжаем свой путь и видим бассейн с газирующей водой, где купаются женщины и дети. Местные жители направляют нас дальше, где под склоном горы в заболоченной местности образовались водоемы с естественными выходами термальной воды. Видны выходы газа во всех водоемах. На берегу местные жители, курды, танцевали и пели!!! Что еще нужно для счастья? Хорошая компания, термальные источники. #термальныеисточники #термальныеисточникимира #турция #курдистан #thermalsprings #turkey

sarah.joy7

It can be hard to know what parts of our trip to share or not share but this place was a real treasure. It's cascading waterfalls of hot springs by an old stone mill house. They are the most perfect temperature of any hot springs we've ever been to. They're free and open 24/7. Wanting to avoid crowds, we chose to go at night... And had the place to ourselves! There were maybe three other people there, in another part of the springs so there was not another soul in sight as we enjoyed the water and the stars.. Lilly found her first constellations and shooting stars. While setting down towels on the shore when we arrived, I looked up to see the girls wading in together, holding hands. ♥️

#cascatedelmulino #saturnia #hotsprings #italy

illumi_mari

Todo lo que salga del 💜❤️💙

vale siempre el intento, el riesgo y la pena 🤞🏽🤟🏽

Gracias por compartir estos momentos 🇩🇪❤️🇪🇸

#compartiresvivir #relaxing #renovacion #embalsenegratín #termas #bañosdezujar #camperlife #weekendvibes #granadaspain

Gifts

ahimsas.essence

꧁ ᑭᗩᑌᔕᗩᑎIᗩᔕ ꧂

Das Bad des Pausanias... Ob es sich bei dem Bad wirklich um das berühmte Bad des Pausanias handelt, müssen Archäologen in Zukunft noch bestätigen.

Thermalbäder, ein so wundervolles Geschenk der Natur. Zur Zeit ist es in Griechenland grad nicht so warm, umso mehr freue ich mich immer wieder über diese natürlichen Badewannen.

Okay, bei dieser hier wurde nachgeholfen... in 2020 wurde dieses Becken gebaut, in die das warme Wasser läuft... aber gibt es etwas Schöneres, als in warmem Wasser zu liegen und entspannt auf das Meer, die schneebedeckten Berge, die griechischen Inseln und die

zauberhafte Natur zu schauen?

Bei dieser Quelle handelt es sich um eine gashaltige Kohlensäurequelle. Diese erwärmt das Meerwasser auf ungefähr 39 Grad Temperatur und wird mit einer Pumpe in das Becken gefördert.

1 & 2 photos by @lisellevonherzen

#pausanias #thermalquelle #thermalspring #bathofpausanias #peloponnes #methana #greece #griechenland #lovingnatur #badenindernatur #nakedgirl #natural #friends #meer #thankful #berge #inseln #saronischergolf #kohlensäurequelle #kohlensäure #heilbad #heilendequelle #niceview #happyme #stillinlove #travelling #buslife #vanlife #lebenimdüdo #vanlifeeuropesarah.

Two from Greece as parting shots. Disregard the references to colder weather ...

maria.blau

Best thing to do with this cold temperatures of the last weeks: Swimming in 40C hot springs and rivers 🧡 this nature is just mindblowing perfect…

#thermopylae #hotsprings #schwefelquelle #leonidas #greece #incredible #naturelovers #heissequellen

Mountains and more

Happy
The last of the snowy soaking pictures for this winter (?). Let's hope so.

Starting off with the south of France:

 

Les Banhs d'Arties #banystermals#hotsprings#bledes#alone#arties#valldaran#termes#natural#winter#valdaran

#relax#nature#mountain#snow#termalwater#hotwater#mineral#hot#forest#montanya#neu

#termal

source

feliz con lo que tengo hoy! #rutas#aguastermales #trekkings #relax#pirineos #acampadas #freskiviris #igers #igerspirineo#nieve

source

#banystermals #winter #cold #snow #hot #water #bains #dorres #france @uripardo 

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Staying with the mountain theme, heading eastwards the hot spring of Leukerbad, Switzerland are probably a nice alternative to the near non-existence of wild hot springs in this part of Europe ...

#terme #Leukerbad #Svizzera 

source

 Just south of the border near Bormio (that's Italy) is this hot spring:

Koupání v -10°C #winter #terme #italy

source

Further eastwards Slovakia: 

 

Sleeping in -20°, swimming in +40° #valentinesday #friends #trip #slovakia #kalameny #snow #mountains #winter #wild #hotsprings #lake #adventure #fun #alcohol #party #amazing #beautiful #vsco #vscocam

source

More Kalmeny, source

Next to the Horec hotel, Liptovský Ján, Slovakia, source.

Vikings

Finishing off with Iceland:

Vikings. #mystopover

source

#Landbrotalaug #hotspring

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