Ith Sole Therme

The Ith Sole Therme lies at Salzhemmendorf in the Weserbergland of Lower Saxony, at the foot of the Ith ridge, and takes its water from its own spring on the site. The operator describes it as a six per cent fluoride-bearing sulphur brine and states that the Salzhemmendorf spring has been recognised as Germany's best fluoride-bearing sulphur brine and counts among the best in Europe. No published analysis, spring temperature or drilling depth accompanies that claim. The pools are heated to as much as 36 °C, and the same brine is used for inhalation, both in a dedicated inhalation room at 30 °C and in a separate SaltLounge, open to bathers and outside visitors alike, for 45-minute sessions in salt-laden air.

The bathing hall is built under a high wooden dome and decorated in a Roman manner, with tiled seating benches, antique statues and stone columns. Its centre is an exercise pool called the Kraftquelle, fitted with neck showers, massage jets and floor bubblers and used for regular water gymnastics courses at fixed hours. A Roman temple pool, a whirlpool and a spring pool complete the indoor water. Outdoors two adjoining pool landscapes are set in the hillside: the Vitalbad for swimming and, beside it, the Lagune with whirl loungers, a whirl temple, neck showers and massage jets, served by a pool bar. A Kneipp basin and a lawn for sunbathing adjoin them.

The sauna area holds four saunas plus a private panorama barrel sauna. The largest, the Salz-Arena at 85 °C, is described by the operator as northern Germany's largest event sauna; the log-built Schwitzen-und-Schwatzen runs at 95 °C, the Marcus-Aurelius sauna at 80 °C and the Augustus aroma sauna at 65 °C. The barrel sauna combines a Finnish cabin at 80 °C for up to five people with a separate infrared section for two. A cold-water pool, a barefoot path, showers and a sauna garden with seating serve the area, and a steam bath at 45 °C with almost complete humidity sits in the bathing section. Infusions run from late morning to about 20.30, with scent sessions and salt peelings at set times.

Rest and sleeping rooms with soft lighting and heated water beds adjoin the pools, and the house also contains a restaurant, a shop, a hairdresser, a solarium, physiotherapy and beauty departments, a therafit course programme and motorhome pitches. Bath and sauna open daily, including public holidays, from 9.00 to 22.00; bathing ends at 21.30.