Kristall „Heißer Brocken“ Thermalsole- und Saunalandschaft

Kristall Therme „Heißer Brocken“ stands at Karl-Reinecke-Weg 35 in Altenau, a mountain town in the Upper Harz that is now part of Clausthal-Zellerfeld in Lower Saxony. The operator describes the house as sitting high on the Glockenberg with a wide view over open country, next to the Harz National Park and in what it calls the town of herbs and spices, and as open 364 days in the year. Its own figures give 423 square metres of water surface and six saunas. Admission is by ticket at the reception desk, where the visitor receives a transponder that also serves for cashless payment in the restaurants. The operator states that bathing may be done with or without swimwear as the guest prefers, that the saunas are always textile-free, and that young people under 16 are admitted only in the company of an adult.

Thermal water

The operator states that the Altenauer Thermalsole-Heilwasser, a sodium-magnesium-hydrogencarbonate-chloride brine, comes from Sülbeck and is fed into the bath’s water in the appropriate concentrations; it is therefore a natural medicinal brine from a named place rather than water rising beneath the bath itself. The site states that because of its mineral richness it can be an effective means of preventing many illnesses and of maintaining health, and that it can stimulate the metabolism, release hardened muscles, relieve skin problems and help with colds. Of the strongest pool the operator writes that bathing in 12 per cent thermal brine resembles the Dead Sea in its effect and its considerable buoyancy, that it promotes the health of the skin, the joints, the musculature and the whole metabolism, and that only a few baths in Germany offer brine at that concentration.

Pools

The operator lists indoor and outdoor pools and whirlpools in which the water bubbles at up to 36 °C and at a brine concentration of up to 12 per cent. The thermal-brine indoor pool carries 3 per cent brine at about 33 °C and leads directly out to the open air; its depth is given as 1.35 m, and it is where the water gymnastics is held in bad weather and in the winter months. In the middle of the bathing world is a large whirlpool at 36 °C with massage jets. Outdoors, a thermal-brine pool of the same 3 per cent strength is also 33 °C and 1.35 m deep, and a second outdoor pool with a waterfall and an integrated whirlpool carries 1.5 per cent brine at 33 °C and the same depth, with a view over the Harz; summer water gymnastics takes place there. The Hexen-Zuber — the witches' tub — is an outdoor basin of 12 per cent thermal brine at about 36 °C, which the operator says can be used for bathing at that temperature all year round.

Sauna and steam

The operator counts six themed saunas between 70 °C and 100 °C. Indoors are the Mega-Brocken-Sauna at about 85 °C, an event sauna for up to 150 guests with light and sound equipment where the sauna masters perform show infusions; the Altenauer-Pfeffer-Sauna at about 85 °C with changing essential oils; the Kräuter-Mistel-Sauna at about 70 °C, which the operator recommends for beginners; and the Dr. Eisenbarth-Sauna at about 95 °C, named after Johann Andreas Eisenbarth, who lived from 1663 to 1727. Outdoors are the Fichten-Sauna at about 90 °C, home of the Oberharzer salt infusion with a whole-body salt scrub, and the Harz-Quarz-Sauna at about 100 °C, where the Altenauer herb-brew infusion is celebrated several times a day. The Dampfstollen, a steam gallery of two successive chambers at 49 to 50 °C with 80 to 100 per cent humidity, offers aromatised Bad Reichenhaller special salt for rubbing in. A singing-bowl ceremony accompanies the Hildegard von Bingen infusion at 13:00 and 17:00, and the full infusion timetable is published as a downloadable Sauna-Erlebnis-Fahrplan.

Wellness, rest and food

Free water gymnastics is offered once a day at 11:30, which the operator describes as a gentle way to keep the joints mobile and to strengthen the muscles and connective tissue against the resistance of the water. The wellness and massage department, bookable by telephone, lists oil, back, foot and hot-stone style treatments, salt and orange-oil peelings, moor and beeswax packs and combination packages. Quiet rooms are on the ground floor and on the first floor, the latter with access to a sun terrace, and the grounds include a garden with a quietly placed sunbathing lawn. The operator states that the whole bathing area is a camera-free zone and that mobile phones, tablets and notebooks may not be used there. The foyer restaurant is open on 364 days a year, including to visitors who are not bathing, and a second restaurant serves inside the bathing area; bringing one's own food and drink is not permitted. Parking at the bath is free, motorhome and caravan pitches are available next door for a fee, and the operator points to Kristall holiday apartments directly opposite the bath.

Opening hours

The operator gives 09:00 to 21:00 from Sunday to Thursday and 09:00 to 22:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, open all year including every public holiday except 24 December. The published exceptions are Christmas Eve, when the bath is closed; 25 to 30 December, 09:00 to 22:00; New Year's Eve, 09:00 to 18:00; and New Year's Day, 10:00 to 21:00. For arrival without a car the operator gives bus lines 831 and 840.