Solebad

Solebad Bad Wimpfen is the town's brine bath at Osterbergstraße 16, 74206 Bad Wimpfen, operated by the town of Bad Wimpfen in the Neckar valley of Baden-Württemberg. It is a health-and-brine bath rather than a leisure pool: the operator states that the aim of its rebuild was not to compete with surrounding baths and wellness complexes but to put the subjects of health and brine in the foreground. The bath publishes a medicinal-water analysis carried out by the Labor für Umweltanalytik, Dr. Ulrich Pachali. Under the heading “Ein Liter Sole-Wasser enthält” it lists chloride 190,000 mg, calcium 1,495 mg, sulphate 4,093 mg, magnesium 140 mg, strontium 30 mg, hydrogen carbonate 293 mg, bromide 14.8 mg, meta-boric acid 29.87 mg, iodide 0.93 mg, fluoride 0.76 mg, lithium 0.99 mg, iron 0.71 mg, manganese 0.12 mg, nitrate 10.2 mg and meta-silicic acid 2.7 mg. No total mineralisation is given. These per-litre figures are for the brine itself; the operator states the salt content of the bathing water separately as “Der Salzgehalt beträgt 1,5 - 2,5 %.”

The brine is the historic Wimpfen salt brine. The operator's own pages do not name the well. Brine extraction in the town first succeeded in 1817 at the Saline Ludwigshalle, and besides its industrial use the brine could also be used therapeutically; the first spa hotel opened in 1835, and the Ludwigshalle belonged from 1828 to 1936 to the Neckarsalinenverein salt cartel together with the works at Offenau, Bad Rappenau and Jagstfeld. The bath's own renovation report indirectly confirms long contact with brine: the walls were found to be far more heavily loaded with brine ingress than the preliminary survey had predicted.

The equipment is listed item by item rather than as totals. There is one indoor basin with a seating corner and bubbler jets and further bubblers in the middle of the basin; one heated outdoor brine basin with neck showers, bubbler loungers and two outdoor showers; a free-standing glass steam bath offering either herbal steam or brine inhalation; and an infrared heat cabin for four people. There is a separate rest room acoustically screened from the swimming hall by a glass wall, a further rest area in the hall itself, a roomy changing area, a bathing garden with a lawn lounging area, a foyer with cash desk, shop and direct access to the Café am Solebad, free wi-fi and free parking. There is no sauna inside the bath: a sauna is located in the adjoining Hotel Rosengarten.

Water temperatures are published per basin: the indoor basin runs at 32–33 °C, and the outdoor basin at 30–32 °C in the summer months and 32–34 °C in winter. The bath is open all year. Hours are Monday closed, Tuesday to Saturday 07:00–21:00, Sunday and public holidays 08:00–17:00.