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, sodium 178,000 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. Note that these per-litre figures are for the brine itself, while the same page states the salt content of the bathing water separately as “Der Salzgehalt beträgt 1,5 - 2,5 %.” — the operator prints both figures side by side without reconciling them, and neither is converted here.

The brine is the historic Wimpfen salt brine. The operator's own pages do not name the well, but German Wikipedia's article on the town records that brine extraction first succeeded in 1817 at the Saline Ludwigshalle, that besides its industrial use the brine could also be used therapeutically, and that the first spa hotel opened in 1835; 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 and is charged separately.

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. Building work began on 1 April 2019, the hall was stripped back to the shell and extended northwards towards the bathing garden, the outdoor area was rebuilt around a new brine outdoor basin, and costs rose from 6.8 to 8.7 million euro; the bath reopened on 10 July 2021 after roughly forty years of continuous operation before the works. Hours are Monday closed, Tuesday to Saturday 07:00–21:00, Sunday and public holidays 08:00–17:00. A single ticket for four hours of bathing time costs 13.80 €, reduced 12.30 €, with an evening ticket from 19:00 Tuesday to Saturday and a morning ticket 07:00–09:15 at 9.00 €, a ten-visit card at 124.00 € and an annual card at 810.00 €; children up to five accompanied by an adult are free, and on the Saturday family day one's own children up to 16 enter free.