Vinzenz Therme

The Vinzenz Therme stands in Bad Ditzenbach, a state-recognised spa village at 509 metres in the upper Fils valley on the edge of the Swabian Jura. Its water comes from the Canisius spring, which rises from Muschelkalk limestone 600 metres down at an original 46 °C and feeds every basin in the house after being tempered to a body-neutral 35 °C. What distinguishes it from most German thermal baths is the carbon dioxide: the operator says the concentration of natural carbonic acid carried from spring to pool is unique in Baden-Württemberg and is kept intact by a dedicated process, and that the gas diffuses through the skin, improving circulation. The town's mineral springs have been documented since 1472 and used medicinally since the eighteenth century. The therme is part of the Vinzenz von Paul clinic group, and a rehabilitation clinic shares the site.

Bathing centres on two linked basins: an indoor pool of 200 m² and an outdoor pool of 210 m², connected to each other and equipped with massage jets and bubble beds. Two further basins are given over to movement and therapy. Bewegungsbecken I, an octagon, is the therapy pool for spine and joint complaints, fitted with underwater apparatus such as a bar for individual and group work; after therapy hours in the evening, underwater music is played there and bathers feel the vibrations on the skin. Bewegungsbecken II is the cooler basin, at 28 °C, used for aqua fitness. Both movement pools are closed to general bathers while courses and therapies are running. Water gymnastics is offered hourly on weekdays from 9:00 to 19:00 and on weekend mornings, with a minimum of five participants.

The sauna area is compact but varied. Two cabins hold the classic Finnish infusion sauna at around 90 °C, where infusions run on the half hour; a panorama sauna on the roof of the building looks out at the 717-metre Schlossberg with the ruins of Hiltenburg castle and the upper Fils valley; a mild sanarium suits beginners, children and anyone with circulatory problems, and a steam bath with very high humidity rounds off the sequence. Guests rest in an indoor quiet room with a view of the landscape or on a Mediterranean-style roof terrace. Mondays from 16:00 are reserved for women; the rest of the week, including holidays, is mixed.

The therme opens daily from 9:00 to 21:00, with the till closing at 19:00 and bathing ending half an hour before the house does; after the desk shuts, tickets are sold at the machine. It is closed on Good Friday, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, and opens at 14:00 on 1 January.