Thermal baths
In Wiesbaden, everyone can regenerate from the stresses of everyday life, as the hot springs of the Hessian state capital feed the pools of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme and the Aukammtal thermal baths with their own special character and charm.
Thermal bath Aukammtal
Relaxation for body and soul: a top-class health and wellness offer awaits visitors in the inviting ambience of Wiesbaden's sophisticated health spa.
As peaceful as this thermal spa in the Aukammtal valley, two kilometers north-east of Wiesbaden city center, may seem, it owes its warm water to a rude giant - at least if you believe an old Wiesbaden legend: according to this legend, the giant Ekko once searched in vain for a dragon in the depths below the Taunus forest. With all his strength, he rammed his lance into the ground, only to promptly burn his feet and face on the boiling hot water that unexpectedly gushed forth. Furious, he stabbed the ground again and again. In this way, he uncovered the five primary springs that have been feeding Wiesbaden with wonderfully warm spring water ever since.
Today, there is no sign of the giant's rage, but the springs continue to gush forth unperturbed. Underground pipes transport the spring water from a storage facility to the Aukammtal thermal baths. Body and soul relax in the pleasant 32 degree water temperature, before jumping into the ice bath to get back on track. The thermal bath area covers a total of 4,4000 square meters and includes six different saunas and a spa area with massage and beauty treatments. Thanks to its high salt content, the Aukammtal thermal baths are particularly beneficial for orthopaedic and rheumatic conditions.
Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme
offers bathing luxury at the highest level in the heart of the city. In homage to the Roman sweat baths on whose foundations it was built, the complex is designed in the style of an ancient thermal bath with rooms decorated with columns and elaborate ornamentation.
It is the jewel among Wiesbaden's thermal baths. The foyer alone, richly decorated with stucco and reliefs, shows that bathing is rarely as stylish as in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme. Here, bathing is celebrated as a bathing culture: Visitors enter the water without wearing any clothing - and in the historic indoor swimming pool, the water is comparatively cool at 22 degrees. After all, the water here is primarily intended to cool you down, as there are many other ways to sweat in the thermal baths. The Irish-Roman baths offer the most magnificent ambience for this: a sauna landscape with tepidarium, sudatorium and sanarium - Latin names that show the tradition of the thermal baths. It was built between 1910 and 1913 on the site where the foundations of a Roman sweat bath were once found.
The construction of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme was also due to criticism from the Emperor himself. Wilhelm II, a regular spa visitor to the city, had previously complained that Wiesbaden had "the most beautiful spa house in the world", but no representative public bathhouse. Accordingly, the architect August O. Pauly designed an Art Nouveau building that skillfully incorporated Roman traditions.
To this day, the thermal baths are fed by water from the Adler spring, to which the city acquired the rights shortly before 1900 - then as now a great advantage for Wiesbaden's spa guests: here, everyone can enjoy the amenities of the thermal water, even if they are not staying in a spa hotel with its own baths. Anyone entering the thermal baths today should take their time - for massages and treatments, the Russian steam bath, the Finnish sauna and the whirlpool. And for a wellness experience in a unique historical ambience.