The statue of Sebastian Kneipp shines in the main square of Bad Wörishofen
Curiously, as if it were a play of chance, this 2021 marks the bicentennial of the birth of a very special man, Sebastian Knepp, the great precursor of naturopathic medicine.
The setting is beautiful and bucolic. It was in a peasant village in Bavaria, Stephanrsried, where Sebastian Kneipp was born who, after reading Johann Siegmund Hahn's book on the healing power of water, decides to put it into practice as a therapy for his tuberculosis.
Healed and convinced of the holistic power of him, he dedicates the rest of his life to sharing the hydrotherapeutic bonanzas. The hardships he went through during his childhood led him, once he was ordained a priest, to spreading knowledge about the power of water to those most in need, healing thousands of people. On the other hand, an easy therapy that almost everyone can apply at home, but you have to know how…
The bucolic Bavarian landscape
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Like the title of the splendid film by Guillermo Toro, for Sebastian Kneipp the water had its form and its meaning. Once his theory was set in motion when he entered as confessor of the Dominican monastery in Bad Wörishofen, the healing properties of it crossed barriers. They reached the ears of Archduke Joseph of Austria who ended up being a great friend of Kneipp, and doctors, like the famous naturopath Benedict Lust who visited him, listened and verified his theories and read his books.
In 2015 the Kneipp method was declared Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO and more than 80 of the 350 spas and thermal centers in Germany offer Kneipp treatments. Not forgetting the seven hundred certified institutions, nurseries, schools, residences that use his therapy and the foundation of the Sebastian Kneipp Academy, whose great repercussion explains its director, Mr. Hilzenaur, during dinner in the Sonnengarten restaurant.
Kneipp's five principles speak of hydrotherapy, nutrition, herbal medicine, exercise and harmony between body and mind. You might think that they have a lot in common with Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, and they do, but the latter lack water. The Kneipp system that has come to be called European Natural Medicine It has the liquid element as the protagonist. To understand it, it is essential to visit the Kneipp Museum.
Kneipp Museum
Secondly, the Sebastianum center, founded by Sebastian Kneipp in 1891, is the nucleus of the many Kneipp spas that fill the Bavarian village. He stays there, at more than affordable prices that include lodging and treatment, people of all ages looking for recover lost energy, reduce circulatory problems, diabetes, apnea, insomnia... The coronavirus has created another type of patient with loss of smell, post-Covid fatigue, psychosomatic illnesses, which Sebastianeum specialists deal with with dedication.
The common factor is that after fifteen days of aquatic irrigation (with cold water, hot on the face, extremities, on the whole body at the temperature and time adapted for each one), the energy and the good color appear again and the water has taken its shape giving the person who receives it a very different appearance from the one who entered.
BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
In this case, it is not Robert Redford or Jane Fonda who are walking in the park in their 1967 film of the same name. Indiana Barefoot is the funny nickname to which he responds Tony Fenk , a large man with a white ponytail dressed as a Bavarian. His deep and precise voice conveys to visitors the importance that Kneipp attached to go barefoot to strengthen muscles and feel the sensations of the feet in charge of distributing them throughout the rest of the body. Through 25 fascinating stations through the bucolic Kurpark Bad Worishofen you will have the privilege of discovering it.
it starts stepping on the soft and wet grass of the park that produces pleasant effects of freshness and softness. But the thing does not stop there and the path takes other directions when from grass to the stones. The size is that of a tea cake with which it can be endured stoically. From there come a series of curiosities such as climb on an iron foot meter, put the limbs in a wooden mouth, not that of Verità in Rome but similar, where plants and other natural elements are hidden intended to weigh the different perception between hands and feet before the same entity.
Then the tour gets serious and the walking barefoot across pebbles the size of a pea It is no longer so funny despite the fact that Indiana insists on its healthy properties, continually reminding the mindfulness with which the tour should be carried out. In those moments there is only Kurpark and the feet of each one.
The next station, despite offering a delightful walk between trunks outlined by tiny pebbles, it does not seem so hard because the feet are already used to everything, although they feel great relief at the moment of sitting on a wooden bench, concentrating the thought on the sensations to finally submerge them in mud and water, and enjoy a moment so pleasant that if the feet could talk, they would give thanks.
Herbs play a primary role in Kneipp treatment
MARGOT'S FEAST
It is the ideal complement to continue the experience that with the days is transformed into a way of life. Margot Reitmayer she takes with her daughters a bio market and coffee which are a real delicacy. Inside a glass house are all kinds of organic products tastefully distributed on wooden shelves.
Vegetables, fruits, mustards, wines, beers and the best meats They fill a space that makes you want to take everything with you and then sit down at the table and taste the tastiest of pumpkin or pea creams, followed by a tender ragù, river fish accompanied by fresh vegetables or homemade pasta seasoned with seasonal chanterelles as seasonal is the rhubarb pie for dessert.
While savoring the craft beer in small sips, Margot tells her guests how the products come from nearby organic farms and their meat is the best quality in the area.
THE JEWEL OF KUPARK
It's the herb garden. Its first blooms date back centuries and among them are those of the garden that Kneipp planted in the 19th century, not without first checking with experts the effect and contraindications of herbs.
Today he walks among lavender that added to the bath calms after suffering a shock, lemon balm or lemon balm recommended for anxiety the sage which, they say, should always be kept at home to soothe unpleasant sore throats and coughs, radish roots as energetic, wonder plant for digestion, camomile and many more.
hay treatment
After the walk is imposed try those benches made to fit the body, close your eyes and think of nothing until you go to the typical Bavarian wooden chalet of the restaurant Gasthof Adler cozy and with forceful gastronomy where Petra Nocker, director of Bad Wörishofen Spa & Tourism, is waiting, who comments: "Now more than ever, people want to laugh and enjoy life. The joy of living has to return And that is part of the Kneipp treatment that helps to get out of the pandemic isolation and welcome the new era in healthy conditions."
SLEEP LIKE A CHILD
After listening to a concert at the Spa-Park who has his own orchestra Hungarian music conducted by Zsolt Garzsarovsky He returns to the Hotel KurOase im Kloster, a monastery of Dominican nuns in Bad Wörishofen where Kneipp began his healing career in 1855 and where water, mud, honey and… at midnight a silent person enters the room who gently rests a bag of flowers on his back to relieve discomfort of those who spend a lot of time sitting.
The altar of the baroque church of Kur Oase is doubled and on one side the parishioners pray while on the other side the nine nuns who still reside in the Monastery do so. Without television or Wi-Fi, to the delight of silence, the night cradles its guests, giving them back their childhood sleep until the birds announce the new day.
Kuroase im Kloster Monastery Hotel