Regensburg - It's a "sparkling success story": Nowhere else in Europe are the thermal water areas as extensive, the wellness offerings as diverse, and the range of medical healing treatments as wide as in the Bavarian Thermal Region with its spa quintet of Bad Füssing, Bad Griesbach, Bad Birnbach, Bad Gögging, and Bad Abbach. Guest satisfaction and enthusiasm are measurable: With almost seven million overnight stays (as of 2019), the Bavarian Thermal Region ranks first in popularity among all other European health regions. Together, the five towns have been flying the flag for two decades.
The Bavarian Thermal Region is now the major health and wellness center in the heart of the continent. Germany's most popular thermal spa landscape, medically highly effective healing springs, and the entire spectrum of soothing wellness attractions make the "health wells" between the Danube and Inn a unique health and wellness island - for boundless wellness vacations, for medical cures, and relaxing health vacations.
Thermal experience on almost 20,000 square meters of water surface
With almost seven million overnight stays (as of 2019), the spa quintet of Bad Füssing, Bad Griesbach, Bad Birnbach, Bad Gögging, and Bad Abbach ranks first in popularity among all other European health regions. The spa quintet of the Bavarian Thermal Region offers almost 20,000 square meters of water surface - something that can be found nowhere else on the continent. For twenty years, the Bavarian Thermal Region has been the joint umbrella region for the five spa towns and the entire southern Lower Bavaria. "The creation of the new brand was the starting shot for a joint marketing offensive and the Bavarian Thermal Region became synonymous with health and wellness holidays in Bavaria," says Alexander von Poschinger, destination manager for the Bavarian Thermal Region at the East Bavaria Tourism Association.
The Bavarian Thermal Region brand, which was initiated at the beginning of the 2000s and then resulted in the official cooperation that still exists today in 2004/2005, manifests a loose cooperation that began as early as the 1970s. As the "Healthy Five" in the triangle of cities Regensburg, Passau, and Landshut, they had already become an important tourism factor.
A thermal water reservoir of around 6,000 square kilometers
The ten state-recognized healing springs of Bad Füssing, Bad Griesbach, Bad Birnbach, Bad Gögging, and Bad Abbach are connected by thermal water. It springs from a reservoir that stretches from the edge of the Alps to the Danube Valley. This underground thermal water reservoir of around 6,000 square kilometers - which is about twice the size of Luxembourg - ensures that the healing springs have been bubbling up in the Thermal Region for centuries in some cases. Geologists compare the situation to a sponge that should only be "expressed" to a certain extent so that it does not dry out completely. The conservation of these natural resources is therefore of great importance in the Bavarian Thermal Region.
Special active ingredient combination
The unique and legendary active ingredient combination in the thermal water has remained practically unchanged since the first measurements. The springs in the towns of the Bavarian Thermal Region are fluoride-containing sodium hydrogencarbonate chloride thermal springs - with a proven healing and beneficial effect on the entire musculoskeletal system. In the Lower Bavarian spas, unique centers of excellence in top balneology have emerged in Germany in recent decades.
Five towns, seven thermal baths, ten springs
The natural thermal water, which can be enjoyed in seven thermal baths and numerous hotels, gushes from springs at a depth of up to 2,000 meters. The thermal water deposits in the Bavarian Thermal Region have unique active ingredient combinations. In addition to the healing and beneficial effect of the water as a common feature of the five thermal spa resorts, each has its own special feature: In Bad Füssing, for example, the springs contain a particularly high proportion of sulfide sulfur, which is absorbed through the skin and deposited in diseased parts of the body. Sulfur is considered the "lubricant" for human joints and joint capsules.
The Bad Griesbach thermal water is characterized by its high fluoride content. The Nikolausquelle there even takes a top spot in Europe in this respect. The Bad Birnbach springs, which gush to the surface at a temperature of around 70 degrees, are among the hottest thermal mineral springs in Central Europe. Bad Gögging, whose bathing tradition dates back to Roman times, has a unique combination of natural moor, thermal water and sulfur springs. In Bad Abbach, Emperor Charles V once bathed in the healing sulfur water, which guests can still enjoy today.
Prevention is also becoming increasingly important: The Kaiser-Therme Bad Abbach focuses on short-term stress reduction,