Today we had the pleasure to visit the Paracelsus thermal bath in Bad Liebenzell. The small health resort is located shortly before the border to Baden in the Swabian part of the Black Forest, deeply hidden in the Nagold Gorge. Apart from the main road, which unfortunately also leads through this gorge, it is a quiet, dreamy little place, which is mainly characterised by its spa facilities. There are several spa hotels, clinics, beauty centres, doctors and alternative practitioners. In addition, there is of course the Paracelsus Therme, which spoils its guests with various thermal baths and a sauna landscape. As part of our Medicine-Walk through Europe we were allowed to test this thermal spa and we are happy to tell you about our experiences here.

Location and surroundings of the Paracelsus Therme

The Paracelsus Therme is located on the outermost edge of Bad Liebenzell, in the immediate vicinity of the Nagold and only a few metres from the railway station. Bad Liebenzell offers, as already mentioned, a lot of infrastructure for spa guests. Otherwise, however, there is little to see or do here. Much more is to be found in the surrounding area, where there are countless cycling and hiking trails. Here, one can experience the whole wild splendour of the Black Forest, partly on largely natural paths. We were especially fascinated by the Monbachtal. It starts about 3.5 km north of the Therme in eastern direction from the Nagold Valley and leads into the middle of the still largely untouched Black Forest. Those who walk alongside the Monbach can look forward to an adventurous tour with several brook crossings where one has to jump from rock to rock.

For hiking friends we have put together some maps around Bad Liebenzell:

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Accommodation in Bad Liebenzell

In Bad Liebenzell there are of course some hotels where you can stay overnight for your visit to the thermal baths, your cure or your wellness holiday. But we ourselves have decided not to stay directly in Bad Liebenzell, but 3,5 km further north in the Christian guesthouses "Monbachtal". These are located directly at the entrance of the Monbachtal and are therefore completely cut off from traffic noise. Besides three guesthouses with seminar rooms and single and multi-bed rooms, there are also some holiday cottages, which are located at the edge of the forest directly above the Monbach.

 

In the summer, school trips and holiday camps take place here on the grounds, offering students an adventurous environment with wild streams, high ropes course, sports areas, campfire sites and much more. Especially now in winter, when it is a little quieter, this place is also an ideal starting point for a spa or wellness holiday. Because unlike in the hotels directly in the village, you can be out in nature from here in a few minutes and enjoy the fresh air of the spa region. But also the Therme is not far away and there is a well-developed footpath that leads along the Nagold from the area of the guesthouses directly to the door of the Therme.

Appearance and first impression

The Paracelsus Thermal Baths were opened as early as 1969 and thus already have a long tradition. This is also communicated to the outside world. Thus, unlike most of the thermal baths of recent times, it is rather unobtrusive. As soon as you enter the interior, however, the rustic impression is immediately gone. For here you are greeted directly with a stylish and friendly, brightly furnished reception area. The basement is reserved purely for the reception, changing rooms and showers, while the sauna and thermal bath area is concentrated on the upper floors.

Everything is in a clean, immaculate and pleasant condition, so that you feel comfortable immediately when you arrive. Only the temperatures would have been a little different. Thus, we found the changing room area, in which we still wore our warm street clothes most of the time, to be a little too warm. But the thermal bath, bistro and sauna area could have been a little warmer in our opinion. It was not uncomfortable and one did not freeze, but with two or three degrees more, one could definitely have increased the well-being factor once again. Especially Heiko noticed this, as he had particularly strong back pain from tension since a few days.

The thermal bath area

As soon as you leave the staircase or the elevator on the upper floor, you enter the thermal bath area. It has a total water surface of 620 square meters. Among other things, there is an outdoor pool with 32 °C, an indoor pool with 30 °C, a therapy pool with 34 °C, a rock pool with waterfall, and a steam bath. We noticed particularly positively that the Paracelsus thermal baths were pleasantly quiet, especially in comparison to the newer thermal baths. The rooms are smaller overall and more ramified than in the more recently built thermal baths. Unfortunately, it is common practice in these baths to combine everything in a huge station hall. But here, a much more pleasant acoustic was created than what we were used to in the case of thermal baths. Only the waterfall was a little opposed to this. As it splashed right behind the therapy pool, where otherwise, the quietness would have been specially pleasant.

For candidates of constant tension in the back and shoulders, the spa offers, in addition to the pleasantly warm water, some massage jets. With these you can really loosen up your tissues. There are also a number of adventure showers and a pleasantly soothing brine inhalation area. The latter has an invigorating and healing effect on lungs and respiratory tract.

 

The sauna area "Pinea" of the thermal bath in Bad Liebenzell

The sauna area extends over an indoor and an outdoor area. The latter accommodates two Finnish log cabin saunas at 90 °C and 100 °C as well as an outdoor pool and a sunbathing lawn with relaxation loungers. Inside there are three more saunas and a steam bath. One of them is a panorama sauna with 85 °C, from which you can even see the Bad Liebenzell castle. The other two are the relax sauna with 80 °C and the bio sauna with 60 °C. The latter is ideal for beginners and newcomers to the sauna, as well as for people with weak circulation or other weaknesses. Because the relatively low temperature is already sufficient to stimulate the body to detoxify. However, it does not burden the body as much as temperatures around 90 or 100 °C do.

The sauna area also offers a plunge pool for cooling off after sauna sessions, several Kneipp basins for the feet, in which hot and cold water can be alternately let in.

 

Sauna in a quiet atmosphere

Also here in the sauna area we were convinced by the calm atmosphere. Unfortunately, we have only rarely been able to experience it in this form in public sauna facilities. The "rest room" is really more than just an inscription on a door, behind which you can expect the same rumbling as in front of it. You can also enjoy absolute silence in the Relax Sauna and the Panorama Sauna.

In our noisy and hectic world, "calm" has almost become a foreign word. That is why an oasis of silence, like this one, is especially precious. As a rule, we hardly get the opportunity to really come to rest and reflect on ourselves. Only in this way can we establish a connection to our intuition. Especially for people who suffer from stress symptoms, hectic, nervousness or burnout, this silence is especially important for healing and regeneration. Therefore it is nice to see that there are still healing places like the Paracelsus Therme where you can really find it.

Sauna infusions of the Paracelsustherme

Of course, regular sauna infusions are also held in the Paracelsus Therme. They are always celebrated on the full hour and sometimes also on the half hour either in the log cabin sauna in the outdoor area or in the relaxation sauna. Besides herbal infusions, there is also a singing bowl infusion. During our visit to the thermal bath, according to some permanent guests, there was a lot going on, so that some of the saunas were already quite crowded. This also led to the fact that partly, one had to arrive at the respective sauna a quarter of an hour before the beginning of the infusion in order to get a seat. But as already mentioned, this was apparently an exceptional situation due to a special event in the evening and usually does not happen.

But apart from the obligation of an early start, we enjoyed the infusions very much. They weren't the most spectacular we've ever had. But they were pleasant and were performed by friendly and competent sauna infusions who knew what they were doing.

 

Events and activities at the thermal spa Bad Liebenzell

In the evening a special event took place in the Sauna Pinea, which was called "Black Forest Romanticism". This included a hang player who accompanied the singing bowl infusion with his instrument, as well as a number of other activities.

In addition to one-off events like this one, the Paracelsus Therme also offers regular events. These include candlelight swimming, the poetry evening, the midnight sauna and the ladies' relaxation day.

Personal conclusion about the Paracelsus-Therme

All in all, the visit of the Paracelsus thermal bath and the sauna Pinea was very good and we enjoyed it just as much. Those who expect a spectacular bathing and sauna experience will surely not be at the right address here. But for all those who are really interested in rest, relaxation, recuperation and healing, the spa in Bad Liebenzell is ideal.

 

The slogan of the day: Just let your soul dangle!

vertical meters: 359 m Stage for the day: 17 km Stage destination: Christian Guest House Monbachtal, Bad Liebenzell, Germany