The European Spa as a Transnational Public Space and Social Metaphor: Homepage

The European Spa Project

"The European Spa as a Transnational Public Space and Social Metaphor" project (2019-2022) is part of the HERA Humanities in the European Research Area funding initiative of the European Union devoted to “Public Spaces: Culture and Integration in Europe“. Within this framework, our project rethinks the spa as a core concept and object of European debate. It investigates how the European spa, with its characteristic institutions such as the Kurpark, sanatorium, grand hotel and casino, developed into a transnational public space and functioned as a stage for the negotiation of political, social and cultural issues of European relevance.

Focus History and Memory

Within the focus History and Memory we investigate the development of spa institutions (source, park, Grand Hotel, casino) and their geographical spread across Europe, including the emergence of “off-springs” like the seaside resort and the climatic spa; the consequences of this spread in terms of political and cultural geographies (centre-periphery relations), developments and emulations of the model over time, and the competition among the spas for European customers; the social opening of the spas, in close relation to the development of societal changes and technical innovations enhancing spatial and social mobility.

Focus Literature and Culture

The European spa is a literary topos in the double sense of the word, as locus and as motif. Taking the waters, spa romancing, gambling for one’s life - in the sanatorium as well as in the casino - are eminent topics. The specific attraction of the spa for literary ‘treatments’ stems from its nature as a meeting place, where people of different nationalities, religions and classes cross paths. Consequently, the spa in literature is often used as a social metaphor in a more general sense, as ‘paradise on earth’, a model of the perfect society, a hideaway from the impositions of everyday life or even a dystopian place for controlling body and soul.

Spa Voices and Artefacts

Brochure „Abbazia“ (front cover), 1930s, Comitato Provinciale del Turismo – Ufficio Propaganda, HMT-3360

Opatija Promotional Brochures (Croatia)

Opatija was formed as an elite resort destination from the mid-19th century. Opatija (Abbazia) was presented as a paradise on earth – an ideal holiday and health resort. It was promoted in many ways, in particular with postcards, brochures, and guides.

Virtual Exhibit No 7

Park Drag, mid-19th century, Harrogate (UK)

Park Drags were vehicles in which to ‘see and be seen’. They came into regular use in England during the 1860s, and were large coaches drawn by a team of horses ...

Virtual Exhibit No 6

Early 19th century roulette from the Bad Ems Kursaal (Germany)

Jacques Offenbach visited Bad Ems frequently, as a spa visitor, as a composer looking for a restive yet creative environment. As it happened, Offenbach gambled and lost ..

Virtual Exhibit No 5

Bladder stone demolition (lithotripsy), Spa museum Bad Wildungen (Germany)

The Wildunger healing waters were considered suitable from early on to prevent or at least slow down the formation of urinary stones. For a long time, the spa doctors increased their knowledge in this field ...

Virtual Exhibit No 4

Interesting angle from which the photograph is taken

Racecourse Iffezheim. Painting by J.-B. Heinefetter, City Museum Baden-Baden (Germany)

This impressive painting by Johann Baptist Heinefetter (Mainz 1815-1902 Baden-Baden) was based on a photograph by the Karlsruhe photographer Charles Werzinger. What is interesting is the angle from which the photographer took the scene ...

Virtual Exhibit No 3

Historical Chair from the Casino Hotel in Sopot (Poland)

Chair from the Casino Hotel, Town museum Sopot (Poland)

This is a piece of equipment belonging to the luxury Casino Hotel in Sopot (Zoppot). The chair was used by hotel guests for resting in the hotel garden ...

Virtual Exhibit No 1

Russian Cutlery Set at the Royal Pump Room Museum in Harrogate (UK)

The cutlery set shown here is one of the many gifts and letters the Tsarina sent to her godchildren (this one to the girl Alix) before being executed by the Bolsheviks in the wake of the Russian Revolution in 1918.

Virtual Exhibit No 2

Image Credits

News

Events

Associated Partners

"Poetic Springs" literary festival Bad Oeynhausen

Thermal Spa Bad Oeynhausen / Agora Association (Germany)

Bad Oeynhausen is a spa town in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, founded as late as the 1840s. Its Kurpark is an architectural museum of the 19th century. Every summer, the Kurpark provides the setting for a popular literary festival called 'Poetische Quellen' (Poetic Springs). Our partners are the municipal spa organization Staatsbad AG Bad Oeynhausen and the literary association Agora.

Website

Bademuseum (spa museum) Norderney (Germany)

The spa museum at this German seaside resort offers a permanent exhibition devoted to the history of this place, and of seaside resorts in general. One of its most famous visitors was the German author (and critical spirit) Heinrich Heine. One of the highlights of the museum is its own art gallery.

Website

Balneological Library Bad Wildungen (Germany)

The balneological library in the German spa town Bad Wildungen accomodates more than 6,000 books and papers on balneology, spa treatments and rehabilitation medicine. The library combines the possessions of the Hessian Spa Association and Bad Wildungen ́s spa archive. It is situated in a historic building erected in 1550 and open to the public.

Website

Croatian Tourism museum in Opatija (Croatia)

The Croatian Tourism Museum is located in historical spa buildings. Additionally to its local exhibition on the history of the seaside resort Opatija and on Croatian tourism in general, it hosts an impressive virtual gallery with photographs of exhibits and postcards.

Website

Department World Heritage nomination / City Museum Baden-Baden (Germany)

The city museum of Baden-Baden houses rich exhibits concerning the town's history as a famous spa destination. It presents history of taking the waters throughout the centuries and highlights Baden-Baden as a fashionable spa in the 19th century. One of its recent special exhibitions was devoted to the life of Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, one of the town's most famous residents.

Website

European Historic Thermal Towns Association (ehtta)

The ehtta (European Historic Thermal Towns Association) is an international network of spas for the promotion of European thermal culture around the world. It initiated the European Cultural Route of Thermal Heritage, a travel itinerary certified by the Council of Europe, and including almost 50 spas in 16 countries.

Website

Juraj Dobrila University of Pula (Croatia)

Within the Interdisciplinary Study Programme of Culture and Tourism, assistant professor Dr. Nataša Urošević teaches courses on the subjects of cultural heritage, cultural history, European identity, heritage management, travel writing, and cultural routes. She has published widely on the history of the Brijuni islands.

Personal website Nataša Urošević

Spa museum in Sopot (Poland)

The town museum in Sopot is located in a typical spa villa. It hosts a permanent exhibition devoted to local history including spa culture, and regularly organizes cultural events such as readings and concerts. It also offers temporary exhibitions on special subjects.

Website

The Royal Pump Room Museum Harrogate (UK)

Housed in the Victorian Royal Pump Room, the site of Europe's strongest sulphur well, the museum has a changing temporary exhibition programme and permanent displays of Harrogate’s spa-history.

Website

Image Credits

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