The majestic and venerable Friedrichsbad is the pre-eminent spa in Germany and perhaps all of Europe. Constructed atop the ruins of an ancient bath built around thermal springs by the conquering Romans, Friedrichsbad leads you through a stage series of pools ranging from hot-tub temperature to numbing cold, with Jacuzzi-like jets, showers, saunas, steam rooms, and massages. It ends with rooms to nap, read and relax. The recommended order is optional and you can repeat or omit stages, such as the little-used cold-water plunge.
Despite its many pleasures and benefits, few Americans visit the spa because of their cultural hang-ups. The spa is in a large building in a busy neighbourhood surrounded by shops, homes and restaurants. My wife, Carol, and I went at noon on an April Sunday. After we paid for the basic routine plus two types of massage, we were given electronic devices to wear on our wrists that looked like watches without dials.
These contained a computer chip that recorded the time we had in the spa and verified our purchased options. We climbed the elegant stairs to the changing room. This was like a gym locker room except that, in place of benches between the rows of skinny, vertical lockers, it had rows of green dressing cubicles like the changing rooms in clothing stores but smaller. We each took one and undressed completely. An attendant, a woman dressed in white like hospital staff, told us to shower first and then follow the arrow to the first sauna.
The three showers heads were in use, so we waited a couple of minutes until one became free. Carol took it, putting her sheet in a little cubicle and her glasses in a special holder on the wall. A minute later, one opened for me.
Photos taken inside Friedrichsbad often show people wearing towels, but this is a publication requirement and not a realistic depiction. At Friedrichsbad, people new to the experience lose their self consciousness in minutes when they find that their interactions with staff and other visitors are as normal as when everyone is fully clothed.
