Alpine Sauna World

Brechelbad (Brechelbath)

60 degrees – daily from 15.00 – 20.00 – sweating just like country folk used to.

The Brechel bath is a herbal steam bath with mild and moist rising warmth. The name “Brechelbad” comes from the breaking of flax and hemp. In order to process these raw materials, the stems were dried in the “Brechel” room and then broken/snapped with the so-called flax “Brechel” (breaker). Then the fibres were treated with steam and this procedure was repeated several times over. On a Saturday evening, before going to church on a Sunday morning, the “Brechel” bath or hair bath in the form of a herbal steam bath was used separately by the farm hands, the maids and the farmer´s family, strictly according to sex. An up-to-date application of this feeling of wellbeing has developed from that rural method of sweating. The wood-panelled room in our hotel has been modelled on the original of a “Brechel” cabin. The “Brechel” bath stove whose copper pot is filled with fragrant fir cones and branches of conifers stands in the middle. The puffs of herbal steam rise and the aromatic fragrances of the woods are set free. The steam falls down the sides of the stove to glide gently over the backs of the guests seated nearby.

Bread bath

40 degrees – daily from 15.00 – 20.00

In the Middle Ages, as even today, people stand outside a baker´s shop and start daydreaming. The wonderful smell of fresh bread gets one´s fantasy working. The enzymes (Greek “zyme” – leaven) play an interesting role in modern medical research of the so-called transmitter substances.
One describes different substances as transmitters, which serve in the human and animal body to convey signals. These are in the brain the neurotransmitters and in the whole body the hormones . Various neuropeptides take an in-between position. There are various brain substances (transmitters) e.g. endorphins, dopamine, serotonin etc.

Without enzymes, a proper metabolism in humans is not possible. Even in the Middle Ages, treatment in a “Brechel” bath was, in some regions, given successfully. At that time it was a combination of, on the one hand, intensive over-heating and, on the other hand, the already known action of the enzymes. Bread was baked quite normally in the oven. After the bread had risen (been taken out), the remaining oven warmth was used for the bread bath. According to historical sources one expected, at that time, relief from rheumatic pains and the purification of the patient from sins and evil thoughts via the chimney. The modern bread bath is a room with mild, dry warmth. The room air is enriched with leaven enzymes from the oven. We recommend going first to the mild bread bath in preparation for the vigorously over- warming Swiss pine sauna.

Swiss pine sauna

90 degrees – daily from 15.00 –20.00

Go into our “Zirbenstube” (Swiss pine room) and enjoy a sauna which takes care completely of your health and wellbeing. Due to the antibacterial effect and the high content of wood substances like resins and ethereal oils, the Swiss pine wood exudes a pleasant smell and a special feeling of wellbeing. When being heated up or when water is poured on the hot stones, the fragrance of the wood develops to the full.