Bathing for health reasons has a long tradition behind it; the use of mineral springs outside of towns was common, as the numerous medieval and early modern hot springs in rural areas show. A spa town represents a special type of health resort. After thermal baths had become popular by the end of the 17th century, in the years that followed there came to be a broader use of water as a remedy via drinking it. This treatment was quickly accepted by extensive groups of people, both aristocratic and bourgeois, who…
Spa town(771 words)
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Keller, Katrin, “Spa town”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 23 September 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_017291>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180208
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