A very special water rises five kilometers east of the center of Abtenau: the Abtenau healing water.
It is a sodium-calcium-chloride-sulphate mineral spring which flows from the Anna spring and the St. Rupert spring. The two springs (Anna and St. Rupertus spring) are identical in mineral composition and produce a discharge of around 1,5 liters per second, which would be enough for around 350 bathtubs of 400 liters each day. Based on the test report of the Austrian Research Center, the following table shows the main ingredients of the medicinal water:
Sodium: 1100 mg/l
Calcium: 740 mg/l
Chloride: 1751 mg/l
Sulfate: 2001 mg/l
Here is the public fountain for the Abtenau healing water
Fountain of Youth BERG study
In this study, the Institute for Ecomedicine at the Paracelsus Private Medical University of Salzburg investigated whether and to what extent mountain hiking and thermal baths affect the aging processes of the immune system and balance in individuals aged 65 and over. The results of this randomized, controlled clinical trial provide the first medical evidence that all three thermal waters, when combined with a hiking holiday, trigger a lasting rejuvenation process in the immune system of older people within just seven days. Vitality, balance, and working memory improve, and muscle mass is built.
Helper cells are important regulators of the immune system and help to start new immune defenses. The number of helper cells decreases with age. The formation of new helper cells is a sign of the rejuvenation of the immune system. We need naive helper cells and naive cytotoxic cells in order to be able to react to unknown pathogens and cancer cells. Their regeneration is also a sign of rejuvenation and an indicator of a more effective immune system.
The health benefits of a fountain of youth vacation
These benefits are available during a one-week youth mountain holiday with spa treatments and Hiking compared to a standard holiday:
- These are the advantages of a one-week Fountain of Youth mountain holiday with spa treatments and hiking compared to a standard holiday:
- strengthens balance and improves working memory
- rejuvenates components of the immune system T helper cells and cytotoxic T cells)
- builds muscle mass and lean mass
- increases the physical vitality for half a year through better oxygen transport in the blood
- increases walking speed and, in the long term, the number of steps per minute
- reduces inflammatory processes in the body
- improves health-related quality of life
Unfortunately, the town currently does not have adequate infrastructure for bathing in Abtenau's healing waters, but work is already underway on a holistic and sustainable concept for a fountain of youth competence center.
Soon, a fountain of youth holiday in Abtenau will be possible for everyone.
The history of the Abtenau medicinal water
In the summer of 1863, chief forester Hermann Ringel, who was working at the foot of the "Zwieselalm", discovered the source of Abtenau's medicinal water by chance. The somewhat salty-bitter water immediately aroused the interest of the Duke's valet, who acquired the grounds around the spring and had the highly mineralized water examined.
As early as 1871, a hotel with baths, the so-called "Zwieselbad," was built. This was taken over by Peter Robert Badrutt in 1913 and modernized to the latest standards. Inhalation treatments, drinking cures, and balneotherapeutic treatments were already being offered. The treatments covered a wide range of illnesses, including chronic skin diseases, rickets, gallstones, chronic gastric catarrh, and many others.
In the 1930s the Abtenau-Bad reached its peak, the water was bottled and even exported beyond the borders. Like so many spas and health resorts, the Abtenau baths fell victim to the war and were increasingly being forgotten.
