Bad Reichenhall Things to Do

When I was in the Spa [KUR] Gardens and near the fountain, I noticed a huge building, which to me, looked like it may have been the remains of a burnt down building.
Of course, I went for a look, and found it very unusual.

A long length of wall was made of twigs, had water dribbling through it and landing in a bottom tray an amber colour.
What was this building, it wasn't a burnt down building!
On walking around it, I found a panel full of information on this building.

It was called a Gradierhaus [Open-air inhalatorium or Salt evaporation house] and is the World´s biggest open-air Alps Brine inhalatorium.

About 400 000 litres of Alps Brine trickle down the 13 meter high walls, which are covered with blackthorn. It was built in 1912, and is meant to help your health if you walk around it and breathe in the fresh air enriched with small salt water particles.

The evaporation of the salt water causes a cooling and humidifying of the air which makes it easier to breathe. It also improves the local climate in Bad Reichenhall.

I really think it is a MUST SEE

FREE

I really think it is a must here. This town has quite a few buildings with frescoes painted on them.
I like stopping and taking in what they have painted, and I want to take 'that' photo too!
I found old Arches, narrow alleys, lots of interesting shops, monument's, fountains, churches and much more. There is a lot of interest in this town, and it is easy to walk around as two of the main streets are for pedestrian's only.

Mozart was a visitor to Bad Reichenhall on many ocassions with his family, and later with his new wife "Constance." He loved the area and the healing powers.
Now, the Town recognizes him with his statue on a fountain, chocolates, and every March with Mozart concert's.

This area is now a nice pedestrian zone in the historic old town. In this area is the town stream and an unusual fountain. I found plenty of shops and outdoor cafes. Also found a church, which I am not sure if still operating as a Church, as on the side wall [photo 3] there were religious items in wall boxes for sale.

The State and Municipal Spa building had beautiful architecture and detailed facades. It was built in 1928, in a style I am not familiar with [Jugendstil]
It is located next to the beautiful Kur Park.
I wish I could find out more info, but have been out of luck.

Located the other side of the Gradierhaus, is another beautiful building. I am not sure, but I think it is the State Spa building that was built in1900, by Prof Max Littmann in a very nice Neo-Baroque style. I went inside and there looked to be a tourist information counter and brochures there.
Just inside the door, was a nice marble fountain. The ceilings and architecture of this building was beautiful, and it is worth a look inside.

This is a beautiful park that I thoroughly enjoyed walking around. The park was laid out in 1870 by a landscape architect named Von Effner. It covers quite an area, and quite a bit is lawn, shrubs and trees. Then there are area's of annuals which were in full bloom, a lot of these were surrounding a nice fountain. I found some sculptures in the garden, some were on the lawns. A very nice, well kept park.

This Church was closed, which was a pity, as I have read there are frescoes inside. It was built in 1881, and the interior was renovated in 1981 for the 100th anniversary. There is a fresco that adorns the whole entire wall of the choir.
The entrance door is nice and worth a look if you can't get inside, I do hope you can!

Please check the website map for location.

I was walking the streets when I came across this huge building. What on earth was it? I thought maybe for the Army, but no it wasn't, it is what is known as "the Old Salt Works."

I didn't know that Bad Reichenhall's livelihood was salt, and has been for thousands of years.
In 1834, the Town was on fire, and the medeival salt works were destroyed. King Ludwig I commissioned the construction of what is now known as "Old Salt Works".
Would you believe it received the title of “Most attractive salt works in the world” in 1846.
It does look industrial, the layout, and the red brick makes it this way. The central part of the salt works is formed by the main pumping hall and by the spring works chapel, built in neo-Romanesque style.

Tours are taken down the mines and grottos to where the origin of salt mining in Bad Reichenhall began. If you don't know about salt mining before, you sure will after the tour fills you in on the history of salt and the Old Salt Mine.

The tour lasts one hour. Below ground, a temperature of +12°C . You need to change into Miner's clothes to go into the Mine.

ADMISSION IN 2011......Adults...14.90 euros...Children....9.50 euros

OPEN.....
from 1st May till 31. October daily from 9am - 5pm
from 2nd November 30th April daily from 11am - 3pm

The Old Town Hall was built in 1849 and decorated with frescoes in 1924.

The frescoes depict................
Charlemagne, Saint Rupert, Frederik 1st, Ludwig 1st, both of Bavaria, and Charity & Justice.

It's a really nice old building.
They now have a new Town Hall

On a trip to Bad Reichenhall I ended up in the Kurpark. I saw this strange structure in the park and went inside the Gradierhaus. At the time I had no idea what it was and could see the twigs lining the walls and water running down them producing a wee coloured liquid. So intrigued, I found out some more from the information signs. The Gradierhaus was built in 1912 and is the largest open air inhalatorium in the world. There are 2 corridors each nearly 175 metres in length with 13 metre tall walls that are covered in blackthorn and hawthorn twigs. Salt water trickles down the walls and evaporates into the air releasing salt. The particles of salt are to said to improve your respiration and it is recommended you spend one hour a day walking inside the building. I have seen a similar type of treatment before in the salt mines close to Krakow where patients spend periods of time inside the mines to improve their breathing. Does it work? We spent 1 hour sitting in there. Lin had suffered a cold, cough, chest infection and a virus infection which had lasted 3 months. A few days later it had completely cleared up.

A great place to relax and indulge yourself is the Rupertus Therme in Bad Reichenhall. A fully equipped spa you can swim in the salt water pools, get a sauna or a massage and even eat.
The outdoor salt water pool is the most popular. Warmer than the other, and with an amazing view of the mountains you can swim or just follow the rotating jacuzzi areas.
Recommended after climbing the mountains if it's not a regular activity.

Our son visited this building with his friends and he says it is worth a visit. This is a building from the 1800s were you can see a salt museum with a giant brine pumping system. You can also walk through stone corridors leading deep under the mountain where caves and saltwater extraction equipment can be seen.

Fellow VT member Kenbac has already written two interesting tips on this wonderful cafe in the centre of the new town. Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate - in drinks, in deserts, in everything! I cannot add anymore to what Kenbac has said - I just wonder what Mozart would have made of his name and image being used as it has here. If he liked chocolate I am sure he would be honoured.
The staff do speak English and the postal system does work. We sent a large box of chocolate home and it arrived within a few days.
More photos to follow.

The cable car starts on the edge of town - it takes quite a long walk to get to it but it is flat - and we found it hard to find on the first occasion. However the cable car station is interesting and you can see the winding gear operate and there is a small but interesting display on how the cable was laid back in the 1920s.
It is called the Predigtsuhlbahn and is the world's oldest twin cable gondola lift. The ride is quite fantastic and on the first occasion in October 2002 we were surprised to find snow on the peak - we had no idea from the ground that there was snow. It takes just 8 minutes to get the top of this 5300 feet high mountain.
There is a viewing area and restaurant at the top and we were surprised at the range of dishes on order in the restaurant.
There are a number of walks to be made and I did get to do about a 20 minute walk and see over Salzburg on fine autumn afternoon on one of the three occasions we travelled up the mountain.
The views over the town are quite magnificant as the photos show. The website is in German but a very good site and it is easy to gain inforamtion from the site such as opening times and so on.
The photo of the cable car station is taken from the official site.