Prince Pückler

Under the leadership of the princess, the "Hermannsbad" spa resort in Bad Muskau was established. It brought no profit to the royal couple - but it did provide relief for many sick people.

The construction of the Muskau Park cost so much money that the prince and his wife Lucie were constantly looking for new sources of income. In 1822, two springs of medicinal water were found in Muskau - one for bathing and one for drinking - whose healing properties had been investigated and proven due to their high iron content. Analyses showed that the iron moor in Muskau was significantly more effective than that in Marienbad in Bohemia.

As a result, Pückler had a few tubs set up for mineral baths for the sick members of the nobility in the summer and prescribed the first drinking cures. The princess, however, had bigger ideas: she came up with the idea of founding a bathing establishment. The prince and princess hoped for solvent spa guests and expected urgently needed money for the projects to design the landscape park on the Neisse.

Lucie had a spa built on the grounds of the park: a mineral bath, a restaurant building and a lodging house. The bath was named after the princely owner and inaugurated as "Hermannsbad". Official bathing operations began with 130 spa guests on June 22, 1823. In the following years, Lucie made a name for herself with the landscaping of the bathing park.

Well-off spa guests did come to Muskau to drink from the iron vitriol spring and, from 1830, to bathe in the mud. The spa offered a modern and extensive range of treatments: in addition to the healing water and mud, there were sulphur, herbal, slag, shower and steam baths. There was also a Russian bath, comparable to a sauna, and, as a special feature, the “sweat baths” in the shafts of the alum mine. With massages, music and culture and the peace and beauty of the princely park, Muskau also promised excellent relaxation.

But the proceeds from the spa operation were not enough to end the financial difficulties. The hoped-for income, which was urgently needed to finance the park, did not materialize despite intensive advertising for the mineral bath. What was left for posterity, however, was the park and its buildings and a spa tradition in Bad Muskau that now stretches back almost 200 years.