Natural Spa in Bistrica ob Dravi

Sights that are worth visiting

Natural Spa in Bistrica ob Dravi

This lesser-known spa was introduced by Dr. Eman Pertl, a medical historian, in his work Naravno Zdravilišče v Bistrici pri Limbušu, which had the characteristics of a Kneipp natural spa. dr. Pertl showed how Gjuno Simonič managed this spa from l. 1884 to l. 1905. Simonič recommended the natural spa in his booklet, and he was drawn to Bistrica by the natural environment, especially the forest.

Together with the stream, this natural feature under Pohorje creates a plain in front of the banks of the Drava River. With its medicinally clean air and its beneficial microclimate, it had a beneficial effect on people's well-being. The most famous in Bistrica was Ludvik Rottner's Inn. The guests were old and young, men and women. Among them were rheumatism and asthmatics. The guests were from the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The majority were from Vienna, officials and officers. They even came from Russia, some from Leoben, New York and Genoa.

The spa resembled a good improvisation. The guests stayed in modest farm huts. Simonič had a rented apartment in the Bistrica 3 house, which belonged to Miloš Oset. There were showers and bathtubs. Everything was simple. In the house Bistrica 22 (near Leponček) Simonič had a kind of laboratory or home pharmacy with herbs and ointments. Guests had to bring two linen sheets and two special blankets. They were lying on cement benches covered with wood. Simonič recommended sunbathing because he referred to the old traditions of the Indians and Persians. They slept on air cushions in tents, where the power of the earth was well felt. Dravska mivka from the Onič Bay was used for "coating", mud baths, which to a certain extent destroy disease-causing substances. According to pastor Kneipp's method, the program included bogging and walking on water (walking on dewy grass, stomping - splashing in water). The guests helped the surrounding farmers with threshing and rubbing of flax. Simonič did not recommend his spa only for rest to the healthy, overtired from work, but for the treatment of many chronic diseases. He treated nervous diseases and insomnia, women's diseases, heart diseases, and diseases of the respiratory and digestive organs. Simonič did not exaggerate his advice. He dosed the treatment individually and the food was vegetarian: oat bread, milk, brandy, vegetables, potatoes and fruit. Many obese people have lost weight this way. The recreation program included swimming in the Drava, bowling and other social games. The guests were served by Simonič's relatives, the food was prepared according to recipes from the book "This is how you should eat". In the evenings, the zithers sounded and drove away the gloom. It was pleasant and relaxed, but also educational because Father Simonič also enlightened the guests on health. He taught natural healing, mostly outdoors, but in bad weather at the Rottner Inn. Many residents of Maribor travelled there by train, especially on Sundays

The locals had a hard time understanding that the guests were paying for getting up at dawn, walking early on the dewy grass or splashing in the stream, and helping with farm chores.

In 1905, after more than 16 years of operation, the spa in Bistrica was closed. If Simonič had acquired the German capital, his health resort would probably have survived and Bistrica would have been a well-known climatic health resort and tourist destination today. On the road from Maribor to Ruše, the former Rottner house and other houses are still standing, there, by the stream, where his patients used to walk barefoot on the dewy grass and strengthen their spirit and body, there are still grassy orchards.

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