Bad Schartl Baths
The balmy water
In times of loud external pools it is certainly very scenic to admire the peaceful bathing culture of ancient years. Tyrolean baths served as summer resorts and were visited by noblemen, citizens and farmers as well as the peasants during hot periods. Around 1870 Tyrol had 74 baths, 28 of which were in Puster Valley. One of these is the Schartl Bath, at 1,447 m above Valdaora. Those who go astray in the dreamy forest idyll of Bad Schartl seem to “hear the laughing and joking of merry Brunico citizens and the sounds of a lute broken long ago in the roars of high trees” (quotation by the author and naturalist Rampold). Bad Schartl experienced its heyday around the middle of the last century, when the renowned topographer Staffler was the community governor and Hermann Gilm the civil court servant in Brunico. The Schartl and the love for Sophie Petter from Brunico represent the content of Gilms’ famous “Schartl songs”. One of the songs: |   |
| Staffler, Gilm’s supervisor describes the situation as follows: "With its two wooden buildings in straight Western direction it looks down from a steep, foresty mountain above the village of Lower Valdaora, 1.5 hours from this village and 45 minutes North of the Sorafuricia Church. To the West it leans to the forest drawing the border between Sorafuricia and Riscone, a village above Brunico.” The spot where the path inclines is called “Scharte” and this is where the bath got its name. From this spot you can enjoy a free view in purest alpine air. The source at this point contains sulphur and iron and contains very light and cold water, which is then used as a bath and fountain cure. Today, the source leads to the Mirabell Dolomites Wellness Residence, where the fresh and healthy baths of past centuries are used in combination with the comfort and luxury of modern times. | Three Toasts (H. v. Gilm) The first glass from the beautiful world Down there in this quietness, The dark forest, the golden field In his blessings corpulence. The second glass of the beautiful spot Up here at the Scharte, Where alpine scents and mountain source Did not spare one gift. The third glass to the woman, loved From old and young, Who practices hospitality heartily, The first of German virtues. |
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