Spa Time

The latest pampering places, products and treatments

- Eve Boggenpoel

Spa of the month

Gräflicher Park Grand Resort, Bad Driburg, Germany

A few weeks ago, I was invited to ‘take the waters’ in Bad Driburg, Germany, a region renowned for its healing springs. Not only did I drink the mineral waters, I immersed myself in peat mud and experienced the famous FX Mayr Cure. All of this took place at the Gräflicher Park Grand Hotel, a beautiful spa complex, owned by the family of the Count and Countess of OeynhausenSierstorpff since 1782.

THE HOTEL

Gräflicher Park Grand Hotel is a go-to location for spa seekers looking for health and wellbeing. Set in a stunning 64-hectare country park with its own mineral springs and mud ponds, the beautifully kept grounds and themed gardens provide tranquility unrivalled by other resorts. Within the grounds lie a hotel, six guesthouses, a spa, medical centre and conference venues.

Inside the hotel are 135 guest rooms, several restaurants, a stylish bar, swimming pool and beauty salon. However, if you’re taking the FX Mayr Cure, you stay in The Hölderlin House, with FX Mayr treatment rooms and charismatic naturopath and Mayr physician Dr Henk Hietkamp’s practice.

THE PHILOSOPHY

The FX Mayr cure, famous for treating everything from digestive ailments to chronic disease, was developed by naturopath Franz Xaver Mayr at the beginning of the 20th century, based upon rest, detoxification and regeneration of the gastrointestinal tract. Mayr believed that intermittent fasting was the key to good health. ‘If the gut is healthy, the person is healthy,’ was his philosophy. The physician claimed that a healthful diet is not so much about what we eat but how we eat it. Thorough mastication (chewing) is key and, ideally, you should eat in silence to be aware of your satiation and aid digestion.

THE DIET