The Kranzbach
Best Practice Nature
Spa in the Bavarian Alps
No children,
no events, no wedding celebrations, no external guests, no day spa guests. Since
its opening “The Kranzbach” has consistently focused on being a hotel that
serves as a wellness refuge.
Located
alone in its own 130,000 m² alpine meadow, surrounded by woods and impressive
mountain scenery with a view of the Zugspitze, it promises its guests a maximum
of recuperation, relaxation and wellness. There is no through traffic and there
are no neighbours to disturb the guests. They can sleep deeply with the window
open to breathe the fresh mountain air. It´s part of the hotel’s philosophy
that there are no public events held in the hotel and that the restaurant is
only for those guests who stay with them. This place is peaceful – a protected mountain valley, 1000m
above sea level and 15 km from Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
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| source: daskranzbach.de |
The architecture of the main building,
called “The English Country House” seems like a fairytale dream. It was the honourable
Mary Isabel Portman, a lady and musician from London, who built "The
Kranzbach Castle". It reminds one of Scottish or Irish country houses
built out of natural stone and with the property´s typical gables – which look
like stairways.
The path to this huge wellness
refuge in the south of Germany began in 1947, when the Dortmund Evangelical
Church began to offer vacation resort activities in “The Kranzbach”. In late
2003, the Church sold the property to its current owners, who already operate
the highly renowned wellness resort in Austria, "Der Steirerhof" in
Bad Waltersdorf. From then on the new owners renewed parts of the house and
built up a completely new separate spa building and a modern garden wing, which
is constructed predominantly of wood and glass. The spa has four pools, both indoor
& outdoor, nine saunas and steam rooms, a huge relaxation lawn with lounge
chairs and blankets, a covered relaxation terrace, relaxation rooms with open fireplaces,
an individual “Ladies Spa”, two yoga halls, some rooms for massage, cosmetics,
Ayurveda or TCM. You can be very active there or deliberately do nothing at all
but relax.
Today
“The Kranzbach” is ranked among the top three German hotels. Since 2008 each
year the Relax Guide has given this special wellness refuge four lilies (19
points), which is the highest rating possible in this German-language wellness guide.
I promise, all you have to do is look at the impressive pictures on their
website, and you will also want to go there.
Let
yourself breathe.
For me, it´s definitely a
place to be!
Kathrin Hofer (FH JOANNEUM)
