Gradierbau Bad Dürkheim

The Bad Dürkheim graduation tower is one of the longest of its kind in Germany. It is the last of the original six graduation towers that belonged to the former "Philippshall" saltworks. It is a successor to an even older graduation tower that stood on the same site and ceased operations in 1844. At that time, salt production via saltworks had already lost much of its original importance due to cheaper competition from large-scale mining. The new construction of today's graduation tower, which was tied to the condition of setting up a bathing facility, was completed in 1847 for the opening of the Bad Dürkheim salt baths.Ultimately, salt production was stopped altogether in 1867. However, as the spa town of Bad Dürkheim developed at that time, it was quickly discovered that saltworks had a very high health value in addition to their purely economic function as a production site for salt. When the brine from the Maxquelle spring in the spa gardens trickles down, large amounts of minerals are released into the air in the form of microscopically fine droplets, known as aerosols, which are absorbed by visitors through their respiratory tract. It was recognized very early on that breathing in this air in the walkways and in the immediate vicinity of the salt mine can have a soothing effect, particularly in the case of respiratory diseases. This effect can still be experienced today on a tour of the salt mine.

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