Ettringen to Bad Wörishofen, 19Km
As forecast, I woke at 6:00 to a steady rainfall and howling wind. AccuWeather thought it would clear up in 115 minutes so I had a lazy breakfast and, after the 115 minutes had elapsed, set off along the wet streets of Ettringen. Today was another riverside walk which looks a lot better on the map than on the ground. I saw the sewage farms for Ettringen, Türkheim and, eventually, Bad Wörishofen. By then, the sun was shining.
Bad Wörishofen was the home of Fr Kneipp, a 19th century Catholic priest who developed a system of wellbeing based on hydrotherapy, botanical treatments, exercise and diet. He began by treating his parishioners and as his fame spread, the great and powerful of Europe came for the cure including Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Empress Sisi, the Pope and anyone who needed treatment. He was one of the forefathers of naturopathic medicine. He built several hospitals in Bad Wörishofen and his legacy lives on today with many hotels and spas offering improvements to your wellbeing including the hydrotherapy treatment for which Kneipp is best known.
I downloaded a walking tour of Bad Wörishofen and set off to explore the Kneipp sights. The Spa Park is all you need. There’s a number of pools where you can do the Kneipp walk (lifting your legs, stork fashion) and a 1500m long barefoot trail to experience the different textures underfoot. There are extensive herb gardens as well as roses and flowers to make you feel very good indeed. Fr Kneipp encouraged drinking mostly water but said that beer was fine too so I’m ready to book a few months in one of his sanatoriums.
Pilgrimage 
Are you in lederhosen yet? Then you can paddle in the pools at least.
Unfortunately they only come in German sizes
Looks great Tim. I am in the Pyrenees. Cold, wet, and some destructive flooding in places.
The weather has definitely changed today. I hope you have sufficient clothing
Interesting location and good photos Tim and thanks for your thoughts on Fr Kneipp’s beer therapy!
You could certainly spend weeks here with your feet in the water
sounds like you are winning the Covid battle 🤔
Slowly but surely I’m putting Covid behind me but it needs respect until it has gone
I like the idea of beer having therapeutic qualities – does that apply to all beer types or just German lagers?
Probably all beers are therapeutic, perhaps some more so than others
Hi Tim, hope your walk continues to be therapeutic; that garden is indeed very pretty!
The Spa Garden was a nice surprise. I saw lots of people walking with poles following the Kneipp principles but no one actually in a pool
The barefoot trail sounds like fun?
Yes but it didn’t look like fun!