Bad Münster am Stein

No album or calendar of the Nahe is complete without a picture of the Rheingrafenstein. What other landscape can offer a symbol comparable to the Rheingrafenstein at Bad Muenster am Stein? The bubbling salt-water springs there were already used as a "Badebronnen" (bathing spring) before the year 1500, long before the little city developed into a world famous spa. Before that, the saltwater was a source of cooking salt. The extraction of which was carried out in several steps. Although the water tastes very salty when it emerges from the spring, it actually contains only 1.3 percent of salt. This was too little for direct extraction of it. Therefore, it was pumped several times through a "graduation house" where it trickled down the layered spiny walls. Each time the water ran through this process, a little of it evaporated and the amount of salt contained in it increased. When a salt content of between 15 and 20 percent was attained, it was put into extraction pans where it was boiled until the salt crystals were completely deposited on the bottom.

Photo: Stroll in the Salina Valley, where brine runs down along the thorny walls (salt pans) piled up in wooden scaffolding and evaporates in the process. The resulting brine-saturated air has healing properties.