Medical devices in the service of tourism in the XIX. century
Medical devices in the service of tourism in the XIX. century

Summary/Abstract: Thermal and medicinal waters have been something attractive for humans for centuries. In the Carpathian hollow, the culture of spa bathing is over two thousand years old. Even Ancient Romans used medicinal wells and the spa life bloomed during the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Health tourism within the more general notion of tourism began to develop in the first half of the 19th century and it was based on natural resources, thermal waters foremost, based on longer cures and health treatments. Spas slowly became populated and offered recovery from various ailments with the development of medicine, which made them favorite for citizens of places such as Lipik. In the second half of the 19th century, Lipik water was the subject of tests for numerous investigators. Based on research, they established a beneficial combination of the elements of the water in Lipik, as well as its medicinal properties brought on by the degree of warmth and physical characteristics of the spring, which is unique in Europe. The water from Lipik was firstly used against bone and blood ailments i.e. gout. Medicinal water and salts were used in the treatment. Those were supplemented by physical therapy. Apart from the special medicinal supplements of Lipik, the medicinal baths and treatments by water drinking, additional medicinal supplements were used, such as spas with carbon dioxide, inhalators, massages, diet kitchens, and drugstores. All of these established the success of this place in the context of spa tourism.

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