The golden age of Hungarian baths

As we all know, Hungary is the queen of thermal baths and spas. But did you know that this can be traced back to the second half of the 19^th century? Furthermore, as strange as it might sound, the development of our baths is partly due to the progress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Termalfurdo.hu tells us why the second part of the 19^th century is called the golden age of Hungarian baths.

The development of Hungarian baths

Hungarian baths that later became famous among inland and foreign Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin were built from the beginning of the 19^th century and then during the decades of the age of reforms. After the 1848/49 war of independence, developments stopped for a while. However, it is probable that the strict controls of the Bach era, which highly affected the traditional scenes of social life (casinos, theatres, social circles), were milder regarding the bath life.

Therefore the bath culture was able to become the centre of social life. Something that contributed to this was that in the provinces of the monarchy, mainly in Austria and the Czech Republic, the bath culture and the funding of bath constructions was a lot more advanced than in other provinces like Hungary.

Having the best baths

After the 1867 compromise, Hungarian baths were sized-up and qualified. In that time, around 30 baths were ranked first class, which data signified a quite good place among the provinces. Cities like Balatonfüred, Parád and Pöstyén were mentioned among first class baths. Thanks to the success of the size-up, serious developments started in several locations. So it’s no surprise that the years following the compromise, especially the 1880s are called the golden age of Hungarian baths.