Vita Classica Therme’s Sauna Paradise
Overview
The Japanese Garden and Resthouse is situated within the outdoor area of the Vita Classica Therme’s Sauna Paradise in Bad Krozingen. The garden was created in 1996 by Japanese garden master Kazuyuki Sato as an interpretation of the landscape around Taketa, Bad Krozingen’s partner city in Japan. In 2008 it was complemented by an original Japanese wooden resthouse manufactured in Japan and assembled beside the garden.
History
The garden formed part of the developing relationship between Bad Krozingen and Naoiri, which began with a Japanese delegation’s visit in 1989. The institutional relationship was formalised in March 1999 through a spa partnership between the Vita Classica Therme and the Gozenyu Therme in Naoiri, now part of Taketa. The Japanese garden, however, preceded the formal agreement: it was designed and constructed by Kazuyuki Sato in 1996 and inaugurated by the then Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, Erwin Teufel. Sato was assisted by the local landscape-gardening company Fautz.
Plans for an adjoining Japanese resthouse were subsequently developed through consultation in Japan. A delegation from Bad Krozingen travelled there to obtain technical knowledge and discuss the building’s design. The structure was prefabricated in Japan, shipped to Germany and assembled in the outdoor sauna complex. Japanese carpenters worked for more than four weeks with colleagues from the Tunsel-based construction company Späth. A topping-out ceremony was held on 23 April 2008, followed by the formal inauguration on 30 May 2008, attended by a Japanese delegation. Kazuyuki Sato returned to Bad Krozingen to integrate the new building with his earlier garden, again supported by Fautz.
Design features
The garden was conceived as a condensed representation of the landscape surrounding Taketa. It forms a planted setting around the resthouse and is visually connected to the building through large sliding window and door panels, which can be opened fully in summer. This arrangement allows the garden to be viewed from inside the pavilion and integrates the relaxation area with the exterior landscape.
The resthouse is a timber structure described by the spa as being in the style of a Japanese teahouse. It was constructed primarily from Japanese cedar, using prefabricated components assembled through traditional fitted and jointed connections without nails. Although the building serves as a modern spa relaxation room with loungers rather than as a ceremonial tea house, its materials, construction and relationship with the garden make it the ensemble’s principal architectural feature.
Garden elements
Buildings
Stones
Other elements
Current status
The garden and resthouse remain in use as relaxation facilities within the Vita Classica Sauna Paradise. The resthouse contains comfort loungers, while the adjoining Japanese garden continues to form part of the sauna complex’s outdoor area. The ensemble is not freely accessible from the public Kurpark: admission requires a valid ticket to the textile-free Sauna Paradise. General admission is normally restricted to visitors aged sixteen and over, with family access permitted on Saturdays.