Gradierwerke in Bad Salzuflen

A piece of Bad Salzuflen's identity

The impressive graduation towers have shaped the townscape of Bad Salzuflen for centuries - even long before the state spa was founded.

Originally, they were part of the Salzuflen salt works: From 1767, the first of these technical masterpieces was built in Bad Salzuflen to make the extraction of the precious salt from our brine more effective and easier. Until then, the brine had been laboriously boiled in pans to extract the white gold, but now the salty water flowed over a construction that evaporated the water and purified the brine, e.g. from lime and iron oxide. The construction is essentially made of wood and blackthorn, which is particularly branched and resilient. The brine concentrated in this way could be boiled down to salt more quickly - this reduced the enormous consumption of wood needed for salt boiling.

The first Salzufl "graduation case" was built by Johann Friedrich Constantin Freiherr von Beust. He was an expert in graduation works and was in demand throughout Germany. Count Simon August zur Lippe commissioned him, gave him a free hand and appointed him the first saltworks director.

Over the following decades, the T-shaped graduation works ensemble developed and was used for salt extraction until 1945.

Today, the graduation towers are more than just an endearing relic from a bygone era: they form a huge open-air inhalatorium. Every day, around 600,000 liters of brine trickle over the mighty blackthorn walls, atomizing into the finest brine mist and creating a sea-like climate.
This brine mist reaches the respiratory tract with a wealth of vitalizing micro-particles. This stimulates the circulation in the lungs and the transport of oxygen into the blood in a completely natural way.

A stroll along the graduation towers in Bad Salzufel is as healthy as a walk by the sea.

The graduation tower ensemble comprises 3 structures:

• The large Gradierwerk Parkstraße, which stretches from the Kurpark main entrance along the rose garden to the Schliepsteiner Tor and features numerous benches on 
• the Gradierwerk with the striking clock tower, which has a covered walkway, a sun deck and a brine Kneipp pool
• the indoor experience graduation house, which has quiet niches inside, a brine mist chamber with soft music and a color-changing starry sky and a viewing platform with wonderful views of the city and spa gardens.

Grading works or saltworks?

A saltworks is the name given to a facility for the extraction of salt. A graduation house, on the other hand, is part of the process of increasing the salt content of the brine. A graduation house is therefore installed upstream of a salt works to further concentrate the brine before the salt is extracted in the salt works.

The brine is also used as a local remedy at GESUNDWERK Bad Salzuflen and in the VitaSol Therme - e.g. in a wide variety of atomizations for the treatment of respiratory diseases or in the exercise pool for active offers in pleasantly warm thermal brine.

In the VitaSol Therme in Bad Salzufl, guests can float in an almost weightless state in the intensive brine pool. Salt infusions in the SaunaPark cleanse and purify the body. Enjoy carefree hours during a visit to the ThermenLandschaft and SaunaPark at the VitaSol Therme .