Relaxing bathing in water that’s between 33°C and 37°C.

Immerse yourself in a unique bathing experience: the various thermal pools of the Claudius Therme comprise a large central pool and several indoor and outdoor pools. Choose between healing water pools, swimming or sitting pools, hot tubs, drinking fountains, or a hot-and-cold grotto. Massage jets, Jacuzzis, neck showers or a counter-current pool, you bathe in health, because the therapeutic effects of warm thermal water has been officially recognised by the state.

Moreover, we also offer free water aerobics and Kneipp courses.  In the evenings and at the weekends, underwater music is combined with soothing light, colour and sound effects to help you unwind. Uniquely beautiful: the salt-water floatation pool in the Rose Terraces. Enjoy the feeling of weightlessness accompanied by underwater music in a 15% brine solution, enriched with Dead Sea salt. And so that your rest and relaxation is a sure thing even beyond our pool area, our rest rooms, sun terraces and lawns provide plenty of space for a relaxing stay.

Discover the thermal baths

Main pool

The large main pool of the Claudius Therme, with its water a pleasant a 31° C, simply invites guests to swim and take it easy there. It extends into both the indoor and outdoor area and offers plenty of variety with its massage jets, bubble loungers and neck showers in healing waters that have been officially recognised by the state.

Attractions of the bathing area

Whether you are more of a lover of classic thermal baths and spa treatments or are on the lookout for the amenities offered by modern SPAs, our large complex offers you various features of both traditional and modern spas.

Drinking fountains

For the sake of your health, the officially approved healing water of the Claudius Therme is pumped from our own well. Whether you bathe in it or drink it straight from our drinking fountain, you can be sure that it is as versatilely effective as the thermal waters of accredited spa towns.

Kneipp pool

Learn all about the classic among the therapeutic water treatments. Kneipp courses are held in our Kneipp pool in the bathing area every day. Whether you start with hot then change to cold water or vice versa, whether you start near to or far from the heart– you’ll learn all you need to know and a lot more in our session held at 10.45 a.m. every day.

Duration: 10 min.

Sitting pool

All the pools at the Claudius Therme are supplied with healing water that has been officially recognised by the state. But only in the sitting pool does the water enter unfiltered in its original form, its high iron content giving it its distinct red colour. The high proportion of iron in this pool boosts the therapeutic effect of bathing in it. It’s particularly beneficial for rheumatic complaints that restrict movement when swimming or doing water aerobics.

Temperature: 35°C | Recommended duration of stay: 10 min.

Drinking fountains

For the sake of your health, the officially approved healing water of the Claudius Therme is pumped from our own well. Whether you bathe in it or drink it straight from our drinking fountain, you can be sure that it is as versatilely effective as the thermal waters of accredited spa towns.

Kneipp pool

Learn all about the classic among the therapeutic water treatments. Kneipp courses are held in our Kneipp pool in the bathing area every day. Whether you start with hot then change to cold water or vice versa, whether you start near to or far from the heart– you’ll learn all you need to know and a lot more in our session held at 10.45 a.m. every day.

Duration: 10 min.

Sitting pool

All the pools at the Claudius Therme are supplied with healing water that has been officially recognised by the state. But only in the sitting pool does the water enter unfiltered in its original form, its high iron content giving it its distinct red colour. The high proportion of iron in this pool boosts the therapeutic effect of bathing in it. It’s particularly beneficial for rheumatic complaints that restrict movement when swimming or doing water aerobics.

Temperature: 35°C | Recommended duration of stay: 10 min.

Floatation pool

Experience the relaxing effect of weightlessness. The flotation pool is enriched with 12 tons of Dead Sea salt to form a 15% brine solution, which allows you to float on the water. Stress simply dissolves and, besides enjoying deep relaxation, bathing in this mixture of healing and salt water offers you medical and dermatological benefits, too.

Price: €6.00 p.p. (on top of the entrance fee)

Aquafit

The “Aquafit” prevention course is a course that aims reduce health risks. It can be subsidised by statutory health insurance companies. The course has 10 sessions lasting 45 minutes each. The fee is €170. See our booking overview to find out when courses start. For more details, call +49 221-981 4420 or send an e-mail to praeventionskurs@claudius-therme.de.

Non-nude sauna

Our thermal spa also features a sauna and a steam bath. The wearing of swimwear is only allowed in this sauna and steam room, and is not welcome in the saunas of our extensive

Floatation pool

Experience the relaxing effect of weightlessness. The flotation pool is enriched with 12 tons of Dead Sea salt to form a 15% brine solution, which allows you to float on the water. Stress simply dissolves and, besides enjoying deep relaxation, bathing in this mixture of healing and salt water offers you medical and dermatological benefits, too.

Price: €6.00 p.p. (on top of the entrance fee)

Aquafit

The “Aquafit” prevention course is a course that aims reduce health risks. It can be subsidised by statutory health insurance companies. The course has 10 sessions lasting 45 minutes each. The fee is €170. See our booking overview to find out when courses start. For more details, call +49 221-981 4420 or send an e-mail to praeventionskurs@claudius-therme.de.

Non-nude sauna

Our thermal spa also features a sauna and a steam bath. The wearing of swimwear is only allowed in this sauna and steam room, and is not welcome in the saunas of our extensive

The water of the Claudius Therme

The thermal water

The thermal mineral water of the Claudius Therme, a so-called “thermal sodium chloride acidulous mineral water”, is especially well suited for swimming in, but it can also be drunk or inhaled. As a drinking cure, it eases gastro-intestinal problems. As a bathing cure, it aids rheumatic complaints and diseases of the intervertebral discs or joints. It has a positive effect on hypertension, circulatory problems and disorders caused by stress. It activates enzymes and stabilises bone structure. The healthy spa effect of the unique thermal mineral water of the Claudius Therme has been officially recognised by the state.

This extraordinary water:

  • is as effective as the thermal water of recognised spa
  • is beneficial for the circulation, joints, intestines and heart
  • is pure and natural
  • has been tested by the Institut Fresenius
  • has flowed through limestone and dolomite rock for 39,000 years
  • is naturally enriched with minerals
  • is naturally carbonated
  • is freshly extracted from deep layers of rock from the company’s own well.

The history of the source

The story behind Cologne’s thermal water.

In contrast to the old spa and traditional resorts such as Aachen, Karlsbad or Baden-Baden, “the spa town of Cologne” was only founded in the 20th century. In 1912, the carbon dioxide and chloride-rich mineral water was found at a depth of 70 m in the Stammheim district of Cologne during a search for drinking water.
This first well, the Engelbertus well, was in use until 1955. In 1931, Konrad Adenauer, the Lord Mayor at the time, ordered the 251 m deep “Messebrunnen I” (“trade fair spring I”) to be drilled at the site of the trade fair in Deutz. “Messebrunnen II and III” were drilled over the following three decades. The 364 m deep “Messebrunnen III” still pumps out up to 200 m³ of thermal CO2-rich sodium-chloride water every hour of every day. In order to achieve a higher temperature of the water supplied for bathing purposes, Messebrunnen IV (1027 m deep) was sunk with a great deal of technical effort between 1974 and 1976. The sodium-chloride water is pumped out of the borehole lined with steel pipes at a temperature of 28.5° C. Messebrunnen III and Messebrunnen IV are also at the disposal of the Claudius Therme, thus ensuring sufficient output with consistent quality.

Geology

Healthy water from the heart of the planet

The thermal mineral water pumped into the Claudius Therme has come a long way: rainwater trickles down in the Bergisches Land region and flows down a slope of Devonian limestone and dolomite (approx. 350 m years old) to the west, towards Cologne. On its way there, it heats up due to the flow of heat from the interior of the Earth, thus becoming thermal water.
At great depths (300 to 1,500 m), this warm water mixes with mineral water containing chloride. It is the free carbon dioxide that exists here that is ultimately responsible for the “thermal sodium-chloride acidulous mineral water” of the Claudius Therme. As a so-called “gas lift”, the carbon dioxide gives the water a natural buoyancy so that it can be easily pumped up out of Messebrunnen III and IV.
Cologne forms the northernmost extension of the “carbon dioxide line” that was created by volcanic activity and which starts at Laacher Lake and stretches all the way across Bad Breisig, Bad Honnef und Bad Godesberg. Against the background of the middle Rhine volcanic activity in the geological past, it is the special geological structure of the Rhine Basin and the wealth of precipitation of the low mountain region of the Bergisches Land that form the basis for the unique thermal water of Cologne. This water originates in a natural way and can, in view of its high recharge rate and constant quality, be extracted without adversely affecting the geohydraulic conditions of the area.

Chemical analysis

The chemical constituents of the thermal water
1 kg of the water from “Messebrunnen III” in Cologne contains

Cations
sodium 3,757.00 mg
potassium 89.90 mg
ammonium 5.58 mg
magnesium 318.60 mg
calcium 608.10 mg
manganese (II) 0.69 mg
iron 4.25 mg
total 4,783.82 mg

Anions
chloride ion 5,902.00 mg
sulphate 754.80 mg
hydrogen carbonate 2,471.00 mg
total 9,127.80 mg

Undissociated components
silicic acid 16.60 mg

Gaseous components
free carbon dioxide 1,538.00 mg