A man receiving water on his arm from a fountain of Aesculapius; representing the healthy consequences of water treatment at Bad Wörishofen, Bavaria. Colour lithograph by F. Rehm, 1902.

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<p>A man stripped to the waist holds out his arm to receive a flow of water from a fountain. Atop the fountain is a stone bust of Aesculapius, with his name carved in the stone. As if carved in low relief on a stone wall below the bust are figures about to play tennis, dancing, hiking, running, lifting weights and receiving water treatment</p>
<p>Bad Wörishofen was established as a watering place by the priest Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897), confessor to the Dominican nuns at Wörishofen and author in 1886 of "Meine Wasserkur" (subsequently reissued in many languages). Kneipp advocated the application of cold water for many diseases. See B. Uehleke, 'Bad Wörishofen und Sebastian Kneipp vor 100 Jahren', Würzburger medizinhistorische Mitteilungen, 1996, 14: 441-447, and J. Dolhofer, Das Sebastianeum in Bad Wörishofen, Regensburg 1975</p>

A man receiving water on his arm from a fountain of Aesculapius; representing the healthy consequences of water treatment at Bad Wörishofen, Bavaria. Colour lithograph by F. Rehm, 1902.

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