| Ramlösa Spa
| | Ramlösa Spa was opened as early as 1707, but had its heyday in the 19th century. The healing water and the royal interests attracted many visitors to the spa hotel and by the end of the 19th century this ostentatious main building in modern style was erected. |
The Holy Water
On the Scanian side Ramlösa became a centre for well water drinking and baths. At first it was the drinking of the water that was Ramlösa´s niche. Water has always been considered as purifying and life giving. Of course, this is not that curious as water is nature’s lifeblood. In most religions water is considered holy and in the Christian and Islamic religions washing and rinsing are in the nature of holy ceremonies. But is has also been common that special springs and currents have been considered especially effective. In the Antiquity the explanation was that some springs had divine powers and their water was thus deemed holy. In Pergamon, for instance, there was the holy well at the Asklepios Temple. (As Asklepios was the god for medicine the water at his temple was considered medically effective.)
Christianity took over this thought and various saints were associated with different springs, where the water was drunk, and the performing of sacrifices in the form of coins in holy wells were also found. Thus the drinking of well water and baths in holy springs very early had a religious association. After the Reformation this spring cult was opposed by the Protestant priests, but in the 17th century the effect of these holy springs became interesting from a scientific point of view.
In Sweden Urban Hjärne carried out water analyses and many doctors associated certain wells and springs with curative qualities. Thus the spring cult had a renaissance in the 18th century. But these types of water were not only effective internally. Washing and bathing were curative and therefore swimming baths were established in the health resorts. In the 1700 and 1800´s many travelled to Spa, Aachen, Schwalbach and other health resorts to drink the well water and bathe for health reasons. When some doctors also began to advertise the salty spas´ curative qualities, the spas situated by the sea had a particular upturn.
Ramlosa – How It Started
As early as 1707 Ramlösa spa was opened. For some decades it had been said that the spring in Ramlösa gave health and power and the doctor Johan Jacob Döbelius had emphasized the spring’s curative effects. The iron carbonate in the Ramlösa water allegedly cured rheumatism, kidney gravel, sciatica, heart diseases, etc. As early as the 18th century the establishment visited Ramlösa, but it was during the first half of the 19th century that Ramlösa spa had its heyday.
It became especially important when doctor of medicine at the university in Lund and one of the greatest medical authorities in Sweden, Eberhard Munck of Rosenschiöld became a spa doctor. Thus Ramlösa had a special position as the health spa had a scientific attachment. Rosenschiöld also advertised the salty baths and Ramlösa therefore became a spa with access to both well drinking and sea baths.
The ferruginous water | 
Johan Jacob Döbelius | 
Munck af Rosenschiöld |
Royal Guests
Ramlösa Spa was surrounded by royal glory. King Gustav IV Adolf visited the well often during his three months stay in Helsingborg in 1807. The crown prince Karl August spent several summers there and he invested money on the hospital building in the park.
The hospital activities gradually became quite extensive and at the turn of the century it was possible to receive 160 patients. The frequently ill son, Oscar (Oscar I) visited Ramlösa several times during the 1810´s and 1820´s, which was to a great part due to the fact that the spa doctor was Munck of Rosenschiöld.
Oscar´s mother, Queen Desideria, spent several summers in Ramlösa and thrived there. But she often complained about the conditions in her new homeland. Perhaps she missed her former fiancé, Napoleon Bonaparte and the glory that surrounded him?
The presence of the royal family attracted visitors from the higher classes and Ramlösa became an upper-class resort and a high society life developed with the royal family at the centre. In time many noble families had their own houses built in the park, which eventually was dominated by wood architecture in the style of neo-romanticism and neo-classicism.
Desideria | 
The hospital |
The Foundation Grows
A horse drawn railway – the first in Sweden – was built down to the sea in 1877 so that the guests could comfortably be transported to the water. There were frequent time tabled tours – in the morning every 15 minutes and in the afternoon every 30 minutes. A bathing hut was built at the Sound and at the beach a whole place of entertainment sprouted up complete with a shooting range, a restaurant and a music pavilion. Thus Ramlösa raised its profile as a bathing resort and this was even clearer with the bathing facilities that were built close to the spa hotel.
At the end of the 19th century Ramlösa Spa changed and became more and more a recreational area offering relaxation and entertainment. It was at this time the alkaline spring was discovered, which is the content of Ramlösa mineral water, as we know it.
The Spa Hotel | 
The horse tramline | 
The bathing ground | 
A neo-classicist building |
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