Hévíz Spa



Hévíz Spa and the Szent András Hospital, Hévíz (English: St. Andrew's State Hospital for Rheumatology and Rehabilitation) is a destination spa in Hungary. It is located in Hévíz, on the shores of the lake of the same name. Hévíz–Balaton Airport is approximately 12 km from the town.

History
The curative effect of the lake was probably known to the ancient Romans. Coins found in the lake in the early 1980s support this supposition. Discoveries from the age of Migration suggest that the migrant German and Slavic population used the lake as well. Written sources more than 400 years old originate from the age of Ottoman occupation.

The lake and its surroundings became the property of the Festetics family in the middle of the 18th century, who started its development as a spa. Earl György (I.) Festetics (between 1795 and 1797) built a thermal wooden bathing house on a float over the outflow. After the earl's death in 1819 the development of Hévíz stopped. 1 March 1868, György (II.) Festetics began building the bathing resort suitable for guests. The bath looked more or less as it does today. In 1866 the mirrorbath was built.

In 1905 Vencel Reischl, a brewery owner from Keszthely, became the tenant of the bath and remained so for 35 years. Reischl replaced the hotels, restaurants, and buildings, and the entrance of the bath was finished in 1911 together with the Zander Institution. The number of visitors increased significantly, and the facilities expanded considerably as more doctors moved to the site to practice various forms of therapy.

Between 1944-46 the buildings were used as a hospital, first by the German then by the Soviet army. In 1948 it fell under state ownership; the State Medicinal Bath, Hévíz, was established by the Ministry of Health on 1 January 1952. The number of visitors tripled then quadrupled, and the machinery of the hospital and the treatments were modernised. On 3 March 1986, the central buildings of the bath (in the lake) burnt down. In September 1989 the reconstruction of the destroyed parts was completed.

Further reconstruction of the park and buildings was completed between 2000 and 2002. Today the area of the institution is 620,000 square metres.