For three decades, the doctor had campaigned for the reopening of the thermal spring, which had been discovered by chance in 1914 while searching for salt deposits, but had been filled in again due to a lack of vision and finances. Dr. Martin Erb and his colleagues were convinced that Zurzach had missed an opportunity. They arranged for the municipality of Zurzach to pay into a fund every year from 1926 onwards to finance a new borehole. Shareholders had invested additional money.

The drilling work had now been underway for months. The crown drill had laboriously eaten its way through clay, marl and the hard Black Forest granite. The depth of 416 meters, from which the water emerged in 1914, had already been exceeded – without result. Every additional meter caused considerable additional costs. Should the decades of political discussions, analyses and funding efforts have been in vain?

In these moments between hope and fear, the diamond core drill hit a weathered, water-bearing granite layer at a depth of 429.6 meters. The water, which had heated up in deep layers of the earth and collected in the porous rock, shot to the surface through the borehole.

Shortly after 8 p.m., the phone rang at Erb. Finally came the redemptive news that made Dr. Martin Erb jump up from the sofa with joy and ultimately founded today’s wellness destination:

“We have the source!”

The Bad Zurzach spring pours out 460 liters of water at almost 40 degrees per minute. The Glauber’s salt spring alleviates rheumatic complaints and helps with movement and circulation disorders. The lithium salt dissolved in the water also has a mood-enhancing effect. Although it is still not entirely clear where the Bad Zurzach spring water comes from, it has been making locals and guests happy in the truest sense of the word for over six decades.

_{*The text is based on an interview by Franz Keller-Spuler with Elli Aeschbach-Erb on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Queller borehole.}