The text describes the hydrotherapeutic practice of Dr. Czerwiński in Styria, who was said to have taken his love of water treatment techniques from Graefenberg after he himself had regained his health. The elements of Dr Czerwiński's thermotherapy are described, as well as the issue of Steinerhof itself, located about 4 hours away from Vienna (Source: "Tygodnik Illustrowany", Warsaw 1875, Series 2, T:16, pp. 40-41, after: Digital Library of the University of Lodz).

A modernised reading of the text

Dr Czerwiński's thermal and therapeutic facility, in Steinekirchen.

Many readers will probably recall with pleasure the moments they spent in Dr Cherwiński's hospital, moments which are all the more memorable because for almost everyone they are associated with a memory of regained health, peace and a will to live. The only thing that may surprise some people is the unusual name "thermo-therapeutic" which we have given to this establishment, while it is generally known as the "cold water" treatment establishment.

However, if this last name is to be a term, then it is completely wrong and a closer explanation of why, in accordance with Dr Czerwiński's intention, we have called the centre thermal, will also shed some light on today's views on hydrotherapy, which are very different from the old ones. These are still unforgotten times when the use of water, which has been known for centuries, in the hands of Priessnitz grew to become an internationally renowned method. Priessnitz's method soon found many enthusiasts among the sick.

Those who complained as loudly about the method as those who praised it took their complaints with them to the grave. However, the doctors saw this, and the criticism with which they adopted the new method, not yet based on rational experience, was harsh. Circumstances, by their very nature, must have been such that, with almost the same ease with which hydrotherapy was at first spread and praised, it was soon condemned and almost forgotten. In various countries, people who could neither perceive nor experience wanted to follow in Priessnitz's footsteps. Water, an excellent remedy in some hands, became harmful or inert in others. Each water treatment facility developed a different opinion - opinion changed by necessity, with the change of the manager of the facility, and such confusion finally prevailed in the courts: something miraculous, others for charlatanism.

The truth, as usual, stands in the middle. The water treatment, which has now been duly researched and is based on accurate scientific data and rational experience, has become a powerful method in the art of healing and in both acute and chronic diseases has gained a wide right of citizenship in the scientific medical world, which it will never lose.
The first pioneers who painstakingly laid the scientific foundations for the water cure were several doctors of different nationalities who years ago had been brought to Graefenberg by their own severe suffering and who had experienced the good effects of the treatment there; however, they also saw what a double-edged sword they were playing with.

Dr Czerwiński, along with his recovered health, took from Graefenberg a passion for the subject and a brave activity that made him strive to take away the mystical character from hydrotherapy, to understand the factors on which it is based and, as a result, to base water therapy on certain principles, as far as the current state of natural sciences and medicine itself allows. It is safe to say that a quarter of a century after Priessnitz's death, this goal has been achieved through the tireless work of many learned doctors, as far as it is possible today. Gone is the belief in the mysterious spirit of the mineral springs ("Brunnengeist"), replaced by a scientific awareness of their action and healing ingredients, their elevation above the level of the place where they are located and the climatic conditions which flow from this.

The belief in the intrinsic effect of water, whether used internally or in baths, has also disappeared, to be replaced by a skilful awareness of the way in which the warmth inherent in water and the mechanical stimulation arising from its use in various ways affect the human organism. This is the case - the degree of warmth, the mechanical stimulation and the subtle electrical matters arising at the same time - these are the three factors that play the most important role in water treatment, and the skilful application of which can, according to the doctor's wish, produce various, even opposite effects, depending on the goals he has in mind for the treatment. These three factors alone, and especially when combined with the right conditions of residence, nourishment and behaviour, have a gradual but extremely brave and lasting effect, when correctly applied, on the essential moments of life, on the instruments and organs regulating nutrition, on the renewal of the body and on our relations with the outside world.

The sensitivity of the organism to various degrees of heat varies, and the action of the nervous system, that is, the intensity and character of the activities taking place in this system after the application of the stimulus produced by the bath, also varies greatly, depending on a thousand factors which are not easy to assess, but which nevertheless need to be taken into account if we wish to pursue our aim in a certain way, and not wander around in the dark. If individual conditions are to be taken into account in all, even the simplest of medical activities, and if it is to be constantly borne in mind that we are treating patients and not diseases, then such individualisation in treatment should be pushed to the limit. It is true that we can partly compensate for the difference in the temperature of the water by the form and duration of the bath; but again, giving the water a different temperature, in relation to the goals we assume and to the individuality of the sick person, gives the doctor possible certainty in his actions.

There is no "cold water" treatment today. - There is only water treatment and this principle has been put into practice in the establishment of Dr. Czerwiński. No patient there goes to a bath, but on the contrary, a bath is delivered to his room, a bath of a predetermined and not random temperature. This is why Dr Chervinsky can rightly call his hospital a thermal hospital, because he has based the action of the water on warmth and the water he uses is neither cold nor warm, but just what is needed in a given case. This is how all establishments are arranged, where the sick go to be cured, and not the healthy to rest and have amateur baths.

Early, as early as six o'clock (except for the weakened), a bathtub is placed next to the sick bed and there is no choice: a plunge must be given. Those who have never used such a bath have no idea how quickly they get used to it, and what is more, they may long for such a bath straight from sleep. It is deliciously refreshing and encourages you to take a walk, which also takes place immediately after the bath. The mountains and forest alleys just a few dozen steps from the house make this task easier, and until 9 a.m., i.e. until breakfast time, they are constantly busy. Breakfast is simple and healthy: sweet or curdled milk, bread, rolls, that's all, and the spice that best whets the appetite is a bath and a stroll. Before the first, dinner, at the communal table. Two courses of roast meat, vegetables, compotes, legumes, prepared healthily and so tasty, as we have rarely met in our numerous travels on water.

In the afternoon, a couple of hours are taken up with coursing and walking; around 7 o'clock, supper, and by 10 o'clock everyone is in their rooms and the establishment is closed. The greatest care is taken for the peace and quiet of the sick. Generally speaking, the sick who go there should remember that they are going to a sanatorium, not "to the waters". They do not come for fun, but for treatment. The general order and harmony in the spa can only be achieved through mutual concessions. Steinerhof is located 4 hours by rail from Vienna, 10 minutes from the Kapfenberg Southern Railway Station. The road from Vienna passes through the famous Semmering, reaching a considerable height around the Mürzzuschlag station. From there, the railway descends slightly, running down the southern slope of the Norse Alps, bisected by the Mürz River.

Around Kapfenberg, the valley spreads out in a semi-circle. In this valley, 1,600 feet above sea level, lies the village called Steinerhof. In addition to the establishment of Dr. Czerwinski, it consists of fine villas owned by wealthy Viennese and a pine-needle bathing establishment. It is rare to find a mountain village so protected from violent winds. There are shady walks both on the flat ground and on the hills, mostly in the pine forest, while the well-maintained alleys and benches make these walks comfortable. The Steinerhof water plant has only been in existence for 6 years.

Dr. Czerwinski had been the director of similar establishments in Bohemia and Styria for many years, but the fact that the owners of these establishments did not always want to comply with the doctor's wishes with regard to housing and especially the patients' table led him to run his own establishment. The location was perfect for this purpose: the house was ready and the establishment developed excellently in a short time. A few years ago, Professor Dr Baranowski visited it, and having got to know its director and his conscientious and skilful method of applying water, he was able to confidently recommend it to other doctors. Since that time, a Polish nomadic colony has appeared on the Alpine slopes. Our lonely patient, sometimes uprooted from his family and friends, finds here company close to him in speech and origin, thus feeling his loneliness less.

The common daily life takes away the unpleasant compulsion to socialise, and day after day passes imperceptibly. Since then, the establishment has doubled in size and has been externally decorated. A good library caters for the mental needs of the patients, and this year, the institution has gained a second Polish doctor, in the person of Dr. Gumplowicz, who performed his medical duties at the general polyclinic in Vienna (the clinic), in the department for nervous diseases and electrotherapy. With such resources, and with the help and work of Dr Czerwiński, the establishment will undoubtedly develop more and more.

Every year it becomes known to a wider circle of the public and doctors, several of whom visit Steinerhof every year. We, too, were able to gather material for our description, and we bid farewell to Dr. Czerwiński with a fervent wish that his establishment would continue to develop for the benefit of the sick, as it fully deserves to do.