PubMed · 6910043
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M Leśnikowska. 1980. [Something called a sanatarium].. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6910043/
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Paracelsus stayed in Bad Pfäfers in 1535, but he was engaged with this thermal springs in a publication before that. One may assume August 31st 1535 as reliable date for his stay in Pfäfers. Only few details are known about this stay. We know, however, that he wrote a bathing script in Pfäfers over the micro- and macrocosmic importance and effect of the springs. The document was published and edited several times. Historically, however, he cannot be characterized as a balneologist. For abbot Johann Jakob Russinger of Pfäfers living at that time, Paracelsus wrote a report, a medical consilium, in which he particularly stressed the stomach problems of the abbot. This paper preserved in the archives of the abbey of Pfäfers (today in the archives of the abbey of St. Gallen) represents the last autographic writing of the famous physician.
The script about Bad Pfäfers is an exception within the entire work of Paracelsus: It is short, completely worked over and has been printed already during his lifetime. It contains an unique list of comments on latin termini in his native language, hints about the context of their origin and may be read like a concentrate of his philosophy. Biography and personality of Paracelsus are briefly outlined; thereafter, the dark preface of the script on Bad Pfäfers is commented on. The latter turned out to be a stenograph of his central ideas on natural philosophy and cosmology as expressed in other scripts of the thirties, in the 'Astronomia magna' in particular (1536). The concept of the human body, of his macrocosmic derivation and of the 'source' as natural testimony of the healing nature of Christ becomes clear. Finally, from circumstantial evidence in text and context of the script, it is concluded, that it must have derived from the dialogue with the personnel of the spa uneducated in a humanistic sense, and may be understood as an abbreviated draft ("aide-mémoire") of Paracelsic instructions.