Papers presented by Ebru Erginbas since 2019

2024 Providence, Rhode Island

"Medicinal Entanglements: Hydrothermal Therapy and Commodification of Groundwaters"

Ebru Erginbas, Brown University

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the role of 19th-century trans-imperial physicians in the revitalization process of use of groundwaters. Centuries-long spa/bath traditions went through a substantial transformation process in multiple imperial and trans-Atlantic hot spots starting from the 17th century. Massive construction projects took place in Europe mostly where once stood the Roman baths. This paper will examine the link between spa/bath revitalization projects and the revamping of hydrotherapy and hydrothermal therapy in medical circles. My research emphasizes that existing medical knowledge networks helped to rebuild the spa and its culture in multiple centers from Bath (UK) to Bad Gastein (Austria) from Bithynia (Ottoman Empire /Turkey) to Saratoga Springs (USA). The new spas/baths became social, political, and diplomatic hubs. The trans-imperial and trans-Atlantic medical knowledge networks were fueling a trend that helped new health and wellness-oriented spas with lucrative business sprung in many different places. Royal physicians played a great role in spreading this trend to imperial centers. Austrian physician and scholar Karl Ambros Bernard (1808- 1844) is among them. Bernard’s work on hot springs and hydrothermal therapy helped revive and modernize an existing Roman bath in Bithynia in the 1840s. The bath he resuscitated is to this day one of the most visited hydrothermal therapy centers and one the highest revenue generators in the health and wellness tourism industry in the region. Initially aimed to heal the public’s ailments, over time these baths/spas adopted “luxurification” as a business model and had a unique role in transforming medical tourism—thus the medical industry. With an eye on these developments, this paper will examine the process of the commodification of groundwaters and the creation of the modern bath/spa industry in the 19th and 20th centuries with particular reference to the trans-imperial context in which it was realized.

Keywords:

culture
economic history
medicine
social history
tourism