Zdravilišče Laško
Zdravilišče Laško je bilo ustanovljeno leta 1854. Skoraj sto let kasneje, 1953. leta, je bil ustanovljen Zavod za medicinsko rehabilitacijo Laško. Naravni dejavnik je akratotermalna voda, s temperaturo 32- 35 stopinj C. Zdravilni učinek termalne vode uspešno združujejo z različnimi gibalnimi tehnikami, ki jih
izvajajo v bazenu in Hubbardovi kadi. Medicinsko dejavnost sestavljajo progami osnovnega zdravstva, diagnostike, preventive, obnovitvene rehabilitacije in zdraviliškega zdravljenja. Najobsežnejši so programi zdraviliškega zdravljenja, namenjeni osebam, ki imajo operirana gibala, degenerativna obolenja mišic in sklepov, rakava obolenja v mali medenici, nevrološka obolenja in posledice po možganski kapi. Terapija ni primerna pri poslabšanju kroničnih bolezni, pri nezdravljenih rakastih obolenjih, akutnih psihozah in pri visokem krvnem pritisku.
The people in Laško knew about the warm springs for a long time, as snow melted there very quickly, and in simple hollows, fenced in by wicker, they also occasionally bathed in the warm water. During construction work for the present health spa workers came across remains of solid walls that could come from the prosperous times of the ancient town of Celeia.
In the year 1818 a report by Dr. Riedl appeared in a Graz newspaper about the Laško springs. Dr. Riedl, who had measured the water temperature and discovered it was 35°C, announced the setting up of a health spa. Some years later during the construction of a road the local engineer Bilof traced the springs, but did not have the finances to exploit them.
It was not until during the construction of the railway line that an engineer by the name Rödel began to work systematically on the springs. From September 1852, when he purchased the land, until May 1854, when he ceremoniously opened the spa, just 20 months had passed. The three springs were each given a name: the Emperor’s Spring, Franz’s Spring and Joseph’s Spring. The spa was given the name Kaiser Franz Josef Bad . Along with a building with a pool Rödel
also reorganised the nearby mill and built a luxurious villa.
In the year 1857 the spa was purchased by the Viennese professor and cosmopolitan Dr. Stein, who also invited the cream of Viennese society to the health spa. For this purpose he built onto the spa’s building, built an extension with a dance hall and planted a park. He also took care of his guest social life. Sadly the spa got into a crisis and Dr. Stein had to sell it.
The spa’s reputation was only returned by a latter owner Gunkel, who radically renovated it and in 1882 built his own hydro electric power plant, the first
on Slovene soil, which lit up most of the buildings and the whole park. In cooperation with the brewery they began to brew thermal beer. During World War I the spa played the role of a military hospital.
After the war the real property was quite ravaged but in 1923 the spa was partly renovated. Later the spa passed into the hands of the pensions institute Pokojninskega zavoda and further the central office for workers insurance Osrednjega urada za zavarovanje delavcev .
In October 1953 the spa was registered as a medical rehabilitation centre. Further development mainly followed the needs of the health care service and to a large degree it was the fruit of cooperation with the orthopaedic, later neurological, traumatology and neurosurgical clinics in Ljubljana, regional hospitals and health centres across Slovenia.
Tople vrelce so ljudje v Laškem že dolgo poznali, saj je tam sneg hitro skopnel, pa tudi preproste kotanje so si ljudje občasno skopali in ogradili s protjem. Med gradbenimi deli za sedanje toplice so naleteli na trdnejše zidove, ki bi utegnili biti iz časov, ko je cvetela antična Celeia.
Leta 1818 je o njih v graškem časopisu poročal dr. Riedel, ki je nameril 35°C in napovedal postavitev toplic. Nekaj let kasneje je med gradnjo ceste vrelce zasledil lokalni inženir Bilof, ki pa za njihovo izkoriščanje ni imel sredstev.
Vrelcev se je sistematično lotil med gradnjo železniške proge šele inženir Rödel. Od septembra 1852, ko je zemljišče kupil, do maja 1854, ko je slovesno odprl kopališče, je minilo komaj 20 mesecev. Trije vrelci so dobili imena: cesarjev, Francev in Jožefov vrelec. Kopališče je dobilo ime Kaiser Franz Josef Bad. Poleg stavbe z bazenom je Rödel preuredil bližnji mlin ter zgradil razkošno vilo.
Leta 1857 je kopališče kupil dunajski profesor in svetovljan dr. Stein, ki je v zdravilišče privabil tudi dunajsko družbeno smetano. V ta namen je kopališko poslopje nadgradil, prizidal plesno dvorano in zasadil park. Kasneje je postavil tudi Stein. Poskrbel je tudi za družabno življenje gostov. Žal je kopališče zašlo v krizo in dr. Stein ga je moral prodati.
Ugled je kopališču povrnil šele kasnejši lastnik Gunkel, ki ga je temeljito prenovil in leta 1882 zgradil lastno električno centralo na vodni pogon, prvo na slovenskih tleh, ki je razsvetljevala večino objektov in celo park. V povezavi s pivovarno so začeli z varjenjem termalnega piva. V času prve svetovne vojne je kopališče opravljalo vlogo vojaškega lazareta.
Po vojni je bilo imetje precej uničeno, kopališče pa leta 1923 delno obnovljeno. Kasneje je prišlo v last Pokojninskega zavoda in dalje Osrednjega urada za zavarovanje delavcev.
Oktobra 1953 je bilo zdravilišče registrirano v zavod za medicinsko rehabilitacijo. Nadaljnji razvoj je sledil predvsem potrebam zdravstvene službe in je bil v veliki meri plod sodelovanja z ortopedsko, kasneje nevrološko, travmatološko in nevrokirurško kliniko v Ljubljani, regionalnimi bolnišnicami in zdravstvenimi domovi po vsej Sloveniji.
