History of the Spa

The history of the “Solanki” Uzdrowisko Inowrocław goes back to 1875 when a company with the business name of “Solanki Inowrocławskie” (The Salt Springs of Inowrocław) was founded on the initiative of a Doctor of Laws and landowner Zygmunt Wilkoński.

He set up the joint-stock company with two partners: Oskar Triepcke and Samuel Hoeniger, who were also lawyers. They bought land for the construction of bath houses and a spa park. In the years 1875–1876 the first building of the baths was completed. It housed 14 rooms for brine baths.

The park surrounding the buildings owes its creation to Lucjan Grabski, a local social and economic activist. Thanks to his initiative and according to his design, a French formal garden was developed. Initially, the garden covered 1 hectare of land and surrounded the Bath House.

On 9 April 1881 an agreement was signed by the company management board and the municipal council of Inowrocław, under which the city became the owner. Shortly before the change of ownership a magnificent building of the hydropathic establishment was constructed, now called the Natural Therapy Centre. Soon afterwards, the municipal council leased the spa to Otto Hundsdeorfer, a pharmacist, until 1885. No further lease application was accepted by the council and it recovered direct control of the property.

Between 1886 and 1887 the second bath house was built for child patients. It was located near a pond. The bath house has not survived. There were 15 bath tubs. The brine was supplied through a pipeline directly from the nearby salt works in Szosa Pakoska. In 1910, a greenhouse with some auxiliary facilities was built to make the park more attractive. At present, it is the distinctive narrow building, nicknamed ‘the tram’ by the locals. It houses the Zdrojowa Restaurant.

A more intensive growth of the spa took place between the world wars. It was then that he Therapeutic Mud Bath House was erected, inspired by the manor house architecture.

From 1930, only the comfortable sanatorium of the National Insurance Company (now the Medical SPA building) was open in the winter season.

The dynamic growth of the spa continued once the Nazi occupation had ended. In 1951, the Central Administration of Polish Spas took over the sanatorium complex from the municipal authorities. It was given the name of “Uzdrowisko Inowrocław”. New sanatoriums intended for different industrial sectors were gradually built. This is how the city got the Kombatant Sanatorium in 1976,–now called Kujawiak.

In the times of the People’s Republic of Poland, the state enterprise of Uzdrowisko Inowrocław operated a number of scientific and therapeutic establishment specialised in various areas of medicine: cardiology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, angiology and geriatrics. They were liaised with academic centres of Warsaw, Białystok, Poznań and Gdańsk. The reputation of Inowrocław spa brought a lot of prominent figures from across the spheres of public life.

In autumn 2010, the Minister of Treasury authorised the privatisation of Solanki Uzdrowisko Inowrocław. Mr. Tadeusz Chęsy became the first president of the new company and maintained the position until 2020, when he passed away. Currently, Mr. Artur Chęsy is the president. The spa is now a highly-specialist and thriving therapeutic complex visited by over 17,000 people a year.