Health Issues

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An important objective of the 1888 trip was for William Steinway to tend to issues of his personal health by taking cures at two different well known mineral-spring health spas in Germany. William suffered from gout and serious inflammation of his joints that caused pain and severely constrained his movements for great periods of time.

For more than three weeks beginning July 9, William, joined by his wife, two young sons and their governess, took a series of treatments at the well-known, but somewhat isolated, health spa at Bad Salzschlirf, near Fulda, which specialized in the treatment of gout and rheumatism. Cures consisted of drinking the waters (most notably Bonifacius-Brunnen), baths, and massage.(1)(2, p.107-108) William was very serious about following the regimen of the treatments, but he did not let that stop him from keeping up with business throughout his stay, writing and receiving letters and cables almost daily.(Diary, 1888-07-10, 07-12, 07-31) Often business colleagues come to see him.(Diary, 1888-07-26, 07-27) While the spa at Bad Salzschlirf was known for its cures, its social life and other amusements were limited. William's opinion of the local village was captured by his comment "took walk with wife and Willie through the squalid village of Salzschlirf."(Diary, 1888-07-10) William and family arranged their own entertainments, which included visiting with other guests at the spa, singing songs, playing skat, taking walks, and going on excursions they arranged for themselves. Once, William and his wife took an overnight trip to Frankfurt during which William took care of some business.(Diary, 1888-07-13, 07-14)

Immediately following his time at Bad Salzschlirf, William moved his family to a spa in Wiesbaden for another 11 days of treatment. (August 1-10) Wiesbaden was more centrally located and this gave William even greater opportunity to travel about, meet with people, and spend an increasing amount of time working on business matters. Even so, William carefully completed this next course of health treatments. In all, William spent 5 weeks tending to his health at these mineral spas.
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Sources:

1. Philippi, F. Arthur, "The Therapeutics of Bad-Salzschlirf Waters in Gout and the Uric Acid Diathesis" in A Weekly Journal of Medicine and Medical Affairs, London, January to June 1902, p.188.
2. Weber, Hermann, The Spas and Mineral Waters of Europe. London: Smith Elder & Co, 1896.