History

THE BOLLANTS IS LISTED AS ONE OF THE TWENTY BEST WELLNESS HOTELS IN GERMANY

1907 - Founding of the “Felke-Jungborn Kurhaus Dhonau”

A stubborn case of neurodermatitis was to blame. The butcher Andres Dhonau, great-grandfather of today's owning Bolland-Anton family, received treatment from the Sobernheim pastor Emanuel Felke. The pastor’s recipe sounded simple: “Light, air, water and earth”. Among the therapy were treatments with medicinal clay, gentle activity in the fresh air, a light, purging diet and lots of water from inside and out. Mr Dhonau recovered and wrought a promise out of the pastor: If he built a Kurhaus (health resort), the pastor was to work and heal there.

The idea of the Felke healing method

Andres Dhonau had made a name for himself as an independent butcher in Bad Sobernheim at the age of only 25. Because of a severe illness, the young Andres had “already given up” in 1902, as he wrote in his book about the origin of the Felke Therapy. “Only through the intervention of Pastor Emanuel Felke, who had become renowned for his natural healing methods, was I able to be saved.”

The “miraculous healing,” documented Dhonau, “awakened an inner voice in me that urged me incessantly to start building a Felke sanatorium that would serve the high ideal of healing sick people.” In short, Dhonau sold his recently established butcher’s shop and, in 1907, founded his first domain on the Nahe with Pastor Felke.

“What I begun in the spirit of trust in the Lord and brotherly love will one day have to be put into other hands... Andres Dhonau." In 2005, Jan Bolland, Janine Bolland-Georg and Nicole Prass-Anton took over the management of the traditional Bad Sobernheim business - the fourth generation of the Bolland-Anton family since the founding of the hotel by great-grandfather Andres Dhonau in 1907.

Since May 2020, Jörg Stricker has as hotel director been responsible for the management of the BollAnts Spa im Park. The experienced hotelier can look back on more than 30 years of experience in the luxury hotel industry and emphasises the importance of maintaining the BollAnts’ family charm in the future.

Awarded as the best wellness hotel in Rhineland-Palatinate and counted among the twenty best wellness hotels in Germany by the independent Relax Guide (one of the few spa hotels that has been continuously mentioned since the very first edition), the BollAnts is a retreat for those seeking peace and quiet, while at the same time offering unlimited variety for active vacationers.