Arthur Stanley Wohlmann (1867–1943), also known as Arthur Stanley Herbert, was an English physician and balneologist, known for his significant contributions to the therapeutic use of the spa in New Zealand. Born in London, he qualified as a dentist in 1894 and moved to New Zealand in 1902. Wohlmann was appointed as the first government balneologist in Rotorua, where he played a pivotal role in developing the town into a renowned spa destination.
His work included the design and supervision of various therapeutic facilities, promoting the health benefits of the spa. Wohlmann's efforts were instrumental in attracting both local and international visitors to Rotorua, boosting its reputation and economy. He also published extensively on the therapeutic properties of hot springs, contributing valuable knowledge to the field of balneology.
Wohlmann's influence extended beyond Rotorua as he consulted on similar projects in other regions. He retired in 1935 but continued to be involved in balneology until his death in 1943. His legacy is marked by his dedication to advancing the scientific and therapeutic use of geothermal resources.
Biography Trained in London and having practiced balneotherapy for several years in the renowned spa town of Bath, he was chosen in 1902 by the government of New Zealand, shortly after that country had been the first to set up a government tourism agency, to be the colony's official balneologist. This title, which at first aroused astonishment, reflected the economic importance attributed to the development of New Zealand spa tourism and the hope of attracting an influx of international curists, drawn by the beauty and virtues of the North Island's thermal zone.
Wohlmann enthusiastically took on the task of surveying the springs and promoting them, notably by producing brochures and exhibitions. His priority, however, was the development of the Rotorua site, where he aimed to build an international spa. The latter, inaugurated in 1908, boasts a level of luxury and equipment unrivaled in the southern hemisphere. Although the site is still world-famous today, this major investment did not bear the fruit hoped for at the time. This was mainly due to the remoteness of the country and despite the innovations introduced by Wohlmann, including a dangerous radioactive cure. It eventually fell into disrepair, eaten away by sulfurous fumes.
Despite some of the errors typical of the medical concepts of the time, Wohlmann brought a scientific and holistic approach to the practice of thermalism, the latter being particularly in tune with the government's tourist propaganda, thanks to the importance attached to a change of scenery.
Context In the 19th century, the development of tourism was closely linked to that of the spa. During the period, most European countries and the United States experienced the "spa fever", with the expansion or launch of spas and their provision of prestigious tourist facilities to satisfy the growing demand for hydrotherapy cures and mineral water consumption.
In 1874, William Fox recommended that the New Zealand Government follow the American example of Yellowstone National Park, created in 1872, and intervene to protect the spa areas of the North Island. He suggested the creation in this region of "a sanatorium not only for the Australian colonies but also for India and other parts of the globe". The project began to be implemented in 1881 with the passing of the Thermal-Springs Districts Act, which gave the Crown the right to purchase land offered for sale in the area. In 1886, a small private sanatorium was opened in Rotorua. In 1888, it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt by the government in 1889 as a "national institution", under the management of Dr. Alfred Ginders.
In 1894, the opening of a railroad line between Auckland and Rotorua boosted the number of visitors to the spa area and the Rotorua sanatorium. In 1895, the New Zealand press reported that the government was dissatisfied with Dr. Ginders' management, that he would soon be sent to Rotorua to analyze the mineral waters, and that an "experienced balneologist" should be sought in Europe. In 1896, in a parliamentary report on the state of hospitals, Duncan MacGregor recommended a radical reorganization of the organization of spa treatments to cope with the foreseeable growth in demand for spa treatments, and in particular the recruitment of a "medical expert in balneology with competence and experience in the field". That same year, the government asked the colony's agent-general in London, William Pember Reeves, to search Europe for such a balneologist to run New Zealand's thermal baths. According to Reeves, the position required the combined skills of a physician, chemist, engineer, and hotelier.
Balneology was introduced into the New Zealand political landscape in 1897. In October, during parliamentary debates on the budget, the allocation of a £1,000 line for the annual salary and expenses of a balneologist – a large sum reflecting the national importance of the function – was denounced by the opposition as a "gross extravagance". It attracted criticism from some of the press: while the Otago Witness assumed that the term referred to the North Island's hot springs, the Ohinemuri Gazette suggested that the role of a balneologist would be to show patients how to locate whales in the warm waters of Lake Rotorua; the Daily Telegraph regarded the choice of the term as a form of offensiveness designed to conceal the nature of the tasks involved; and the Observer suggested that, as the necessary "expertise" seemed easy to acquire, the post could easily be awarded to a local resident.
By 1898, Reeves met Dr. Karl Grube, head physician at the Bad Neuenahr spa clinic and known for his "young, energetic personality, extensive experience of thermal springs and thorough knowledge of the subject". He was fluent in English and treated celebrities such as the Prince of Fürstenberg and the Duchess of Teck, who he hoped would tempt them to come and experience the thermal benefits of New Zealand. However, Grube requested, in addition to the £800 annual salary he had been offered, the right to charge for private consultations, which the government refused.
Formative years
In March 1902, several New Zealand newspapers announced the nomination of Arthur Stanley Wohlmann to the post of government balneologist, often mentioning a decisive fact: despite his Teutonic-sounding name, he came from a family that had been "English for two hundred years".
Born on March 3, 1867, in Hertford, where he attended secondary school, Wohlmann began his medical studies in 1885 at Guy's Hospital in London, graduating in 1892. After practicing in the city, he spent four months as a surgeon at the British hospital in Port Saïd, then spent two years as a resident physician at the Royal Mineral Water Hospital in Bath, where he treated rheumatoid arthritis, before setting up his practice in the city renowned for its spa treatments. Over six years, he developed a balneotherapy practice, in which he was recognized for his considerable experience, particularly in the use of electricity. In 1896, Wohlmann co-authored a noteworthy article on rheumatoid arthritis which defended the hypothesis, since abandoned, of a bacterial origin for this disease, and in 1899 published an article on rheumatic diseases. In 1899, he married Eugenia Madden, widow of a colonel in the Indian Army, with whom he had a daughter aged three when he arrived in New Zealand. In choosing him from 43 applicants, the New Zealand government hoped to capitalize on his experience and reputation with Bath's wealthy spa clientele. His credentials were published in the first report of the Tourism Development Agency set up in 1901. However, before setting sail for New Zealand, he was asked to spend two weeks touring Europe's leading spas to assess their strengths and weaknesses. In his report on the subject, he analyzes the factors contributing to their success, such as their plans, the materials used, and their resistance to degradation, as well as the different types of equipment and treatments.
Government balneology
Shortly after arriving in New Zealand in July 1902 and establishing his residence in Rotorua, Wohlmann undertook inspection visits to the colony's thermal springs, in particular those at Waiotapu, Wairakei, Orakei Korako, Taupō, Tokaanu, Okoroire, Te Aroha, Helensville, Morere and Hanmer, taking water samples, which he had analyzed by the Colonial Museum laboratory in Wellington, to select the sites he recommended for development.
In the report he submitted at the end of this first tour, he expressed both enthusiasm and caution, stating that "nature has endowed [New Zealand] with thermal springs with prodigality, but the very abundance of these gifts makes [his] task all the more difficult [and that] to do justice [to all the springs in this country] would require an enormous and unjustifiable expense". As a priority, he recommended the development of Rotorua, which boasted thermal water of "almost unique quality in almost inexhaustible quantities", an "invigorating" climate, an established reputation and rail access; but also, as a secondary priority, the development of Te Aroha, for its drinkable mineral waters, and Hanmer, for "the invalids [of the South Island] who could not undertake the long journey to Rotorua".
In 1903, Wohlmann began writing a guide to the mineral waters of New Zealand, intended both for patients and the medical profession. In 1904, he published the first part devoted to the waters of Rotorua, in which meteorological tables and chemical analyses supplied by the colonial laboratory are complemented by considerations of the curative virtues attributed to these waters and the distractions offered by the region to curists. The work was gradually supplemented with information on other sites, with pagination increasing from 48 pages in 1904 to 82 pages in 1907 and 155 pages in 1914. These publications were part of a strategy developed by Donne, the director of the tourism promotion department, to present New Zealand as a "thermal wonderland" and a "cureland", the spa par excellence of the southern hemisphere. According to Peter Hodder, the ambiguous status of Wohlmann's publications, which simultaneously aim to provide scientific data on the composition of the waters and more conjectural information on their alleged virtues, while at the same time addressing a readership of potential tourists and health-care professionals, results in a mixture between compilations of chemical analyses and subjective assessments of the waters' gustatory or curative qualities. Wohlmann made favorable comparisons between New Zealand's mineral waters and those of Europe's most famous spas. Te Aroha's, for example, had a higher proportion of sodium bicarbonate than Vichy's, making it "the strongest alkaline thermal water in the world". However, these analyses will later be called into question when it emerges that the same waters are also rich in arsenic and boron.
In 1906, Wohlmann was entrusted with organizing part of the Tourism Department's section at the Christchurch International Exhibition. Responding to visitors' expectations of spectacular attractions at the time, Wohlmann designed and built a "wonderfully accurate copy of some of the most remarkable features of the thermal regions [... where,] after passing through a portal surrounded by carved Maori totem poles, the visitor is immediately transported to the land of soufrières, wai-arikis [hot springs], geysers and fumaroles". This ingenious and faithful miniature recreation of "geyserland" was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Joseph Ward, and earned Wohlmann his congratulations.
Development of Rotorua