Friedrich Eduard Bilz (June 12, 1842 – January 30, 1922) was a German naturopath who was a native of

Arnsdorf Arnsdorf is a municipality in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and th ...

in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxo ...

. As a merchant of a ''Kolonialwarenladen'' (shop offering non-European goods) in

Meerane Meerane () is a town in the Zwickau district of Saxony, Germany. It lies midway between the towns of Altenburg and Zwickau, west of Chemnitz. As of 31 December 2015, there were 14,851 inhabitants. The population has declined from a peak of over 2 ...

, Bilz became interested in naturopathic medicine. In 1888 he published ''Das Neue Naturheilverfahren'' (The New Natural Healing), a book that became very popular and was translated into twelve languages. In 1895 Bilz founded a

health spa A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness and health se ...

Radebeul Radebeul ( hsb, Radobyle) is a town (''große Kreisstadt'') in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well known for its viticulture, a museum dedicated to writer Karl May, and a narrow gaug ...

that was soon expanded into a large sanitarium. In the early part of the 20th century, he constructed a ''Licht-Luft Bad'' (a large outdoor swimming pool) at the sanitarium (the "Bilzbad"). In 1911 he displayed a ''Wellenmaschine'' ( wave machine) at the International Hygiene Exhibition in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. It was installed at Bilzbad during the following year. In 1902, Bilz created a soft-drink named ''Bilz-Brause'', a beverage consisting of

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. T ...

and

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

juice that was served to patients at the sanitarium. After forming a partnership with local industrialist Franz Hartmann, the name was changed to

Sinalco Sinalco is a popular brand of non-alcoholic drinks first marketed in 1902, with sales in now more than 40 countries. Sinalco is the oldest soft drink brand in Europe. It is produced by Sinalco International, a company headquartered in Detmold, ...

, and the drink was marketed worldwide.

References

*''This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.''
A Century of Flavor, an article on SinalcoThe Natural Method of Healing - Volume 1The Natural Method of Healing - Volume 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilz, Friedrich Eduard 1842 births 1922 deaths People from Mittelsachsen People from the Kingdom of Saxony Naturopaths