Rickatschwende

Franz Xaver Mayr was an Austrian physician who spent his career studying what he described as the root cause of most degenerative illness: the chronically overtaxed and inefficient digestive system. His insight was deceptively simple. The gut does not fail because of specific disease. It fails because of accumulated misuse: eating too fast, chewing insufficiently, consuming food that produces chronic inflammation, operating under sustained stress. His cure addressed the cause rather than the symptoms, through rest of the digestive system, gentle cleansing, the re-education of eating behaviour, and the restitution of depleted nutrients. The Mayr method has been refined over a century of clinical practice and is today recognised as one of the most scientifically grounded naturopathic approaches to metabolic regeneration in the German-speaking world.

Rickatschwende carries this tradition with the seriousness it deserves. The property has operated as a certified F.X. Mayr centre for nearly thirty years, in a setting of forested hills above the Rhine valley of Vorarlberg where the Bregenzerwald begins and the quality of air, water and landscape is among the cleanest in central Europe. The property has its own spring water source, used for the medically prescribed daily hydration protocol and available throughout the stay in the tea lobby, which serves multiple varieties daily alongside medically tailored individual tea blends prepared on prescription.
The medical team develops a personalised treatment plan for each guest from arrival. The daily manual abdominal treatment, administered by the physicians each morning, is the most physically distinctive element of the Mayr protocol: a precise sequence of manual techniques that tones the gut wall, relaxes intestinal spasm, drains the stomach’s lymphatic system, stimulates hepatic circulation, improves breathing and oxygen supply and loosens accumulated stool residues. The effects of this treatment are cumulative and become perceptible from approximately the third day. The daily hay wrap complements the abdominal treatment by boosting liver circulation and stimulating intestinal blood flow independently, a distinctly Alpine therapeutic tradition that draws on the medicinal properties of alpine herbs preserved in the hay.

The personalisedMayr diet, developed in consultation with the physicians and adapted to individual food intolerances, allergies and constitution, is prepared by chefs trained to cook on medical prescription. Seasonal, regionally sourced organic produce forms the base. The meals are eaten slowly and consciously, in trained silence, as the re-education of chewing behaviour and present-moment attention to eating is itself a clinical intervention in the Mayr framework. The tea lobby is available throughout the day as a space for rest and hydration between the structured components of the programme.
Movement is the programme’s third pillar alongside nutrition and rest. Forty guided group sessions are available each week: yoga, Pilates, Qi-Gong, mindfulness training, breathing practice, guided mountain hikes, Nordic walking and back training. The progression from rest to movement is deliberately gradual. After approximately eight to ten days of daily gentle exercise, the mind begins to reach a state of deep relaxation that supplements the physiological effects of the dietary and medical work.