Use and Abuse of Arnold Rikli’s Heritage

Bled is one of the most popular tourist resorts in Slovenia. It became a cosmopolitan summer and winter resort in 1855 when Swiss Arnold Rikli (1823-1906) came to Bled. Rikli was the founder of health tourism in Bled. He started natural healing methods and the motto of his healing was: water is good, air is better and most of all the sunlight. With the arrival of guests hotels were built, villas were constructed and pubs and inns were renovated. This paper deals with different up-to-date ways of interpreting Arnold Rikli’s material heritage and the heritage of his healing methods in present-day tourism in Bled. I will show how good and logical knowledge which has been tested for several times, emerges again and again, and that speaking about heritage tourism means selecting the heritage we are presenting and advertising and not about all of its aspects and context.