Chestnuts in a different way

It does not peel easily. But its seduction nevertheless takes place through the sense of smell. Intense olfactory messages reach the brain and activate sensuality. While the chestnut is today a source of health elixir, the effects of its flowers were once only whispered about.

“This nut, roasted and seasoned with salt and pepper” was already considered an aphrodisiac in the Middle Ages. The hearty food was used to accentuate the female libido and increase male potency. This can be seen from the German encyclopaedia of folk medicine around 1840. The magical, seductive scent of chestnut flowers, on the other hand, had a much more subtle effect, according to a certain Dr Albert Hagen around 1901. In this year his book "Sexual Osmorheology: the relationship between smell and the odours of human sexual activity", in which he describes interesting observations made after intensive study of sources, was published. For example, he claims that pheromones, the odorous substances with hormone-like effects, influence partner choice and sexual behaviour. It is therefore not surprising that the author published his nonchalant statements on sexual practices under a pseudonym at the time. In reality, Dr. Hagen was a dermatologist and specialist in venereal diseases, Iwan Bloch. Today, the 'pious veil' has more than fallen, but Block was a true pioneer of sexology in the early 20th century.
The fact that the limbic system reacts sensitively to odours without being censored by the brain mass is a fact on which modern aromatherapy is also based, and not only in the sexual sphere.

"The chestnut is a very warm fruit, with great inner strength and an indication of wisdom." These few lines were written by the universal scholar Hildegard von Bingen already in the 12th century. According to the nun's great experience, the chestnut fruit is a basic remedy, which should be used for mental and psychological detoxification as well as for heart and nerve disorders. This ancient knowledge is now the basis for the various uses of this universal fruit in the Isarco Valley. It was in the 1980s that whole chestnut groves were in danger of extinction from disease. At that time, the importance of the chestnut was remembered and it was treated to be saved. Above all, especially the family Tauber from Feldthurns has made lots of effort to keep the chestnut culture alive. The deep roots of the village and the entire Valle Isarco with the chestnut can also be seen by the fact that the "brown gold" was considered the staple food of the region for decades and was called the bread of the poor.