Mariánské Lázne
Encyclopedia
Mariánské Lázně (ˈmarɪjaːnskɛː ˈlaːzɲɛ; ) is a spa town
in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic
. The town, surrounded by green mountains, is a mosaic of parks and noble houses. Most of its buildings come from the town's Golden Era in the second half of the 19th century, when many celebrities and top European rulers came to enjoy the curative carbon dioxide springs.
. It was only through the efforts of Dr Josef Nehr, the abbey's physician, who from 1779 until his death in 1820 worked hard to demonstrate the curative properties of the springs, that the waters began to be used for medicinal purposes. The place obtained its current name of Marienbad in 1808; became a watering-place in 1818, and received its charter as a town in 1868.
By the early 20th century, approximately 1,000,000 bottles of mineral water were exported annually from Marienbad. The water from the Cross Spring (Kreuzquelle, Křížový pramen) was evaporated and the final product was sold as a laxative
under the name of sal teplensis. The modern spa town was founded by the Tepl
abbots, namely Karl Kaspar Reitenberger
, who also bought some of the surrounding forests to protect them. Under the guidance of gardener Václav Skalník, architect Jiří Fischer
, and builder Anton Turner the inhospitable marshland valley was changed into a park-like countryside with colonnades, neoclassical buildings and pavilions around the springs.
The name Marienbad first appeared in 1786; since 1865 it has been a town. Then a second period of growth, the town's Golden Era, came. Between 1870 and 1914 many new hotels, colonnades and other buildings, designed by Friedrich Zickler, Josef Schaffer, and Arnold Heymann, were constructed or rebuilt from older houses. In 1872 the town got a railway connection with the town of Eger (Cheb)
and thus with the whole Austro-Hungarian Empire and the rest of Europe.
The town soon became one of the top European spas, popular with notable figures and rulers who often returned there. Among them were such names as Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Frédéric Chopin
, Thomas Edison
, Richard Wagner
or Prince Friedrich of Saxony
, British
King Edward VII
, the Russian Czar Nicholas II, and Emperor Franz Joseph I and many others. At those times, about 20,000 visitors came every year.
Marienbad remained a popular destination between World War I
and World War II
. After WWII, the ethnic German population of the town was forcibly expelled
according to the Potsdam agreement, thereby emptying the town of the majority of its population. After the communist coup-d'état in 1948; it got sealed off from most of its foreign visitors. After the return of democracy in 1989 much effort was put into restoring the town into its original character. Today it is not only a spa town but also a popular holiday resort thanks to its location among the green mountains of the Slavkovský les and the Český les, sport facilities (the town's first golf course was opened in 1905 by the British
King Edward VII
) and the proximity to other famous spa towns, such as Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary
) or Franzensbad (Františkovy Lázně
).
in 1945 the majority of the population of the city spoke German (see Sudetenland
). Nowadays, however, most of the inhabitants are Czechs.
The top attraction of the town is its 100 mineral spring
s (53 of them are tapped) with high carbon dioxide content and often also higher iron content, both in the town itself and its surroundings. Most of them are well-kept and often pavilions and/or colonnades are built around them. The most notable ones are:
]
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The town, surrounded by green mountains, is a mosaic of parks and noble houses. Most of its buildings come from the town's Golden Era in the second half of the 19th century, when many celebrities and top European rulers came to enjoy the curative carbon dioxide springs.
History
Although the town itself is only about two hundred years old, the locality has been inhabited much longer. The first written record dates back to 1273, when there was a village of Úšovice. The springs first appear in a document dating from 1341 where they are called "the Auschowitzer springs" belonging to the Tepl AbbeyTeplá Abbey
Teplá Abbey is a Premonstratensian abbey in the western part of Bohemia, included in the Archdiocese of Prague; it was founded in 1193 by the blessed Hroznata, a Bohemian nobleman...
. It was only through the efforts of Dr Josef Nehr, the abbey's physician, who from 1779 until his death in 1820 worked hard to demonstrate the curative properties of the springs, that the waters began to be used for medicinal purposes. The place obtained its current name of Marienbad in 1808; became a watering-place in 1818, and received its charter as a town in 1868.
By the early 20th century, approximately 1,000,000 bottles of mineral water were exported annually from Marienbad. The water from the Cross Spring (Kreuzquelle, Křížový pramen) was evaporated and the final product was sold as a laxative
Laxative
Laxatives are foods, compounds, or drugs taken to induce bowel movements or to loosen the stool, most often taken to treat constipation. Certain stimulant, lubricant, and saline laxatives are used to evacuate the colon for rectal and/or bowel examinations, and may be supplemented by enemas under...
under the name of sal teplensis. The modern spa town was founded by the Tepl
Teplá Abbey
Teplá Abbey is a Premonstratensian abbey in the western part of Bohemia, included in the Archdiocese of Prague; it was founded in 1193 by the blessed Hroznata, a Bohemian nobleman...
abbots, namely Karl Kaspar Reitenberger
Karl Kaspar Reitenberger
Karl Kaspar Reitenberger was a premonstratensian priest.Born in Úterý to a miller, he joined Teplá Abbey in 1800. After studying theology in Prague he was ordained as a priest in 1804. In 1813 he was elected abbot of Teplá Abbey. He was instrumental in turning Mariánské Lázně into a spa town...
, who also bought some of the surrounding forests to protect them. Under the guidance of gardener Václav Skalník, architect Jiří Fischer
Jiri Fischer
Jiří Fischer is a former professional ice hockey defenceman in the National Hockey League . Fischer went into cardiac arrest in a November 2005 game, and subsequently retired due to his heart problems...
, and builder Anton Turner the inhospitable marshland valley was changed into a park-like countryside with colonnades, neoclassical buildings and pavilions around the springs.
The name Marienbad first appeared in 1786; since 1865 it has been a town. Then a second period of growth, the town's Golden Era, came. Between 1870 and 1914 many new hotels, colonnades and other buildings, designed by Friedrich Zickler, Josef Schaffer, and Arnold Heymann, were constructed or rebuilt from older houses. In 1872 the town got a railway connection with the town of Eger (Cheb)
Cheb
Cheb is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře , at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny and near the border with Germany...
and thus with the whole Austro-Hungarian Empire and the rest of Europe.
The town soon became one of the top European spas, popular with notable figures and rulers who often returned there. Among them were such names as Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
or Prince Friedrich of Saxony
Frederick Augustus III of Saxony
This article is about King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. For the elector Frederick Augustus III, see Frederick Augustus I of Saxony.Frederick Augustus III was the last King of Saxony and a member of the House of Wettin.Born in Dresden, Frederick Augustus was the son of King George of Saxony...
, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
, the Russian Czar Nicholas II, and Emperor Franz Joseph I and many others. At those times, about 20,000 visitors came every year.
Marienbad remained a popular destination between World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After WWII, the ethnic German population of the town was forcibly expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
according to the Potsdam agreement, thereby emptying the town of the majority of its population. After the communist coup-d'état in 1948; it got sealed off from most of its foreign visitors. After the return of democracy in 1989 much effort was put into restoring the town into its original character. Today it is not only a spa town but also a popular holiday resort thanks to its location among the green mountains of the Slavkovský les and the Český les, sport facilities (the town's first golf course was opened in 1905 by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
) and the proximity to other famous spa towns, such as Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately west of Prague . It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370...
) or Franzensbad (Františkovy Lázně
Františkovy Lázne
Františkovy Lázně is a town in Cheb District of Karlovy Vary Region in the western Bohemia , near the town of Cheb with about 5,200 inhabitants....
).
Population
Until their expulsionPopulation transfer
Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
in 1945 the majority of the population of the city spoke German (see Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
). Nowadays, however, most of the inhabitants are Czechs.
Mineral springs and colonnades
Mineral spring
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce water containing minerals, or other dissolved substances, that alter its taste or give it a purported therapeutic value...
s (53 of them are tapped) with high carbon dioxide content and often also higher iron content, both in the town itself and its surroundings. Most of them are well-kept and often pavilions and/or colonnades are built around them. The most notable ones are:
- Křížový pramen (Cross Spring) - is the most famous spring of Mariánské lázně. A monumental pavilion with a cupola bearing a patriarchal cross and 72 IonicIonic orderThe Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
columns was built over the spring in 1818-1826. Today's concrete building is a copy from 1911–1912, originally it was a light wooden and brick construction. The water from the spring is high-mineralized with a strong laxative effect, it has been used for both curative drinks and baths.
- Rudolfův pramen (Rudolph's Spring) - with a wooden pavilion built over the spring, some water is tapped and piped to the nearby colonnade and some is bottled. Its water is low-mineralized with high calcium content and has been used to cure urinary problems.
- Karolinin pramen (Caroline's Spring) - named after the wife of the Emperor Francis I, Caroline Augusta. The nearby colonnade was built in 1869, the pavilion is a reconstruction from 1989. The water is low-mineralized, with higher magnesium content.
- Ferdinandův pramen (Ferdinand's Spring) - the water from the spring, similar in composition to Křížový pramen, is bottled under the Excelsior label.
- Ambrožovy prameny (Ambrose's Springs)
- Lesní pramen (Forest Spring)
- Zpívající fontána (Singing Fountain)
Churches
Because of the diverse number of visitors the town is able to maintain churches of several denominations.People
- Alex ČejkaAlex CejkaAlexander Čejka is a Czech/German professional golfer.Čejka was born in Marienbad, Czechoslovakia. He left Czechoslovakia with his parents as a refugee at the age of nine, eventually settling in Munich, where he lived for many years, becoming a German citizen...
- Peter HofmannPeter HofmannPeter Hofmann was a German tenor who had a successful performance career within the fields of opera, rock, pop, and musical theatre. He first rose to prominence in 1976 as a heldentenor at the Bayreuth festival where he drew critical acclaim for his performance of Siegmund in Richard Wagner's Die...
, German tenor - Lubomir Kavalek
- Maurice LoewyMaurice LoewyMaurice Loewy was a French astronomer.Born in Mariánské Lázne, in what is now the Czech Republic, Loewy's Jewish parents moved to Vienna in 1841 to escape the antisemitism of their home town. Loewy became an assistant at the Vienna Observatory, working on celestial mechanics...
, Jewish astronomer, born here - Eduard PetiškaEduard PetiškaEduard Petiška was a Czech poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright, and translator. He is best known as the author of books for children.-Life:...
- Leonid ShamkovichLeonid ShamkovichLeonid Aleksandrovich Shamkovich was a chess Grandmaster, and chess writer.He was born in a Jewish family in Rostov-on-Don in Russia...
- Werner StarkWerner StarkWerner Stark was a sociologist and economist, who made important contributions to the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of religion and the history of economic thought.-Biography:...
- Fritz WittmannFritz WittmannDr. Fritz Wittmann is a German politician and lawyer.Wittmann was born in Plan bei Marienbad in Czechoslovakia's Egerland. He was a member of the German Parliament and president of the Federation of Expellees from 1994-1998...
, German politician
See also
- Marienbad ElegyMarienbad ElegyThe Marienbad Elegy is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.This poem, considered one of Goethe's finest and most personal, reflects the devastating sadness the poet felt when Baroness Ulrike von Levetzow declined his proposal...
, a poem by Goethe - Last Year at MarienbadLast Year at MarienbadL'Année dernière à Marienbad is a 1961 French film directed by Alain Resnais from a screenplay by Alain Robbe-Grillet....
, a 1961 French film by Alain ResnaisAlain ResnaisAlain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
External links
- West bohemian symphony orchestra of Mariánské Lázně
- Mariánské Lázně at Czech.cz
- Municipal website
- Mariánské Lázně - travel guide (basic facts, history, sights, one-day trips)
- History of Mariánské Lázně about history of the town (in Czech)
- Sights and trips in Mariánské Lázně sights and interesting tips for trips (in Marianske Lazne)
- Spa & wellness programs Mariánské Lázně
- Spa & wellness programs Mariánské Lázně - Sights and trips in Mariánské Lázně sights and interesting tips for trips (in Marianske Lazne)
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