Mariánské Lázně (; ) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. Most of the town's buildings come from its 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.

The town centre with the spa cultural landscape is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument reservation. In 2021, the town became part of the transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name "Great Spa Towns of Europe" because of its springs and architectural testimony to the popularity of spa towns in Europe during the 18th through 20th centuries.

Administrative division

Mariánské Lázně consists of six municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):

  • Mariánské Lázně (5,037)
  • Chotěnov-Skláře (109)
  • Hamrníky (661)
  • Kladská (32)
  • Stanoviště (71)
  • Úšovice (6,069)

Etymology

Both the initial German name Marienbad and the modern Czech name Mariánské Lázně mean 'Mary's spa'. It was originally the name of a mineral spring, near which the pious people hung an image of the Virgin Mary.

Geography

Mariánské Lázně is located about southeast of Cheb and southwest of Karlovy Vary. The municipal territory extends into three geomorphological regions: the eastern part lies in a hilly landscape of the Teplá Highlands, the southwestern part with most of the built-up area lies in a flat area of the Podčeskoleská Hills, and the northern tip lies in the Slavkov Forest. Most of the territory lies in the Slavkov Forest Protected Landscape Area.

The Teplá River originates in the woods in the northeastern part of the municipal territory. The stream Kosový potok flows through the southern part of Mariánské Lázně. Its tributary, the stream Úšovický potok, flows through the town proper.

History

thumb|Mariánské Lázně, 1815, copper engraving

thumb|Typical buildings in the town centre

German settlers were called into this region by Bohemian rulers from the Přemyslid dynasty in the 12th century.

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 Teplá Abbey. It was only through the efforts of 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.

Marienbad remained a popular destination between World War I and World War II. After World War II, 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 was sealed off from most of its foreign visitors. After the return of democracy in 1989 much effort was put into restoring the town to its original character. Today it is a spa town and a popular holiday resort thanks to its location among the green mountains of the Slavkovský les and the Český les, sports facilities (the town's first golf course was opened in 1905 by the British King Edward VII) and the proximity to other spa towns, such as Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) and Františkovy Lázně (Franzensbad).

Demographics

Until their expulsion in 1945, the majority of the population of the town were German. Afterwards, the Czechoslovak authorities repopulated the town with Czechs from the hinterland.

Transport

Mariánské Lázně is located on three important railway lines: Prague–Cheb, Plzeň–Karlovy Vary and Františkovy Lázně–Bohumín.

Mariánské Lázně Airport is situated on the southern border of the town.

Public transport

thumb|Trolleybus in Mariánské Lázně near the natural spring Antoníčkův pramen

The town's public transport is operated mainly by trolleybuses and accompanied by buses servicing the neighbouring villages. There are four trolleybus lines and four bus lines in operation.

Sport

The town is represented by the football team FC Viktoria Mariánské Lázně, founded in 1945. It plays in lower amateur tiers.

Mariánské Lázně has a motorcycle speedway racing circuit. The venue, Mariánské Lázně Longtrack Speedway, hosted six Long Track World Champion finals from 1976 to 1994 and five rounds of Grand-Prix racing (the most recent in 2011).

The town is known for the Royal Golf Club Mariánské Lázně.

Sights

Mineral springs and colonnades

thumb|Singing Fountain

The top attraction of the town is its 100 mineral springs (53 of them are tapped) with high carbon dioxide content and often also higher iron content, both in the town itself (40 springs) and its surroundings. The water in the springs has an average temperature of 7–10 °C, and is formed through interactions with the deep fault lines that run under the region. The mineral water is claimed to cure disorders of the kidneys and of the urinary tract, respiratory disorders, locomotive system disorders, metabolic disorders, oncological disorders and gynaecological disorders, including the treatment of sterility.

Many of the springs have pavilions and colonnades built around them. Among them are:

  • Křížový pramen (Cross Spring) – a monumental pavilion with a cupola bearing a patriarchal cross and 72 Ionic 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 highly mineralized with a strong laxative effect, and 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 weakly 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 weakly 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)

The total yield of all of the springs is roughly 600 litres per minute.

Notable people

  • Maurice Loewy (1833–1907), astronomer
  • Werner Stark (1909–1985), sociologist and economist
  • Eduard Petiška (1924–1987), poet and author
  • Peter Hofmann (1944–2010), German tenor
  • Alex Čejka (born 1970), golfer
  • Jakub Flek (born 1992), ice hockey player

Notable visitors

A number of notable people visited Mariánské Lázně, among them:

  • Edward VII, British King; took annual holidays here
  • Franz Joseph I, Austrian Emperor
  • Nicholas II, Russian Emperor
  • Frederick Augustus III, King of Saxony
  • Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister
  • George S. Patton, General of the United States Army
  • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and statesman
  • Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, president of Czechoslovakia
  • Edvard Beneš, president of Czechoslovakia
  • Frédéric Chopin, Polish composer
  • Alfred Nobel, Swedish innovator
  • Richard Wagner, German composer
  • Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher
  • Mark Twain, American author
  • Thomas Edison, American inventor
  • Emmy Destinn, operatic soprano
  • Jacky Fisher, British admiral

Twin towns – sister cities

Mariánské Lázně is twinned with:

  • Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany
  • Chianciano Terme, Italy
  • Kiryat Motzkin, Israel
  • Malvern, England, United Kingdom
  • Marcoussis, France
  • Weiden in der Oberpfalz, Germany

In culture

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe named the poem Marienbad Elegy (1823) after the town.

Among the films and TV series that were shot in Mariánské Lázně are Music from Mars (1955), Thirty Cases of Major Zeman (1978), Dobrodružství kriminalistiky (1989), Dáma a Král (2017) and Army of Thieves (2021). The French film Last Year at Marienbad (1961) bears the German name of the town in its name, but no filming was done in Mariánské Lázně.

References

Further reading

  • Tourist information
  • Mariánské Lázně travel guide
  • Hamelika.cz – History of Mariánské Lázně
  • Marienbad.com – Accommodation, sights and trips