The History of the City

Mariánské Lázně is a relatively young spa town, developed at the beginning of the 19th century in a valley where several springs with remarkable curative properties rise from the ground. However local people were aware of the springs as early as the 1200s. In 1528, King Ferdinand ordered the springs to be tested for their salt content.

In the years 1805–1807, Dr. Johann Josef Nehr founded the first brick-built house for spa guests near the Cross Spring (Křížový) called 'The Golden Globe', built on the site of a former wooden cabin.

In 1812 the municipality of Mariánské Lázně is officially created following a decision taken by Karel Kašpar Reitenberger (abbot of Teplá Premonstrate Monastery).

On 6. 11. 1818 Mariánské Lázně was declared a public spa by government decree issued by the Chief Burgrave F. A. Libštejnský.

Between 1817 and 1823, three noted citizens - horticulturist Václav Skalník, architect Jiří Fischer and builder Anton Turner, financially supported by the Abbot Karel Kašpar Reitenberger, transformed this inhospitable, marshy valley into a beautiful park town featuring neo-Classical spa houses, pavilions and colonnades.

In the mid-19th century numerous personalities from the world of culture, science and politics arrived from all over the world to visit Mariánské Lázně. Some of the most notable names from this period include Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Prince Friedrich of Saxony, Earl Kašpar Šternberk, Joens Jakob Berzelius, Václav Jan Tomášek, and Marie Szymanowsky.

The town of Mariánské Lázně fondly remembers the time Fryderyk Chopin spent here. On the main street stands the Chopin House bearing a plaque - inside you'll find the Chopin Memorial Museum. Every year the town hosts a Fryderyk Chopin Festival and there's also a street and a music school named after him.

On 29.5. 1865, Mariánské Lázně was officially handed town status by Emperor Franz Joseph I.

It was around this time that countless international celebrities were visiting the town - these included Fryrderyk Chopin, Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner.

The period between 1870 and 1914 was Mariánské Lázně's heyday, reflected to this day in its numerous renovated Art Nouveau spa houses, hotels, colonnades and churches, designed by architects such as Friedrich Zickler, Josef Schaffer, Arnold Heymann and Josef Forberich. The spa parks were enlarged, and idyllic viewing points were created high above the town.

In 1872, the railway line linking the town with Cheb, Vienna, Prague and Pilsen was opened and in 1898 the line to Karlovy Vary was completed. During this period, many more great names came to take the waters in Mariánské Lázně - these include Gustav Mahler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain, Thomas Alva Edison, Pierre de Coubertin, King Edward VII of England, the Czar Nicholas II and Emperor Franz Joseph I.

Spa life remained lively throughout the first half of the 20th century. Famous people such as Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Edvard Beneš were still drawn to Mariánské Lázně.

24.7. In 2021, Mariánské Lázně, together with 10 other European spa cities, received a positive decision and thus received the title of UNESCO World Heritage.

The intergovernmental World Heritage Committee decided on this at its 44th meeting in the city of Fuzhou in China.