Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) is a statutory city in West Bohemia and the seat of the Karlovy Vary Region.[6][4] The spa town lies in the valley of the Vřídlo hot spring at the confluence of the Teplá and the Ohře.[1] According to the Czech Statistical Office, it had 48,788 inhabitants on 1 January 2026.[5]*
Foundation
The origin of the town in the 14th century is associated with Charles IV. According to legend, the emperor had the town built after his hunting party discovered the thermal springs by chance.[1] On 14 August 1370 Charles IV granted Karlovy Vary the Loket town law, the privileges of a royal town patterned on nearby Loket. He stayed there himself in 1370, 1374 and 1376.[1] In 1401 Wenceslas IV confirmed the town's privileges and added the right of asylum and the status of an open town without fortifications.[1]
History
The spa was already visited by the nobility and wealthy burghers in the 16th century, but few buildings of that period survive because of natural disasters.[1] A flood on the Teplá on 9 May 1582 completely destroyed 36 of the 102 houses and swept away all the bridges. In a fire on 13 August 1604 only three of the 102 houses were left standing.[1] During the Thirty Years' War the town was plundered by the Swedes. In 1707 Emperor Joseph I confirmed its privileges and expressly named it a free royal town.[1] In 1711 and 1712 the Russian Tsar Peter the Great stayed there. A fire on 23 May 1759 destroyed some 224 houses, including the Castle Tower and the town hall of that time.[1] From 1769 spring salt was produced by evaporating the spring water. From 1807 the pharmacist Josef Vitus Becher produced the herbal stomach liqueur Becherovka.[1] Johann Wolfgang Goethe first came in 1785 and visited the town thirteen times in all.[1] In 1870 services began on the line to Cheb, and a year later to Prague. The largest flood in the town's history, on 24 November 1890, destroyed about 400 shops and seriously damaged over 200 houses.[1] President T. G. Masaryk stayed at the spa eight times up to 1933.[1]
Present day
In 1946 the first film festival was held in Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary.[1] On 24 July 2021 the World Heritage Committee, meeting in Fuzhou, inscribed the Great Spa Towns of Europe on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The property comprises eleven spa towns in seven countries; the Czech ones are Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně. The Czech Republic coordinated the preparation of the nomination.[2][3]
Chronology
- — As the water level of the Březová reservoir near Karlovy Vary fell, a historic bridge that is normally submerged came into view. ČTK / České noviny iROZHLAS