Over the Christmas holidays, my family and I visited the city of Karlovy Vary to see my grandparents. I used the opportunity to learn more about the town as it is the city where my dad grew up in. He says one is supposed to know where they come from, which is easy for him to say growing up in one city all his life. I have mentioned earlier on the blog that “home is where the heart is”. Definitely, Karlovy Vary is the place our hearts belong to as well, among many other places. I am also sure it wasn’t accidently that we found the advert of a georgian restaurant and one to visit the Georgian national ballet in the town at the very beginning of our tour.
Karlovy Vary has a very rich history, and is well known for its spa treatment, baths and drinking hot springs, film festival, Moser glass, famous Thun porcelain, Grandhotel Pupp, pitoresque architecture, and the Becherovka liquer, of course. Noble families have always gathered here for centuries to get together and relax.
Now for a bit of history. According to the fable, the Czech king Charles the 4th was on a hunt one lovely day and suddenly he saw deer. He chased them to the rock edge from which the deer jumped to a valley and so did the King’s dogs. The deer managed to jump over, the dogs fell into the hot springs and were not very happy about it. The king was wounded during the hunt and used these hot springs to heal himself and decided to settle a town here. That´s how the springs were founded and since then visitors from all over the world have been going to Karlovy Vary yearly for their miracle treatements.
For centuries the hot springs were used for baths, it was believed to stay in the baths for hours until your skin cracks so that all your illnesses would leave the body. Than a few analysis were performed by spa doctors (David Becher and others) and the water was recommended for drinking. Another extereme was to drink more than 10 litres of the hot springs daily. Yes, it helped the body to get rid of anything…. Can’t say that spa treatment was always so relaxing in those days…
Our first visit was to the Imperial Spa. From the fisrt glance a palace, the spa was where the James Bond Casino movie was filmed, and after reconstruction with an amazing podium for concerts with supposedly the largest red curtain being built. The walls made of rich stone, red carpets on stairs, and even the golden toilet in the “Emperors Lounge” made us feel like in Cinderella’s palace. As the guide explained to us, the first floor was for the wealthiest guests, as each room had a flushing toilet in that time (end of 18th century) and importantly, their own baths in mud and mineral water that would be raised up to their room through the floor. The second floor was where the middle class guests would stay, which has the baths aswell, and the top third floor was for the less wealthier class without baths, however still king-like treatement. Even though we had a guide with us, it was amazing to watch my dad be proud of his home-town and all the rich history he learnt by heart here came back, as he told us stories from when he used to walk by here everyday.
As we walked further the city, my dad continued telling us about the springs and colonades / pavillons, famous visitors, where he had his summer jobs, where he went to dance lessons, and all the memories he could think of. It was all amazing to hear, as you never really get to know all about your parents childhood until you hear of the time they were dancing down the street in the summer of 40 degrees wearing thick, traditional baroque coats and tons of make up dripping down their face for a tv channel in Germany.
Our last, but definitely not least stop was the museum of the famous Becherovka. As we learned here, Becherovka is a strong liquer made from secret herbs which is drunk as a digestif. The inventor of Becher Bitter was Josef Vitus Becher (1769–1840). From trading in spices and colonial goods in his shop, (“House of the Three Woodlarks”), he also produced alcoholic beverages. In 1794, he rented a still-house and began to experiment with spirits. Becher tested this recipe for two years, after which he began selling this new “English Bitter” liqueur, which was intended for the treatment of diseases of the stomach. What we found out later however, was that there was a woman who led a pharmacy much earlier, who sold a very similar liquer many years before with the same purpose and herbs, therefore she was the “real inventor” of this amazing Becherovka.
Currently, there are only two people in the world who know the recipe, and every week when buying their ingredients, they buy about 10 extra ones in the same quantity that they don’t actually use, so that no one can trace down the secret recipe of the liquer. In this museum you can see the long history of the digestif, as it switched owners, names, and even nations, however after all the years, it is said that it’s still the same taste of Karlovy Vary. Now however, there are many more flavours invented, which my dad and my grandparents got to taste at the end of this excursion.
It would be great if you add Karlovy Vary visit on your bucket list! It is a truly lovely place where you meet the european history. If you’re a movie fan, the Karlovy Vary International Film festival is a great reason to come, but I’m sure you would enjoy visits in the early blossoming spring or late colourful autumn as well. Find out more about the Karlovy Vary and its surrounding on the official website
Karlovy Vary – Official Tourist Website
