Famous Visitors to Mariánské Lázně

Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965)

Albert Schweitzer was a world-famous doctor, philosopher and humanist, a Nobel prizewinner and an opponent of nuclear weapons. He was originally a doctor of philosophy and professor of theology at the University in Strasbourg. In 1912 he founded the famed hospital in Lambaréné, Africa (today's Gabun), and ran it until 1965. In order to ensure the continuing operation of the hospital, he carried out many lecture and concert tours around the world. During one of them, he visited Mariánské Lázně. On January 17^th 1923, he organized an organ concert in the Evangelical Church due to the great public interest. He stayed in Úšovice, at the Biarritz house at No. 162 (No. 1 Zeyer's Street).

Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904)

Antonín Dvořák was a Czech composer and co-founder of modern Czech national music. He first worked as an organist, violist and music teacher, and later went on to compose and serve as the director of conservatories in Prague and New York. He was a friend of J. Brahms who recognized his talent and supported him early in his career. His work in the USA and Great Britain met with success, and he was awarded several prizes abroad. He also composed acclaimed operas such as The Jacobin, The Devil and Kate, Rusalka, and the cycle The Slavonic Dances among others. He arrived in Mariánské Lázně in August 1875, traveling from Karlovy Vary and continuing on to the Sychrov Castle in Northern Bohemia.

Edward VII. (1841 - 1910)

Edward VII was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the years 1901 - 1910. He was the son of Queen Victoria. As the successor to the throne, he frequently traveled throughout the world, often to pursue the foreign policy interests of his country. In his time, Great Britain was the leading industrial and colonial power of the globe, enforcing its control on all continents both diplomatically and militarily. In the course of Edward's reign, Great Britain turned away from its policy of "splendid isolation" and had a rapprochement with Japan, France and Russia, which led to the pact between them in effect on the eve of World War I. Edward visited Mariánské Lázně nine times as "Lord Renfrew" or "The Duke of Lancaster", however his "incognito" was known there. He always arrived in August and stayed in the house at No. 36 – The Klinger Hotel (pulled down in 1897) or in the house at No. 9 – The Stadt Weimar/Kavkaz Hotel at Goethe's Square (in 1899 and 1903 - 1909). In Mariánské Lázně, Edward met the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1904, met with the Russian foreign minister Izplsky and French premier Clemenceau in 1907, and with Duke Ferdinand of Bulgaria in 1908.

Emmy Destinn (Emilie Pavlína Kittlová; 1878 – 1930)

Emmy Destinn was an outstanding Czech opera soprano. She was a member of the Court Opera in Berlin and Metropolitan Opera in New York, and an honored member of the National Theater in Prague. She performed, among other places, in Bayreuth, Paris, London, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco, in operas composed by Smetana, Weber, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini and R. Strauss. Following her triumph at Cover Garden in London (with Enrico Caruso in Leoncavallo's Comedians), she gave a performance in Mariánské Lázně (in the Casino Cultural House, the former Kursaal, at the New Baths) on August 3^rd 1904, accompanied by the German pianist Arthur Hochmann.

Franz Joseph I. (1830 - 1916)

Franz Joseph the First was the penultimate Austrian Emperor. During his extensive reign (1848 - 1916), the Habsburg Empire on the Danube was transformed into a constitutional monarchy, partially federative (Austria-Hungary as of 1867), and developed from a feudal state into an industrial and agricultural country. Unsuccessful wars with France (1859) and Prussia (1866) led to the loss of control over Italy and Germany, which was compensated by imperial policies on the Balkans. Grand ambitions and its alliance with the German Empire swept the monarchy into the First World War. By its end, the monarchy had expired due to an unwillingness to institute radical internal reforms (among other reasons), which could have lead to wider autonomy for the nations under the Empire. After the crash of the Vienna stock exchange (1873) and a brief economic crisis, a period of internal consolidation and prosperity set in, lasting until the First World War. This "belle epoque" also meant a boom for Mariánské Lázně, as Franz Joseph declared it a city in 1865. The Emperor visited Mariánské Lázně two times – for the first time on September 5^th 1847 as the 17-year-old archduke with his younger brothers Ferdinand Maxmilian (later the Mexican Emperor) and Karl Ludwig. They stayed in Klinger's public house at No. 36 (demolished – now the Arnika complex). During the second stay, the Emperor met the English King Edward VII there on August 16^th 1904. The Emperor stayed in the villa at No. 33 (Luginsland, today's Lil in the English Street) and traveled to Karlovy Vary on August 17^th.

Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924)

Franz Kafka was the most important Jewish writer of Prague, who wrote in German. He was a lawyer and insurance clerk, who afterwards went into retirement. He died of tuberculosis. His key novels focusing on sensitive individuals confronted with the absurd machinery of modern civilization were published in the 1940s and brought him posthumous recognition and fame. He spent 10 days in Mariánské Lázně starting June 4^th 1916, mostly in the company of his friend Felice Bauer, with whom he was twice engaged and separated. He stayed in the Balmoral Hotel (No. 390 – behind the Town Theater) and often visited the valley at the Forest Spring.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German irrationalistic philosopher. He worked as a professor of philology and philosophy in Germany and Switzerland. He was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Schopenhauer and the music of Wagner. His long-term health problems culminated in mental disease towards the end of his life. After his spring cure in Venice, he was treated in Mariánské Lázně in the summer of 1880. He stayed in the Eremitage house in Úšovice from July 6^th until at least August 23^rd 1880. On July 19^th 1880, he was witness to a police raid on a group of counterfeiters, one of whose members was the tenant of the Eremitage house and Nietzsche's host Franz Maneth.

Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911)

Gustav Mahler was an Austrian composer and conductor, born in Bohemia, and a student of the composer A. Bruckner. He worked in the town theaters in Prague, Leipzig and Hamburg. He became the director of the Royal Opera in Budapest and later the director of the Court Opera in Vienna. He accepted invitations to visit the USA several times. He collaborated with the leading musical performers of his time, such as Emmy Destinn. He composed numerous symphonies and promoted Czech music abroad. He stayed in Mariánské Lázně starting on July 28^th 1889 in the house at No. 52 (Englischer Hof/Sofia on the Main Avenue).

Henrik Ibsen (1828 - 1906)

Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright of world renown and the founder of modern psycho-realistic drama. He was a dramatic adviser, director and manager of the theaters in Bergen and Oslo. Being unsatisfied with the situation in his country, he went to Italy and Germany in self-imposed exile and spent the years from 1864 to 1892 there. He wrote his most significant plays abroad, criticizing various forms of social hypocrisy, inequity and false morality (dramas like Peer Gynt, Pillars of Society, Nora, An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler and others). Ibsen influenced many playwrights worldwide. It is believed that he stayed in Mariánské Lázně in 1899, however no further details of his stay are known. A street near the Cross Spring bears Ibsen's name.

Johann Strauss (1825 - 1899)

Johann Strauss was a popular Austrian composer, the "King of the Waltz", son of the composer and bandleader of the same name. He was the author of nearly 500 opuses, dance and concert music, an opera and 16 operettas. He started conducting his own orchestra at age nineteen and achieved worldwide success. His work was much appreciated by Brahms, Rubinstein, Verdi and Wagner. He stayed in Mariánské Lázně with his family in 1890 (at No. 123 – The Casino/Pelnář Hotel) and in 1891 (at No. 124 – The Něva/Vesna Villa – both on Russian Street). After the announcement of his , the theater in Mariánské Lázně performed his operetta The Bat in honor of his life and accomplishments on June 8^th 1899.

Johannes Urzidil (1896 - 1970)

Johannes Urzidil was a German writer and publicist from Prague. After his German, Slavonic and Art History studies, he worked as a press attaché for the German Consulate in Prague in the years 1922 - 1933. He was associated with the foremost Czech and German writers and painters. He actively contributed to the mutual rapprochement of Bohemia and Germany by promoting German culture for the Czechs, and Czech works for the German people, through his numerous reviews and translations. He authored books on the engraver Václav Hollar and Goethe in Bohemia, as well as the essay There Goes Kafka. In 1939, he fled sm and never returned to Bohemia. He wrote several short stories about Prague in exile. In the winter of 1923-1924 he met Maxim Gorky in Mariánské Lázně, and in May 1932 he gave a speech on the occasion of the unveiling of the Goethe memorial.

Josephine Gallmeyer (1838 - 1884)

Josephine Gallmeyer was an operetta soubrette of Vienna who achieved great popularity in the 1860s and 1870s. She was raised in a theatrical milieu. She especially shone in the farces of J. N. Nestroy and in operettas by Offenbach and Von Suppé in Vienna. She was a vivacious performer, mainly playing folk es and speaking the Viennese dialect. She was a partner to A. Girardi on the stage for a short time. She met with misfortune in her personal life, and died in poverty. She visited Mariánské Lázně in 1874 (she stayed at No. 78 - Stadt Frankfurt/Romania on Russian Street) and in 1875 (stayed at No. 101 - Delphin/Evropa on Třebízský's Street). She befriended the management and actors of the local theater and organized charitable performances there for fire-ravaged Sokolov (1874) and afflicted Budapest (1875). She also visited the nearby villages Prameny and Horní Slavkov.

Karl Gustav Svensson (1861 - 1910)

Karl Gustav Svensson was an outstanding Swedish landscape gardener. He received his primary education in the field of artistic gardening from his father, the garden designer A. G. Svensson. He studied landscaping in Sweden and Germany. He worked in Würzburg, Zürich and designed many private gardens and parks in Sweden and abroad. Starting in 1887 he oversaw park layouts in Vienna, where he ranked among the most sought-after experts. In 1901 he was approached by Mariánské Lázně for the remodeling of its parks. He carried out the remodeling along the main avenue, around Lil and today's English Avenue, at the lower part of the hospital and around the Úšovice Brook towards the Ferdinand's Spring. He designed the park decorations in the area surrounding the Krakonoš Hotel. In the historical part of the park, he carried out only necessary changes, and adhered to the original ideas of the brilliant park designer Václav Skalník. Karl Gustav Svensson worked in Mariánské Lázně until 1904.

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835 - 1910)

Mark Twain was an American writer of short stories, novels and travelogues, as well as a humorist, satirist and critical realist, the author of books including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Gilded Age, The Prince and the Pauper among many others. He profoundly influenced modern American prose. During his youth, he pursued many professions (including printer, prospector, steersman, and journalist) and traveled all over the USA. He visited Europe several times and carried out a worldwide lecturing tour. He criticized colonial practices and bribery in public life. In 1891, he visited Mariánské Lázně with his family and described the town in a travel sketch "The Austrian Health Factory," published in 1892 in the British newspaper The London Illustrated News. He stayed at No. 5 –Englisher Hof/Sofia (Main Avenue).

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)

Sigmund Freud was an outstanding Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist of Jewish origin, born in Příbor in Moravia (in the Czech Republic). He studied hysteria, neuroses and the effects of . He developed the methods of psychoanalysis, defined the term "subconscious", characterized children's ual behavior, described the structure of the human psyche and personality and interpreted dreams and neuroses as symptoms of repressed ual desires and traumas. In 1910, he founded the International Psychoanalytical Association. In June 1913, he visited Mariánské Lázně with his wife, daughters and sister-in-law, and stayed at No. 370 (The Turba Villa, today's Town Library).

Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931)

Thomas Alva Edison was an ingenious American inventor, businessman, phenomenal technical designer and inventor in the field of the utilization of electricity. He registered roughly 1300 patents and inventions both on his own and with his team of collaborators. He developed devices such as the phonograph (1877), microphone (1878), electric light bulb (1879), electric locomotive (1880), dynamo (1801), fuse (1885), accumulator (1900), electromobile (1902) and helicopter (1908). The "Prometheus of Modern Times" visited Mariánské Lázně in September 1911 with his second wife and three children on the way from Prague to Nurenberg and stayed in the new Hotel Esplanade (No. 434 - Karlovarská Street).

Václav Beneš Třebízský (1849 - 1884)

Václav Beneš Třebízský was a Czech Catholic priest and patriotic writer. He worked as a catechist in Central Bohemia. He was the popular author of elegiac stories and novels, taking inspiration from Czech national history. In Mariánské Lázně he was treated from August 5^th 1873 while a student (he stayed in the Old Baths, later rebuilt); from June 3^rd 1884 he stayed in the Rudolfshof hotel (now the Main Post Office, No. 160) and later in the Stadt Moskau pension (No. 118, now known as Třebízský), where he died of tuberculosis on June 20^th 1884. There he befriended the acclaimed journalist Gustav Eim. He wrote his last short story there, titled "Ušlapán" ("Trampled"), which was published in the Prague magazine Lumír. The house at No. 118, in which he died, carries his name and a memorial plaque, as do a street and a memorial at the Forest Spring.

Translated by: Jana Vejříková