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	Karlovy Vary
	Town
Flag	Coat of arms
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Karlovy Vary
District	Karlovy Vary
Rivers	Ohře, Teplá
Elevation	447 m (1,467 ft)
Coordinates	50°13′42″N 12°51′58″E / 50.22833°N 12.86611°E
Area	59.10 km2 (23 sq mi)
Population	53,708 (As of 2008)
Density	909 /km2 (2,354 /sq mi)
Founded around	1350
Mayor	Ing. Werner Hauptmann
Timezone	CET (UTC+1)
- summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	360 01
	Location in the Czech Republic
	Wikimedia Commons: Karlovy Vary
	Website: www.karlovy-vary.cz

For other uses, see Carlsbad (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 50°13′42″N 12°51′58″E / 50.22833°N 12.86611°E

Karlovy Vary (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkarlovɪ ˈvarɪ] ( listen); German: Karlsbad, also known in English as Carlsbad) is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately 130 km (80.78 miles) west of Prague. It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370. It is historically famous for its hot springs (13 main springs, about 300 smaller springs, and the warm-water Teplá River).

In the 19th century, it became a popular tourist destination, especially for international celebrities visiting for spa treatment. The city is also known for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the popular Czech liqueur Karlovarská Becherovka. The glass manufacturer Moser Glass is located in Carlsbad. The city has also given its name to the famous delicacy known as "Carlsbad plums". These plums (usually Quetsch) are candied in hot syrup, then halved and stuffed into dried damsons; this gives them a very intense flavour.

The city has been used as the location for a number of film-shoots, including the 2006 films Last Holiday and box-office hit Casino Royale, both of which used the city's Grandhotel Pupp in different guises.

Carlsbad, New Mexico; Carlsbad Caverns National Park; and Carlsbad, California all take their names from Carlsbad.

[edit] History

On 14 August 1370, Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor gave city privileges to the place that subsequently was named after him, according to legend after he had acclaimed the healing power of the hot springs. However, earlier settlements could be found in the outskirts of today's city.

Due to publications by doctors like David Becher and Josef von Löschner, the city developed into a famous spa resort and was visited by many members of European aristocracy. It became popular after the railway lines to Eger (Cheb) and Prague were completed in 1870.

The number of visitors rose from 134 families in the 1756 season to 26,000 guests annually at the end of the 19th century. By 1911 that figure had reached already 71,000 but World War I put an end to tourism and also led to the collapse of the Austro Hungarian Empire by late 1918.

The German-speaking majority protested against being made a part of Czechoslovakia by the Treaty of Saint Germain. A demonstration on 4 March 1919 passed peacefully, but later that month six demonstrators were killed by Czech troops after a demonstrations turned unruly^[1].

In 1938 the Sudetenland including Carlsbad became part of Nazi Germany after the Munich Agreement. After World War II, the majority of ethnic German population of the city was expelled according to the Potsdam Agreement.

Before that, the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819 had associated the city with anti-liberal censorship within the German Confederation.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of Communist rule in the Czech Republic, there has been a steady increase of the Russian business presence in Karlovy Vary.

A significant portion of the spa/historic section of Karlovy Vary. Major sites in photo, from left to right: The dark grey, Soviet era Thermal Spring Colonnade (also called Hot Spring Colonnade or Sprudel) features a glass chimney. Directly above it sits the twin-steeple Church of St. Mary Magdalene. The large, stately building on the center hill is the Hotel Imperial. Below it, to the right of the square, is the Opera House. The Grandhotel Pupp is the large white building to the far right.

[edit] Population

1930 - 54,652
1939 - 53,339
1947 - 31,322
1991 - 56,291 (3 March)
2001 - 53,857 (1 March)
2003 - 52,359 (1 January)
2008 - 53,708

[edit] Notable people associated with Karlovy Vary

Peter I of Russia visited Karlovy Vary in 1711.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as its first President, visited Karlsbad in 1917 for spa treatments.
František Běhounek, scientist and novelist
Karl Hermann Frank, Nazi official
Johann Wolfgang Goethe, German poet, novelist, philosopher, scientist
Princess Michael of Kent (born Baroness Marie Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz), a member of the British Royal Family, was born in January 1945, prior to the expulsion of the German population later that year.
August Pfizmaier, Orientalist
Walter Serner, dadaist
Hana Soukupová, supermodel
Adalbert Stifter, Austrian writer
Karin Stoiber, Former First Lady of Bavaria
Carl Weidl-Raymon, early proponent of European unification
Ludwig van Beethoven, the famous composer came for spa treatments. He and Goethe would take walks together, much to the delight of the people of Karlovy Vary.
Anthony J. Drexel, senior partner of Drexel, Morgan & Co. (JPMorgan, today) and founder of Drexel University, died in Karlsbad in 1893 while spending the summer there for his health.