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The foundation and development of Carlsbad (note from me: Carlsbad is the german name of Karlovy Vary) has always been inseparably connected with the soothing curative effect of its warm mineral springs. They marked the history, architecture, economy and the whole spirit of the city. The springs have fascinated people and have stimulated them since the oldest times. A story of the fantasy world is the popular story according to which Carlsbad springs were discovered by Charles IV, the Czech king and Roman Emperor, at a deer hunting in the middle of the 14th century. The foundation of the spa city at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá Rivers in the reign of Charles IV is sure not to be such an accidental and romantic act as said in the old story, but almost a regular development result for a long-known place with a curative tradition.

The precise date of the city foundation is not known. The emergence of a permanent settlement close to the Thermal Spring dates back to the period round 1349. However, people lived the surroundings of Carlsbad much earlier. An archaeological research evidenced several settlement localities from the prehistoric times (Tašovice, Dvory, and Drahovice) on the territory of the current city. Settlement of ancient inhabitants of this region in the later times is supported by the site of an ancient settlement in Drahovice where people lived in the late Bronze Age. A Slavic settlement is recorded near Carlsbad for instance in Tašovice and Sedlec. It was clearly established that people lived in the immediate vicinity of later Carlsbad as far back as the 13th century. We suppose that they knew the curative effects of Carlsbad thermal water and that they used it for cure.

The written history of the spa city began on 14 August 1370 when Charles IV granted the existing settlement freedoms and rights enjoyed by the nearby royal city of Loket at that time. The privileged status of Carlsbad as a spa is shown by a great number of granted privileges confirmed by the Bohemian rulers on an ongoing basis until 1858. The Carlsbad spa cure consisted in particular of baths from the Middle Ages until the late 16th century. The drinking cure started to gain ground more only at the suggestion of the doctor Václav Payer who published his first expert book on Carlsbad cure in Leipzig in 1522. In his book, he recommended thermal water drinking besides baths. The local doctors Michael Reudenius and Johann Stephan Strobelberger became other enthusiastic promoters of the drinking cure in Carlsbad after 1600. In the 17th century, the drinking cure started to prevail and resulted even in extremes when 50 - 70 cups of water were drunk in some cases round 1750.

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