Silver coin 50 CZK Karlovy Vary 1991

Silver Coin Karlovy Vary

Silver commemorative coin issued in Czechoslovakia in 1991 with the motif of Karlovy Vary.

This rare silver coin is housed in a plastic capsule, certificate of authenticity is not included.

Karlovy Vary (German Karlsbad, English Carlsbad, Russian Карловы Вары or Ка́рлови-Ва́ри) is a statutory town in western Bohemia and the capital of the Karlovy Vary Region. The city has a population of approximately 50,000 and an area of 59.10 km². It is an important spa resort with a well-known glass and food industry. It is the most visited spa town in the Czech Republic.

Around 1350, during his stay in Loket, the Emperor Charles IV organised an expedition to the Loket forests, where he had a spa called the Hot Spa at Loket (Warmbad bei Elbogen) founded on the site of the alleged spring, which was later renamed Karlovy Vary. Subsequently, on 14 August 1370, Charles IV granted the spa the same town rights as in Loket.

In 1522, the first specialist book on Karlovy Vary and its healing properties was published by the physician Wenceslas Payer in Leipzig. 60 years later, a great flood hit the town and in 1604 a catastrophic fire completely destroyed the town (a similar event would occur in 1759). 1775 Johann Georg Pupp laid the foundation for the development of the Grandhotel Pupp.

In 1807 the production of Becherovka liqueur begins in the town, which in the following years became famous not only in the Czech Republic but also in the world. In 1844, another industry began to develop in the town, this time focusing on the export of spring water. The development of the town needed to be connected to the railway for its growth and so in 1870 the town was connected to the European railway network. At the end of the 19th century, Karlovy Vary also changes architecturally. The historicizing style of buildings (neoclassicism, neo-baroque, neo-renaissance) became more and more popular. The greatest influence on the overall appearance of the spa town in this period was exerted mainly by the building projects of the Fellner and Helmer companies, whose designs were used to construct about 20 buildings in the town - among others, the Grandhotel Pupp, the town theatre, the Imperial Baths, the Orchard Spring Colonnade and the Hot Spring Colonnade (no longer in existence).