Carlsbad

“ But Carlsbad is nearly seven hours distant, and we must hasten onwards. The road still descends: the prospect opens over forests far broader than on the Saxon side: valleys branch off, and the scenery improves. Rocks choke the brooks, and burst out from the slopes; rows of ash, lime, and cherry-trees, bordering the road, succeed to the firs, and large whitewashed houses with tall roofs to the shabby cottages. Then iron works; and little needle factories driven by a mere spoutful of water rattling and buzzing merrily as grasshoppers. ”

“ It is quite unnecessary to state how Carlsbad gradually, during the six centuries since it first became known, attained its present appearance and size; suffice it to say that, considering its drinking and bathing establishments, its dwelling-houses, promenades, and places of public amusement, it is now undoubtedly one of the largest and most comfortable watering-places on the continent; the number of visitors in 1883 had risen to 20,692 parties (27,661 persons) , and the reputation of the great curative powers of its waters has become known throughout the whole of the civilised world. ”

“ At Gieshübl, where Herr Mattoni makes a fortune by bottling the spring water, and which is little more than an hour's drive from Carlsbad, there is an excellent restaurant where the fare is the same as that found in Carlsbad. [Pg 203]
Marienbad
All that I have written of Carlsbad, concerning its food and drink, applies to Marienbad. There is the same freedom as to dining-places, and on a sunny day a man will take his meal in one of the creeper-grown bowers which are erected on the edge of the park by the hotels which face it, or at the Kursaal garden. ”

“ During the season there are two booksellers at Carlsbad. Pianos and guitars can be hired; a theater, concerts, balls and other amusements are not wanting; but walking, riding and driving, offer to visitors the greatest variety of resources. The company, being composed of people of all ranks, of all nations, religions and professions, every one chooses what is more analogous to himself, rather than to seek equality, as impracticable at Carlsbad as any where else. ”

“ Having partaken of refreshments, we walk up-hill, step on the Prager Chaussee, and, following it, arrive at the Bergwirthshaus in about half an hour. This high road affords such beautiful views, that the authoress Johanna Schopenhauer enthusiastically exclaimed: “Truly it is worth while to visit Carlsbad every year, if it was only for the pleasure of arriving!” Returning, we leave the road close to the Restaurant Zum Sandwirth, descend a footpath lying beyond it, and arrive at a rocky prominence, situated on the left-hand side, some distance from the road, and formerly much frequented. ”

“ You cannot be long in Carlsbad without hearing a flourish of trumpets from the top of the Watch-tower, announcing the arrival of visitors. No sooner do the trumpeters spy a carriage approaching from their lofty station, than they begin to sound, and, in proportion to the appearance of the vehicle, so do they measure out their blast—most wind for the proudest. ”

“ Carlsbad lies in a rather narrow valley of the county of Eger, in the Kingdom of Bohemia; it is situated 1124 feet above the level of the North-sea, and close to the confluence of the Tepl and the Eger. The greater part of the mountains surrounding the town are covered with pine trees, beeches, &c., and consist of fine and coarse-grained granite. The highest of them reaches to a height of 879 feet above the Sprudel, and is called “Das ewige Leben” (Eternal Life) . ”

“ In 1826, an Englishwoman from Calcutta was seen at Carlsbad, passing from the banian fig-tree to the Bohemian olive-tree, from the sun of the Ganges to the sun of the Tepl; she died away like a ray from the Indian sky lost in the cold and the darkness. The sight of cemeteries, in places consecrated to health, is a melancholy one: there young women sleep, strangers to one another ”

“ Every luxury in the world Carlsbad provides for its visitors, with the one exception of pepper. That you cannot get within five miles of the town for money; what you can get there for love is not worth taking away. Pepper, to the liver brigade that forms four-fifths of Carlsbad’s customers, is poison; and, prevention being better than cure, it is carefully kept out of the neighbourhood. “Pepper parties” are formed in Carlsbad to journey to some place without the boundary, and there indulge in pepper orgies.
Nuremberg, if one expects a town of mediaeval appearance, disappoints. ”

“ That tax (Cur-Tax) is four florins silver a head; children under fifteen years, as well as domestics, are free from it; children above fifteen, coming with their parents, pay the half-tax. That revenue is entirely devoted to useful establishments and embellishments.
Carlsbad, sixty german miles distant from Vienna, and sixteen from Prague, is situated in a deep and narrow valley, between granitic rocks, on both sides of the Teple, which throws itself into a larger river, the Egra, very near the town. The houses are all built on the declivity of the hills, and on the banks of the Teple. ”

“ Carlsbad (10) , a celebrated watering-place in Bohemia, of aristocratic resort, the springs being the hottest in Europe, the water varying from 117° to 165°; population nearly trebled in the season; the inhabitants are engaged in industries which minister to the tastes of the visitors and their own profit.
Carlscrona (21) , a Swedish town, strongly fortified, on the Baltic, with a spacious harbour, naval station, and arsenal; it is built on five rocky islands united by dykes and bridges.
Carlsruhe (73) , the capital of the Grand-Duchy of Baden, a great railway centre ”

“ The most elegant are on the Wiese and on the Market-Place, and more expensive than those situated in the higher and more remote streets. In most houses the beds are good, at least as good as in any part of Germany, though many tall visitors wish them longer, and the coverlids broader. The price of lodgings varies with their situation and the season, which begins with the 1st May and lasts to the end of September. It is not rare, however, to see patients at Carlsbad in April and October (5) . ”

“ Highly protected by the counts Schlick, to whom the greatest part of the royal domain of Ellbogen, and even Carlsbad, was mortgaged for the money they often lent to the kings of Bohemia, those rich and mighty noblemen sent Payer to Italy at their own expense. Inflammed by the sight of the remains of ancient baths and of some modern bathing establishments, he paid, on his return home, a particular attention to the hot springs of Carlsbad, where he first recommanded their internal use and the douche, so much employed then in Italy. ”

“ Whoever has seen the jet of water at Carlsbad, in Bohemia, can well imagine the appearance of this spring, which closely resembles that of Carlsbad. [38]
In the immediate neighbourhood of the spring is an abyss, in which water is continually seething, but never rises into the air. At a little distance, on a high rock, rising out of the river Sidumule, not far from the shore, are other springs. They are three in number, each at a short distance from the next, and occupy nearly the entire upper surface of the rock. Lower down we find a reservoir of boiling water ”

“ This was the fourth watering-place that the Cavalier had honored this summer with his studied elegance, his private album, and his neat little anecdotes. His only object in coming to Carlsbad was, as he often repeated, to pay his respects to his highly esteemed neighbors. Bella received him coldly, and Clodwig pleaded business as an excuse for seeing but little of him, so that after playing a few games with a famous chess-player who was among the visitors, he departed. ”

“ WHEN I left Vienna, after thirty-three years practice, in the spring of 1826, to recover at Carlsbad my health totally impaired by gouty affections, and to pursue there my medical career, the english visitors scarcely amounted to twenty, and the greater part of those came not directly from England, but were sent by continental physicians, whom they had consulted in the course of their travels. ”

“ In 1835 he settled at Carlsbad as director of the band, making journeys from Petersburg on the one hand, to London on the other, and becoming every day more famous. He resides at Carlsbad, and has associated his son August with him as director. His second son, Wilhelm, an excellent violin player, is settled at Toronto, Canada, and his daughter is a favourite singer at Frankfort. Labitzky's dances are full of rhythm and spirit. ”

“ Our waters acting not only upon the bowels and kidneys, but promoting perspiration, and requiring of course warm weather, June, July and August are always at Carlsbad the fullest time of the season. Those who are fond of a brilliant crowd, and not afraid of paying higher prices for lodgings, should come from the 15th of June to the 15th of August; but those to whom a bustling life is rather an annoyance than a pleasure, should be here from the 1st of May to the 15th of June, or from the 15th of August to the 30th of September. ”

“ The two little boys, Harold and Wilfred, had returned from their sojourn in a farm-house so much strengthened that their father seriously talked of sending them into the country altogether for a couple of years. Even Mrs. Dormer-Smith, although unwilling to relinquish her character of chronic invalid, confessed that Carlsbad had done her good. In fact, the whole family returned to London in improved health and spirits. ”

“ Although some plants of the plains of Bohemia are found about Carlsbad, they do not properly belong to its Flora, and it is only near Lipkowitz, twenty english miles from Carlsbad, towards the interior of Bohemia, that we find, in great quantity, the species and individuals common to plains. ”

“ The Burgomaster’s office has also the control over the record of the visitors, and, based upon it, issues the visitors’ list. For this purpose, as well as for assessing, each visitor is supplied with a form to fill up, and after a few days an official hands him the assessment-paper for payment. The Curtaxe (visitor’s tax) has to be paid by every visitor staying longer than eight days at Carlsbad. It amounts for wealthy people to 10 fl.; for well-to-do people, 6 fl.; for the less affluent, 4 fl., i. e., for each grown-up member of the family ”

“ The left leads to an interesting freak of nature, called “Buchen- und Tannenehe” (Marriage of the Beeches and Firs) . To the right we mount a steep path to the Hammerkapelle, and walk on comfortably over the ridge of the Hammerberg to its highest place, called Franz Josef’s Height, and affording perhaps the finest and most varied view of all the mountains round Carlsbad, as the eye rests on Hammer, as well as on the greater part of the town and on the Erzgebirge. ”

“ The creatures he employed to perpetrate his crimes remain unpunished to this day. They were permitted to organize bands to desecrate the grave of Stambuloff, while yet it was lying open to receive the mangled body of the statesman. And Ferdinand, from the safety of Carlsbad, dared to send expressions of sympathy and a wreath to the bereaved woman, who had lived for months in the shadow of the impending crime. ”

“ For those who, by motives of health, are obliged to travel slowly (à petites journées) , veturinis (Landkutscher) are every where to be had. From Prague to Carlsbad, for instance, the Eilwagen requires fourteen hours, whilst a Landkutsche, with the same horses and loaded with baggage, requires two days. ”

“ The whole is concluded with a gentle purge, tho' the waters themselves are of a laxative nature.
There is another spring in the town of the same nature, but not so warm, as the Brudel: it is called the Mill-spring, and is only tepid. Those of a warm or weak constitution make use of this instead of the other, both for drinking and bathing.
There are likewise several chalybeat springs in the neighbourhood of Carlsbad; one at half a mile, and the other at two leagues distance from the town. Both of them seem to resemble the water of the Pohun spring at Spa; but are not near so strong. ”

“ Miss Lee continued, with increasing animation, “is Carlsbad. Yes, that’s what you really want—and while you are drinking the horrid waters I can be having a nice time, you know. Then, when you have finished your course, we can take a run into Switzerland; and after that, in the autumn, we might go over to Vienna—you will be delighted with the Vienna restaurants, and they do have such good white wines there. And then, from Vienna, we really can go on and have a winter in Russia. Just think how perfectly delightful it will be to drive about in sledges, all wrapped up in furs”—Mr. Port shuddered ”

“ Plus tard, obligé pour sa santé, de prendre les eaux de Carlsbad, il eut de bonheur d’y trouver et d’y voir souvent le célèbre Göthe, qui apprécia assez son goût et ses connaissances pour désirer d’être averti par lui de tout ce qui faisait quelque sensation dans la littérature française. M. Reinhard le lui promit: les engagements de ce genre, entre les hommes d’un ordre supérieur, sont toujours réciproques et deviennent bientôt des liens d’amitié: ceux qui se formèrent entre M. Reinhard et Göthe donnèrent lieu à une correspondance que l’on imprime aujourd’hui en Allemagne. ”

“ Springsfeld; who secretly shrugged up his shoulders, and vowed in his own mind not to dismiss the patient from under his care, till the waters should have washed every trace of the romantic Giant-mountains clean out of her imagination. The spring in the mean time performed all the doctor or the patient expected from it. The Countess, perceiving that her story met with small credit among the Israelites of Carlsbad, and even rendered the soundness of her understanding problematical, dropped the subject ”