The Prince of Poets and the Bohemian Spa
It was the summer of 1821 when Johann Wolfgang von Goethe first set foot in the young spa town of Marienbad. He was 71 years old, famous, celebrated — and seeking relief for his mounting ailments of age. What he found was far more than healing water. Marienbad became the stage for his last great love and inspired one of his most moving poems.
Goethe spent three summers in Marienbad: 1821, 1822 and 1823. Each visit left its mark — on the town and on his work. Today, visitors can follow in his footsteps and discover the places that touched Germany's greatest poet so deeply.
Stop 1: The Goethe House on Goetheplatz
On the main promenade, not far from the Colonnade, stands the house where Goethe stayed during his visits. A memorial plaque commemorates the famous guest. The neoclassical building was rebuilt after the fire of 1818 and belonged to the Broesigke family, with whom Goethe always took his lodgings.
From here, Goethe undertook his daily walks to the Cross Spring and Ferdinand Spring. In his diaries he meticulously noted the amount of mineral water consumed, the length of his walks and his geological observations. For Goethe came not only as a spa guest — he came as a natural scientist.
Stop 2: The Colonnade and the Cross Spring
The present cast-iron Colonnade did not exist in Goethe's time. But the location was the same: here the spa guests gathered for their morning promenade, here they strolled, chatted and made acquaintances.
Goethe preferred to drink from the Cross Spring, whose water he found particularly agreeable. In a letter to his friend Carl Friedrich Zelter on 26 July 1821, he wrote: "The water of the Cross Spring does me excellent service. I feel lighter and more cheerful by the day."
At the Cross Spring fountain, visitors today can still taste the same water that Goethe drank over two hundred years ago. The flavour is mildly salty with a hint of iron — a taste that has not changed since Goethe's day.
Stop 3: The Forest Walk to the Ambrosius Spring
Goethe was a passionate walker. He particularly loved the path through the forest above the town to the Ambrosius Spring. This source, hidden among spruce and beech trees, offered him the solitude he needed for his thoughts.
The trail is now marked as the Goethe Walking Path and leads over gentle hills through the spa forest. The distance is approximately three kilometres one way and is easily manageable even for inexperienced walkers. Along the way you pass rock formations that piqued Goethe's geological interest — he collected stone samples here and corresponded about them with scientists in Jena and Weimar.
Stop 4: The Place of Great Love
In the summer of 1821, Goethe met the 17-year-old Ulrike von Levetzow. Her family was lodging in the same hotel. What began as polite acquaintance became an obsession for the ageing poet. On his third and final visit in 1823, Goethe was 74, Ulrike 19.
His feelings were so overwhelming that Goethe asked Grand Duke Carl August to propose to Ulrike on his behalf. The proposal was politely but firmly declined. Ulrike never married and lived until her death in 1899 as a single woman.
The Levetzow family house on Goetheplatz bears a memorial plaque today. The town museum displays letters and personal objects that recall this extraordinary love story.
The Marienbad Elegy
The departure from Marienbad on 5 September 1823 became the birth of one of the most moving poems in German literature. In the carriage on the road to Karlsbad, Goethe began dictating the "Marienbad Elegy" — 23 stanzas full of longing, pain and resignation.
And when a man falls silent in his anguish, A god gave me the gift to say how I suffer.
These lines, originally from the earlier "Torquato Tasso," were placed by Goethe as the motto of the Elegy. They encapsulate the essence of the poem: the transformation of personal suffering into universal art.
The Marienbad Elegy is considered Goethe's most personal poem. Unlike in "Faust" or "Wilhelm Meister," it is not the poet speaking through a character — it is the man Goethe, unguarded and vulnerable.
Goethe's Legacy in Marienbad
Marienbad changed fundamentally after Goethe's visits. His name attracted further famous guests: Chopin, Wagner, Twain, Kafka. The town became a first-class international spa resort.
Today, Goetheplatz, the Goethe Walking Path and a bronze statue before the Colonnade commemorate the poet. Every year in August, "Goethe Week" takes place, featuring readings, concerts and guided walks in his footsteps.
For visitors who wish to experience Marienbad not merely as a spa town but as a place of literary history, a walk in Goethe's footsteps is an unforgettable experience. The landscape, the springs, the forests — they are still the same that inspired the prince of poets two hundred years ago.
Practical Information
- Goethe Walking Path: Starts at Goetheplatz, approx. 6 km round trip, easy difficulty
- Town Museum: Open Tue–Sun 10am–5pm, admission 80 CZK
- Goethe Week: Annually in mid-August, programme at marianskelazne.cz
- Guided Tours: In German and English, bookable at the Tourist Information on Goetheplatz
