New look of Josefova Pramen with a circular floor plan

The new appearance of Josefova pramen was part of a complete change in the visual appearance of the famous spring. The underground water pipeline to the bottling plant located below the tracks made it possible to create a real place of relaxation and botanical beauty around the springs. Visitors to the spa hotel were thus provided with a dignified view, dominated by the extensive drainage arch from previous renovation works, into the focal point of which the new circular building was inserted.

Reconstruction of Josífka 2026

Currently, the current project is the complete revitalization of Josífek. Its exterior and roof have already been completed, now it is time to renovate the interior. It currently no longer contains an active borehole (it was replaced by the BJ-6 borehole), but only the control electronics and pipes.

Facilities for the spa orchestra

An integral part of the new Schwab complex was a pavilion for the orchestra, which played for dance parties held behind the spa hotel.

Year 1871: The Great Spa Boom in Bílina

The year 1871 was a point of no return for Bílina. As soon as the railway opened in that year and the trains of the Prague-Duchcov Railway (PDE) and the Ústí nad Labem (ATE) began to bring their wagons, something happened that the Lobkowicz administration had expected, but the intensity shocked it: a flood of wealthy spa guests who came to visit Bílina specifically . They did not miss the opportunity to be examined by the famous doctor Reuss and to taste the springs that are gaining fame all over the world right at their source. To be enchanted by the atmosphere of natural wealth under the mysterious, menacing and inspiring tin mountain Bořeň (Biliner Stein).

The old spa buildings (original Curhaus ) from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, built for the era of horse-drawn carriages, were no longer sufficient in terms of capacity and luxury for the international elite. The princely administration knew that if Bílina was to bring its services closer to Teplice or Karlovy Vary, it had to build a monumental, modern building right in front of the springs of Bílina mineral water – Neues Curhaus (New House of Procedures).

Georg Schwab (Jiří Šváb) and his concessions

In the archives from this period (around 1871), the name of Georg Schwab appears in a key role. The Lobkowicz administration of that time did not operate all services under its own control, but relied on the proven model of concession leases to top experts from outside. Georg Schwab was an experienced hotelier and businessman who obtained the prestigious princely concession in Bílina . Here are the details related to his name for this year:

• First-class hospitality concession: Schwab was not given a concession for treatment itself (this was firmly held by spa doctors such as the Reuss family), but for the operation of luxury accommodation, a restaurant and social life in the newly planned complex. The prince needed someone who could serve the English lords and Viennese ministers to the highest Viennese standards.
• Interim solution and pressure on construction: In 1871, when plans were being approved for New Curhaus, Georg Schwab had to operate in the makeshift conditions of old buildings and salons at first. The huge increase in clientele after the opening of the railway in 1871 created enormous pressure on Schwab's staff. It was Schwab's complaints and reports to Lobkowick's headquarters that "guests had nowhere to sleep and dine with dignity" that were the main catalyst for the radical reconstruction of the Bílinská kystelka to begin immediately.

From the plans of 1871 to the Art Nouveau Curhaus

The project, which was conceptually initiated by Schwab's emergencies and concession contracts around 1871, ultimately resulted in the realization of the magnificent pseudo-Renaissance and Classicist complex as we know it today.

The main construction work began a little later (between 1875 and 1878) under the direction of the famous Teplice architect Franz Sablik . The result was a building with luxurious rooms, a monumental social hall, reading rooms and a small colonnade with an inhalatorium and a spring hall, which was directly connected to the park. Georg Schwab was essentially at the source of this idea - he showed the prince that without a European-style hotel the new railway was unused.

Operation of a curhaus, or "spa house"

The contemporary English tourist guide is reluctant to call this building a "spa house" and in all due respect notes that anyone who knows the secrets of real life in Bílina would rather call this building a "spa hotel". In fact, the terrace, dance floor and music pavilion behind the building were originally more of a place of entertainment for Teplice spa guests, who sought refuge here from the prying eyes of the strict doctors and dieticians of the Teplice spa industry. The cautious dietary recommendation that a little alcohol can be consumed during spa treatment in the form of wine mixed with Bílinská kyselka (removal of acidity) was more than widely followed here. And the overnight rooms in the Curhaus offered a unique opportunity to return to Teplice for treatments after a refreshing sleep.

From luxury to military hospitals

"When the guns spoke, the international elite had to retreat. The magnificent palace, designed for relaxation and refined conversation, was twice transformed during the 20th century into a place of pain, hope and strict military discipline."

• World War I (1914–1918): Immediately after the outbreak of the conflict, the Bílina Curhaus was confiscated for the needs of the army and transformed into a large military hospital (reserve hospital) of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The promenades and luxurious halls were filled with hundreds of wounded soldiers brought back from the Galician or Italian fronts. The peaceful spa park and the healing power of Bílinská kyselka thus served as a rehabilitation facility for the convalescence of men affected by the brutal trench warfare, instead of the social elite.
• World War II (1939–1945): The dark scenario was repeated with even greater intensity after the region was annexed by the Third Reich. Curhaus was transformed into Reservelazarett of the German WehrmachtThe stately rooms became austere hospital wards for the wounded from the Eastern Front. At the very end of the war, the complex also served as a makeshift shelter for German civilian refugees evacuated from the advancing front and Allied bombing.

Instead of international glamour, Art Nouveau elegance, and a celebration of human health, the Curhaus in the first half of the 20th century functioned as a giant, isolated repair shop for human lives that had been ground up by the global political machine.

Julius Fučík Spa: Socialism and ROH

From international luxury to the treatment of the proletariat and Eastern medicine

"The end of the aristocracy and the rise of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The pompous palace lost its international luster and became a symbol of state care in the midst of a hard-pressed industrial landscape."

Nationalization and Fučík's supervision: After the communist coup in 1948, the Bílin spa was nationalized. The historical property of the Lobkowicz family was confiscated by the state and the famous Curhaus was given a new, ideologically appropriate name: Julius Fučík's Spa House . To complete the transformation, a life-size cast iron statue of this communist journalist was erected right in front of the building with the inscription "People, be on your guard!" . The complex, which had previously hosted the European aristocracy, became a mass facility for state-paid recreation by the ROH (Revolutionary Trade Union Movement) and for patients from among the working people.

Extreme respiratory burden and the blow of heavy industry: During the 60s and 70s, the spa received another hard blow from outside. The massive development of surface coal mining and the construction of nearby thermal power plants caused a catastrophic deterioration of the air quality throughout northern Bohemia, now the North Bohemian Region. Traditional treatment of the respiratory tract became meaningless in the area of ​​falling ash. Out of necessity, the spa had to reorient itself mainly to the treatment of digestive tract diseases (especially after-treatment after stomach and small intestine surgeries), for which the effects of Bílinská kyselka were fortunately still unrivaled.

The Secret of the Inhalatorium: Asian Medicine in Northern Bohemia: Perhaps the most bizarre and surprising chapter of the then normalization is the fate of the former Inhalatorium building. While mining and socialist planning raged outside, unofficial and groundbreaking medical experiments took place behind closed doors inside. One of the local enlightened doctors began to research and practice methods of Eastern medicine here.

Acupuncture, reflexology and traditional Chinese medicine have quietly infiltrated the once luxurious spaces for inhaling springs and healing vapors . This has created an absolutely fascinating paradox of the time: in a building bearing the name of a communist martyr and decorated with the old Lobkowicz coat of arms, people were treated using millennial Asian traditions in the middle of a coal basin. This story is proof that even in times of rigid totalitarianism and ecological devastation, the scientific and medical spirit in Bílina was able to find its own, very unorthodox path to healing.

Stopping at the level crossing: Where railway meets spa relaxation

The building of today's restaurant "U Kádi" forms an imaginary gateway between the bustling world of the railway and the peaceful oasis of the spa forest park and nearby swimming pool. Its location is not at all accidental - it lies in close proximity to a strategic crossing of the historic Prague-Duchcov Railway.

When the first trains cut through the Bílina valley in the 1870s and the massive export of Bílinská kyselka and coal to the whole world began, the railway brought enormous traffic to the town. Similar inns grew up at crossroads and railway stations as natural refuges. They served as a welcome stop not only for tired railway employees, but especially for tourists and spa guests who were heading through here to relax at the healing springs.

Even today, the restaurant "U Kádi" is a popular stop for tourists, boaters and locals, and even comes alive during city festivities, such as the traditional Miners' Day. The building still retains its specific atmosphere of a railway inn. It is a place where, looking at the lowered gates, you can still easily imagine the time when the whistling of steam locomotives could be heard here, transporting wagons full of the famous Bílinská kyselka to Europe.

In 1888, a new spring of Franz Josef was drilled. From this spring, water had to be carried day and night on backs in baskets to the warehouse, and the empty bottles still had to be transported by cable car to the second bottling plant. This, of course, significantly increased costs. In order to concentrate the work on one place, a new large building was added in 1898 by the princely building and royal court councilor, Professor A. Sáblík. It contained a magnificently furnished bottling plant, two large rooms for washing bottles equipped with the most modern machines. There was also a production plant for Bílin digestive pastilles, a warehouse and other ancillary rooms. The entire building was equipped with electric lighting and central heating. All machines were powered by electricity. The building was beautifully decorated on the outside and became a new decoration of Bílinská Kyselka.

Why did a new factory building have to be built?

The high transport capacity of the railway and the advantageous location of the Bílina bottling plant on the Prague-Duchcov route with connections to all other important railways gave rise to the idea of ​​expanding the function of the distribution building to include collection, storage and washing of bottles not only for the needs of the spring directorate, but also for other spring bottling plants such as Krondorf, Eugenka, Bylany, Kysibelka and Karlovy Vary. It was also very advantageous for loading the wagons, which did not have to arrive empty. These were essentially the first attempts at recycling packaging. And here, strongly promoted by the state power of the Monarchy, they were even quite successful.

The new building had to be completely showy, as it covered the new dominant feature – the Reuss memorial with a garden, which had just been presented to the public, as well as the original dominant feature, the New Procedure House (Neues curhaus) with its front staircases and the original commemorative marble slab in Latin.

Requirements and necessities

A rare first drawing of the layout of the new factory building at Bílinská kyselka.

The requirements for the new building were contradictory and problematic, but in the end they were very successfully solved with a specific design. The preserved original sheet bears visible traces of its "unofficial" creation. Thanks to many notes and pencil sketches, we can well imagine how it was created over a glass of good beer in the spa restaurant.

The idea of ​​creating a new front building that would visually preserve the symmetry of the premises had several pitfalls. The space was available because the magnesium powder factory had long been demolished and the Bílina-Kyselka stop was sufficiently far from the axis of the premises. However, the railway loading itself was not perpendicular to this axis.

This problem was solved by a junction that appears to be rectangular, but is actually about 5 degrees from a right angle. This junction was planned as a handling area for passing bottle carts and as the main passage to the yard behind the railway loading building and the Oktagon.

On the drawing we can see the red marked routes for handling carts. They were built on the chassis of a very common means of transport in this region – a mining truck. It moved on simple small rails by human power. Its journey to the first floor was ensured by elevators in the factory building.

The carts had classic switches, but also turntables on which the cart could be turned and directed into the work area. Today, their role has been taken over by manual and motorized pallet trucks and, of course, forklifts, popularly called "lizards".

Two wings also meant two work teams, a unique environment for classic intra-company rivalry. Of course, this competition was used to maintain high work performance.

The best in the Monarchy

For textbooks, it had to be documented how such proper production and loading should take place.

The building also included a preparation and washing room for cork stoppers, of which we have a beautiful "advertising" picture, taken for a work science textbook for schools in the Monarchy. This factory was several times declared the best operation in terms of hygiene, technological facilities and quality of the working environment. All the children therefore knew Bílinská kyselka from their textbooks. It goes without saying how good it was for the "marketing" of the springs directorate.

Lozenge production

Mixing, pressing and drying the pastilles took up two entire rooms in the central part of the building. A relatively large amount of heat was needed for drying. This was provided by two boilers in the basement of the building. They were accompanied by two chimney sets, highly decorated with floral motifs. However, the truth is that the snoring chimneys did not contribute to the good atmosphere of the spa, which was sometimes plagued by the stationary steam locomotive itself. A special chapter is devoted to the production of pastilles itself.

Washing bottles and jugs

Washing clay jugs was very problematic. Both staff and customers complained that it was never possible to determine the actual quality of cleaning of the inner walls. Although both types of packaging were used simultaneously for a long time, gradually the switch was made to washing only glass bottles. Clay jugs were later used mainly as a "retro" reminder of the centuries-old glory of the springs. We must remember that in 1900 the history of the springs was already centuries old. From these series, a series of jugs with the classic SEDLITZ marking and the star of the Order of the Crusaders were accidentally preserved. They remained forgotten by the railway line, overgrown with bushes and covered with soil. This series was then accidentally discovered during the reconstruction of the premises in 2011! However, unlike the jugs from the 18th century, they were of much better quality and their glazing survived a hundred years in the clay without the slightest damage.

New decoration of Kyselka

The very first idea of ​​the building's appearance was immediately depicted on lithographs of leaflets and postcards. On them we can see a rather classic facade of the building in the style of a Roman temple. However, a more distinctive version was realized with a large Lobkowicz coat of arms and figures of mythical demigods, symbols of spa body cleansing. Hygia and Telesfor, symbols of purity and healing, are depicted on the building many times, from small children to adults.

The building's other decoration consists of many precisely executed floral motifs and ornaments. There are also symbols of industry and science, and each corner of the building is decorated with an elliptical medallion with the letters B and S wedged together, the initials of the name "Biliner Sauerbrunn".

The name in the local Germanic language also adorns the front of the building, which is also one of the few places reserved for an inscription. Above this inscription is also the date of construction, 1898, in Roman numerals.

Integrated Rock Spring

The southern part of the building was completed by a lower building with a transparent roof, the edges of which resemble a large terrace. However, it was not possible to enter the glass panels, the side opening was only used for washing the ceiling windows. This richly lit space housed a two-story building, the second floor of which was completely sunken into the ground. The underground part essentially formed a bathtub made of waterproof concrete. The interior is richly decorated with antique-style tiles, and at the bottom of the room there is a rectangular depression with the source of the Rock Spring, to which workers descended for filling. The completed bottles were then lifted by elevator in carts to the first floor so that they could be loaded onto rails at ground level to the railway loading area.

The further fate of the building

After the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, the rights of the nobility were abolished. However, the company remained as a business property of the Lobkowicz family. The last owner during the First Republic was Max Lobkowicz, who was also the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Czechoslovak government in exile in London during World War II. During his tenure, the company MATTONI UNGARN was also added to the ownership of the bottling plant, which the family sold to Max Lobkowicz after the death of Jindřich Mattoni in the form of a sale of shares.

In the building's archives, a document was found about the seizure of Bílinská Kyselka as property of the Czech nobility for the needs of the Wehrmacht, specifically the Afrika Korps, the African Expeditionary Corps of the Nazi army. Bílinská Kyselka was widely known for its perfect durability, refreshing abilities and, above all, its composition suitable for extremely hot weather. After all, it was widely used as a protective drink in heavy industry.

After the war, the building served mainly for administrative purposes, gradually transforming into the Directorate of West Bohemian Springs. From here, the activities of most well-known brands of spa springs, their maintenance and development were managed. The socialist state practically stopped the export of Bílinská and Zaječická to foreign markets. It was decided to focus only on the domestic market. Therefore, considerable attention was paid to production, while the building itself fell into disrepair. Thanks to many political influences, the area was isolated from the world, its transformation into a "workers' paradise" was not realized, and it gradually became overgrown with deliberately planted fast-growing trees. The ornamental trees gradually grew thick, the trees completely swallowed up the once metropolitan areas. Insensitive additional operational additions were added to the building, such as electric elevator shafts, an evaporation line, air conditioning, workshops and the like.

After the end of the socialist era, the building and the property were returned to the Lobkowicz family in restitution. They very soon sold it to private Czech hands, where it remains to this day. The new owner, BHMW as, embarked on a long journey of restoring not only the buildings, but also the violently interrupted fame of Bílinská and Zaječická in our country and abroad. Thanks to the preserved complete company archive, it was possible to design an extensive reconstruction of all buildings and, while maintaining full technical functionality, operate bottling to its full extent. As ever before, many parts of the building are now used in a slightly different way than was planned in the original design, as technology and work procedures are changing.

The main thing, loading, remains the same. The distribution building is still in use in the 21st century and certainly does not disgrace our ancestors.

We will discuss the extensive reconstruction in 2011-2014 in a special chapter.

From the Prague Exhibition Centre to the Bílina Park

1891 • Provincial Jubilee Exhibition in Prague

This event spontaneously became a kind of symbol that Bohemia, part of the Austrian Monarchy, was moving towards the ideal of an independent nation-state. And thanks to its industry and the huge capacity of natural resources, such as the coal of the Duchcov-Most brown coal basin, Bohemia showed its level of readiness. At that time, the Czechs were considered the most advanced European nation that did not yet have its own nation-state.

This symbolism was felt by everyone, and therefore two different opinions arose about proper exhibitions in Prague. The supporters of the Monarchy with the leading position of Austria and Hungary were against it. The patriots from Bohemia were in favor. The supporters of the future independence of Bohemia were then divided according to their intentions. Some thought of the freedom of all of Bohemia from the Vienna government, others of the complete subordination of the entire territory of the future free Bohemia to the rule of Slavic Prague. For this second interest, an easy key offered itself. And that key was the two languages ​​used for centuries – Slavic in the vicinity of Prague and Germanic in the borderlands.

In Prague, in high circles, the idea of ​​seizing power over all of Bohemia was slowly growing – through a thorough application of the distinction between “friends” and “enemies” according to the language key. This was eventually achieved in two decades through extensive propaganda, but that is another story. But let’s go back to the end of the 19th century and see how it was.

In 1885, the Hungarian General Exhibition was held in Budapest, which was of particular interest in Bohemia, and after its conclusion, efforts were made to organize a similar exhibition in Prague. In 1887, the industrialist and chairman of the Prague Chamber of Commerce, Bohumil Bondy, initiated the establishment of a special commission for the establishment of a permanent exhibition building in Prague. The result of the commission's work was a memorandum of October 26, 1887, on the construction of a permanent exhibition building in the Bubeneč Park for the holding of an industrial and agricultural exhibition, which was submitted to the Grand Council of the Kingdom of Bohemia. However, the memorandum was controversially adopted by the council.

The entrance gate with two towers was 18 meters high, decorated with the emblems of forty cities of Bohemia. It was designed by the architect Antonín Wiehl. The wooden gate stood until 1952, when it was torn down for security reasons. The complex consisted of 106 numbered pavilions and 4 unnumbered ones.

The pro-monarchy deputies mostly rejected the idea of ​​a general provincial exhibition in Prague, arguing that it would benefit only Bohemia. In November 1888, a committee was established to prepare the exhibition, consisting of: Richard Jahn , František Křižík , Emil Kubinzky, Václav Nekvasil , Karl Umrath , Josef Wohanka and Count Karl Max Zedtwitz . It was decided that the exhibition would be held in 1891. In memory of the centenary of the first industrial exhibition, the name "jubilee" was chosen for it.

At the beginning of 1890, however, businessmen who were inclined towards the Monarchy began to demand that the exhibition be postponed until 1892. They justified this by the alleged impossibility of preparing the exhibition grounds in time for 1891, but the real reason was that the exhibition would cease to be an “anniversary”. In the summer and autumn of 1890, the disagreements in the provincial assembly reached their peak. Pro-monarchist representatives withdrew from all exhibition committees and like-minded businessmen renounced their participation in the exhibition.

The withdrawal of the pro-monarchist Germans from participating in the exhibition, however, had the opposite effect than they had hoped for. Not only did it not disrupt the preparations for the exhibition, but on the contrary, it intensified the efforts of the Bohemian patriots to successfully launch the exhibition. The situation thus made it possible to organize the exhibition as a national event of Bohemia, demonstrating its economic prowess, skills and possibilities.

The Royal Game Reserve was chosen as the exhibition venue. The main designers of the exhibition were Bedřich Münzberger and Antonín Wiehl, and the landscaping was guaranteed by František Thomayer. On February 15, 1890, a meeting of the Executive Committee was held, where a balanced exhibition budget with income and expenses of 1,132,000 zlotys was approved.

The surveying work began in March 1890. At the same time, Emperor Franz Joseph I was asked to accept protectorate over the exhibition. The emperor accepted the protectorate over the exhibition on May 12, 1890 and promised to participate in the exhibition. In May 1890, the construction of the exhibition buildings began. The Machine Building began to be built and the structure of the Industrial Palace was erected.

In September 1890, the Kingdom of Bohemia was hit by a major flood, which had a severe impact on the preparatory work. The massive flood, which also swept away part of the Charles Bridge in Prague, caused significant damage to the exhibition grounds. Two-thirds of the exhibition grounds were flooded and construction work was interrupted. On September 11, four arches of the iron structure of the Industrial Palace collapsed.

However, the natural disaster further stimulated efforts to successfully launch the exhibition the following year. In October 1890, the Max Hergett cement factory applied to build the entire concrete Křižík Fountain for a price of just 6,000 zlotys, which was half the budget price. At that time, the construction of some buildings and pavilions, such as the pavilion of the provincial committee, the restaurant of the Pilsen brewery, and the pavilion of the Czech paper mills, had already been developed or completed. Given the scope of the planned work and the required opening date of the exhibition in May 1891, it was decided that the construction work would also take place in winter. The construction committee purchased a quantity of frost-resistant lime and a boiler for heating water for the production of mortar.

Opening of the exhibition center

On May 15, 1891, the exhibition was officially opened to the sounds of Dvořák's fanfares. The opening speech was given by Archduke Charles Louis. The opening ceremony was attended by ministers of the Viennese government Gautsche, Pražák, Bacquehem, Záleský, the governor Count František Thun, the marshal Prince Jiří Lobkowicz, members of the provincial and imperial assemblies, representatives of the nobility and businessmen of Bohemia. Emperor Franz Joseph I did not attend the opening of the exhibition, he arrived during the exhibition and visited Liberec in addition to Prague.

Exhibition organization and management

All organizational and work activities at the exhibition were managed by the Executive Committee, which represented the exhibition externally – towards authorities and other persons. The Chairman of the Executive Committee was Karel Max Count Zedtwitz. The Executive Committee met 158 ​​times during the exhibition and processed 21,300 submissions during that time. In organizationally critical periods and during significant events during the exhibition, the Committee met permanently.

Several other committees were subordinate to the Executive Committee:

• The construction committee managed and organized all construction work, approved construction budgets, supervised static calculations of iron structures and construction work, the establishment of a water supply system, road maintenance, and the payment of wages to construction workers.
• The Financial Committee ensured complete financing of the exhibition, including responsibility for the exhibition financing contract concluded with the Provincial Bank of the Kingdom of Bohemia.
• The installation committee recorded and decided on exhibitors' applications and supervised the even representation of exhibits at the exhibition.
• The editorial committee supervised the exhibition's press office and ensured general awareness of the exhibition through newspapers and other media.
• The transportation committee took care of mass visits, organized exhibition trains, exhibition festivals, and various entertainment venues.

In addition to the above-mentioned exhibition committees, a number of group committees were active during the anniversary exhibition, dealing with individual exhibition sectors and ensuring the installation of exhibits. The group committees included, in particular, the Central Economic Committee, chaired by Prince Karel Schwarzenberg, and then more than twenty other committees. The committee for the anniversary art exhibition was chaired by Josef Myslbek. The committee for the retrospective exhibition was chaired by Vojtěch rytíř Lanna and, after his resignation, Count Zdeněk Thun.

Exhibition financing

Two financial funds were established to finance the exhibition: a basic fund and a guarantee fund. The basic fund served to ensure the coverage of expenses in connection with the holding of the anniversary exhibition. The guarantee fund was established to compensate for any financial deficit after the final settlement of the exhibition. The basic income to both funds flowed from exhibitors' contributions. The amount of exhibitors' contributions depended on the exhibitor's annual turnover. For example, factories with a turnover higher than PLN 1,000,000 contributed PLN 1,000 to PLN 2,000 to the basic fund and PLN 2,000 to PLN 4,000 to the guarantee fund. Other sources of finance were a subsidy of PLN 100,000 provided to the exhibition by the Parliament of the Kingdom of Bohemia and a number of financial collections. The total costs of construction activities at the exhibition site amounted to PLN 921,194, of which the largest part fell on the construction of the industrial palace, totaling PLN 474,690.

Focus and scope

Visitors to the anniversary exhibition had the opportunity to get a comprehensive look at the state of industrial, agricultural (plant and animal) and forestry production, fruit growing, viticulture, brewing, beekeeping and other sectors of the Bohemian economy. The exhibition included industrial expositions of engineering, mining, glassmaking, ceramics and industrial chemistry. Part of the exhibition focused on the social side of life in Bohemia: healthcare, provincial corporations and associations, fine arts and archaeological excavations.

Buildings, pavilions, attractions and other objects at the exhibition

The Industrial Palace, frontally closing the main exhibition avenue, was the largest and most expensive building of the exhibition grounds. It was designed by architects Bedřich Münzberger and František Prášil. For the first time in the history of Czech architecture, prefabricated iron structures were used for its construction. The construction was carried out by the First Czech-Moravian Engineering Works Kolben-Daněk in cooperation with the construction company of architect František Víška in 5 months, during very adverse weather conditions. The iron structure of the Industrial Palace weighed 800 tons. The steel arches had a span of 38 m. The Industrial Palace was opened on March 15, 1891. The costs of the palace reached 500,000 gulden.

The Machine Room, or the building for the exhibition of machine exhibits, was also the work of architect Bedřich Münzberger. It was located in the rear part of the exhibition grounds, separated from the front part by a tree-lined road. It had an iron lattice structure, but unlike the Industrial Palace, it did not have any large brick decorative parts. The installation was carried out by the bridge workshop of the Prague Joint Stock Machinery Works. The construction costs reached 100,000 gulden. The machine exhibits in the Machine Room largely contributed to the fame of the anniversary exhibition beyond the borders of the monarchy. The main exhibitors were the companies Emil Škoda, Plzeň, Joint Stock Machinery Works (formerly Breitfeld), Daněk a spol., František Ringhoffer, První českomoravská továrna na stroje, Prague Joint Stock Machinery Works, formerly Ruston a spol. and the František Křižík electrotechnical plant. In 1893, the Machine Room was dismantled and sold to Innsbruck.

Location of our Caffé Pavilon

The noble pavilions were located to the left of the Machine Shop in the so-called manorial quarter. From the noble entrepreneurial families, the following exhibited: Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este, Prince Maurice Lobkowicz , Count Jaromír Černín, Count Jan Harrach, Count Arnošt Silva Tarrouca, the Bohemian governor Count Thun, Prince Hanavský, Count Karel Buquoy. Prince Adolf Josef of Schwarzenberg opened tasting rooms for his products, and his son Jan Nepomuk was also involved in organizing the exhibition. The pavilions were stylized as hunting lodges and forest game reserves. They contained exhibits on agriculture and forestry, fishing, and mineral mining. They were mostly supplemented by family histories, sometimes with interesting and even eccentric exhibits. Count Černín, for example, exhibited the bloodied clothes of Vilém Slavata, who was thrown out of a window at Prague Castle in 1618.

On the occasion of the Jubilee Provincial Exhibition, two new funiculars (to Letná and Petřín), the new Petřín Lookout Tower and the Křižík Electric Railway to Letná, the first Czech electric railway, were put into operation in 1891.

The factory used the Bílinská and Zaječická chemical interaction process to produce the desired magnesia powder. However, with the arrival of cheap Tyrolean magnesia, this operation became unprofitable and was closed. The freed up area could be used to build a new factory building with an integrated FelsenQuelle filling plant.

The entire group of springs was surrounded by a drainage channel with underground collectors for rainwater drainage, marked on the map as "Teich" (It no longer exists), as part of attempts to divert rainwater. Thanks to this, the original terrain became a hill dominating the entire area. The underground chamber with the cracks of the original springs has been preserved to this day. The photo shows the famous Arnold Scherrer accompanied by the director of the springs inside this chamber.

1783 The first restaurant by the springs in Bílina

The growing public awareness of the Bílina springs attracts more and more tourists to the place. A nice restaurant has been set up for them, combined with a technical building for filling and preparing jugs. The restaurant with a café has a large terrace with a view of the springs. At this time, the visitor is practically surrounded by forest when visiting the springs and cannot see anything of the surroundings. However, forests are not common here, the surrounding hills, including Bořen, are bare and it is even possible that the name "bielina" originally meant a place without forests.

In this photo we can still see the original Joseph's Spring in the classicist architecture of the ancient temple. It will later be replaced by the circular Joseph's Spring, which will be located further east, towards the future fountain and spa hotel.