Kosher and Jewish Life in Karlovy Vary

beginning in the sixteenth century Jews arrived at Karlovy Vary sporadically as spa patients, their numbers increasing in the eighteenth century. In 1806 a kosher restaurant for spa guests was opened and in 1844 or 1847 a Jewish hospital (spa house)—probably containing the first prayer hall—began accepting charity patients. The prohibition against the settlement of Jewish families, however, remained in force as late as 1849. Nonetheless, a Jewish tobacconist’s family lived there from 1793 to 1799, and five Jewish families were resident in 1849. A total of 914 persons (8.6% of the population) lived there in 1880; numbers grew to 1,405 (9.5%) in 1900; and to 2,120 (8.8%) in 1930. In addition, 3,600 war refugees from Galicia found temporary refuge in the town in 1915. While before 1948 the religious community had numbered approximately 500 members (of whom only 10% were former residents of Karlovy Vary), in 1966 there were only 222 Jews left, and in 1995, only 44 members remained. In 2002, posters calling for a pogrom appeared in the town and the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust was damaged. The community is still active and also serves as a center for spa guests. The cemetery, dating from 1869, has been preserved.