Staré Splavy
Village
View from the north
View from the north
Staré Splavy is located in Czech Republic
Staré Splavy
Staré Splavy
Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 50°35′22″N 14°37′56″E / 50.58944°N 14.63222°E / 50.58944; 14.63222
Country Czech Republic
RegionLiberec
DistrictČeská Lípa
MunicipalityDoksy
First mentioned1553
Area
  Total9.96 km2 (3.85 sq mi)
Elevation
270 m (890 ft)
Population
 (2021)[1]
  Total591
  Density59/km2 (150/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
471 63

Staré Splavy (German: Thammühl am See) is a village and part of Doksy in the Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region oid the Czech Republic. It is a recreation centre and a former spa resort on the northwestern shore of Lake Mácha.

Tourism

Otto Kohn's Villa, one of the typical examples of elite interwar architecture of the resort
View from the so-called "Small Beach" of Lake Mácha

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was one of the most famous holiday destinations in all of Austria-Hungary. Even during the First Czechoslovak Republic, Staré Splavy was a popular recreational place, especially for well-off Jewish clientele from Prague, Liberec and even places as distant as Berlin or Vienna. At the beginning of the 20th century, many built their summer homes here, mostly in the style of Art Nouveau or functionalism (for example the Kohn brothers from Prague or Miloš Forman's parents).

The place was then often dubbed "The Bohemian Lido".[2] Because the post-war communist regime made the entire area one of the centres of socialist-style recreation in all of Czechoslovakia (especially in the 1970s and 1980s), sometimes it is today referred to as "Ibiza for the poor".[3] There was relatively high density of Jewish families in the vicinity, who either are post-WWII natives here or moved here from Prague and other big cities since the 1990s.[4]

Some well-known 20th century characters associated with the town include Franz Kafka (who has even dedicated one of his novels to the place, titled "The Synagogue of Thammühl"), Karel Poláček, Friedrich Torberg, František R. Kraus or Miloš Forman, apart from more ancient personalities, such as Emperor Charles IV or the romantic Czech poet Karel Hynek Mácha, whose famous poem "Máj" is said to take place onshore of the hereby lake.

References

  1. "Výsledky sčítání 2021 – otevřená data" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2022-12-21.
  2. ""Böhmischer Lido": der Mácha-See". Radio Prague. May 30, 2020.
  3. "Retro" (in Czech). Czech Television.
  4. "Synagoga ve Starých Splavech" (in Czech). Sivan Tamuz. June 2017.
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