The healing effects of the springs in the area around what is now Mariánské Lázně were known as far back as the Middle Ages. Mariánské Lázně came into being as a separate town in 1812. On 6 November 1818 Mariánské Lázně was declared a “public spa”. From 1817-1823 gardener Václav Skalník, architect Jiří Fischer and builder Anton Thurner created, with financial assistance from the monastery in the nearby town of Teplá, an attractive park complex with houses in the Classicist and Empire styles, gazebos, pavilions and colonnades. In 1872 Mariánské Lázně was connected to the cities of Cheb, Vienna and Prague via Pilsen, and in 1898 with Karlovy Vary. At this time the town hosted many illustrious guests, including Gustav Mahler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain, Thomas Alva Edison, Pierre de Coubertin, King Edward VII of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor Franz Joseph I.