European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Mariansky Lazy czech spa adjusts to another government change by Henry Kamm the new York times All agree that it will never again be like last year in Marienbad but no one knows what the future will be like now that democracy and a Market Economy have arrived at this venerable spa. This year the Many opulent resort lodges in Mariansky Lane Czechoslovakia a Marienbad in German a which still belong to the state Are to be privatized. But no one knows who can afford to buy them and put them to productive use. This once glamorous Thermal Spring the summering quarters of Royalty the famous and the wealthy of the 19th and Early-20th centuries went to seed when the communist government made it proletarian. The dozens of luxurious Neo Renaissance palaces where visitors taking the Waters feasted to a surfeit and so justified coming for next year s cure were turned Over to the official Trade Union and state enterprises As vacation spots for their workers. The luxury of the Austro hungarian Empire was scorned. Sumptuous dining rooms became communist canteens spacious living quarters for the few were partitioned into compartments to accommodate Many spartan mass produced furniture replaced precious Woods and Silks. While this abolition of privilege May have had redeeming social value the absence of earnings As Well As the permanent shortage of Money that marked All communist systems led to monumental neglect. The palatial exteriors enclose much that no longer works. Mariansky Lane lies West of Prague close to the German Border it was part of the sudetenland annexed by Hitler in 1938. Since world War ii when the germans converted this town into the evacuation Hospital for Berlin Mariansky Lane has benefited from hardly any substantial maintenance. Milan Kopriva a Well known Book designer who is editor of a new Independent local journal said it had been estimated that merely to restore the hotels and cure houses to a minimal level would Cost 10 billion crowns. At the current rate of this artificially pegged currency this is about $333 million in the visitor s Book of the town museum two British communist party representatives left a word of Praise for the Quot working  they have Quot inherited and embellished beyond compare the former environment of the wealthy and made Mariansky Lane a worthy example of what socialism can bring the nations Quot the britons wrote in 1 986. Miroslav Batek a retired history teacher now working As a tour guide made a wry face when this was translated. Quot when they wrote this the facades of the houses were crumbling and the town was losing its face Quot he said. Quot Marienbad became a sad  Muc h has been done to Spruce up the facades beginning in the final years of communist Rule when the government sought to attract Western tourists and greatly seeded since the revolution of 1 989. From out Sicie Mariansky Lane looks a great Deal better than its nearby sister spa Karloy vary or Carlsbad. The tourists have come but local people who prefer not to be quoted by name while biting the hands that feed them consider them a mixed Blessing. Where in the recent past underpaid czechoslovak factory workers took the places originally occupied by King Edward Vii of Britain and the hapsburg emperors Franz Kafka and Mark Twain Sigmund Freud and Richard Wagner the new visitors Are the prosperous workers of Bavaria. Mariansky Lane has become a favored destination for German bus Tours. Quot they come because one Mark buys them three Beers Here and not even one at Home Quot a Man who works in the tourist business said. Quot the ones from the old East Germany who Are not so Rich and very economical minded come Here to Bio their food because it s cheaper Quot another said. These shoppers Are said to drive up prices Tor Loivai people who Are already hard put to make ends meet Ain the transition to a Market Economy prices Lar outpace wages. Ladislas Uchytil manager of the Best hotel said a amps photos by Dave Didio murals ironwork and Graceful columns in a spa hallway Are among the reminders of the resort s past glories. 8 stripes Magazine january 23, 1992