Ferdinand Spring (Ferdinandův pramen)
Strong Glauber-salt acidulous water
The oldest spring in written records — salt-boiling was attempted here as early as the 16th century. Its effects resemble the Cross Spring, with an even stronger taste. The pretty pavilion stands in the lower Úšovice district and makes a rewarding walk.
At a glance
Where it rises
Parks & town
Type
Drinking spring
Classification
sulphate-bicarbonate-chloride sodium acidulous water, cold, hypotonic, very strongly mineralised
Compare the composition of all springsTraditionally used for
It is named after Ferdinand I, under whose reign salt extraction was attempted here in the 16th century. The water is very strongly mineralised — among the analysed drinking springs only the Cross Spring exceeds it. A pleasant walk through the Úšovice park leads to its colonnade of 1826–1827, with the Anthony Spring worth a taste on the way. Since 2025 hotel Butterfly has again been using the water for traditional sulphate baths, mainly for guests with skin conditions; whether they belong in your treatment plan is decided by the spa physician.
A little history
The oldest spring in Marienbad’s written records: in a letter, King Ferdinand I asked the abbot of Teplá for water samples to find out whether there was a deposit of table salt here. For a long time the outlet was a marsh crusted with mineral salts; it received its first proper capture — a wooden shaft 6.5 m deep — and its present name only in 1819, having been known until then as the Úšovice spring. From 1869 the water was pumped to the Nové Lázně baths and a year later to the colonnade. Survey work in 1922–1930 captured further outlets nearby; the drinking cure uses Ferdinand I, tapped by a borehole 20.5 m deep.
Source: Mineral springs in Mariánské Lázně for the drinking cure (Bartoš, Nečasová, Knára, 2018).
How the drinking cure works
The water is sipped slowly, usually before meals — traditionally from a spouted spa cup that guides it past the front teeth. Which spring, how much and how often is set by your spa physician, because every water acts differently. This page informs; it is no substitute for medical advice.
