Japanese Stone Garden, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic - Japanese Gardens on Waymarking.com

A modern and quite untraditional place of interest in Karlovy Vary (visit link) is the Japanese Stone Garden near the Hotel Richmond, which from the 1st of May 1999 has been called after Hana Bälz. Originally from Japan, she married a German doctor called Ervin Bälz and later made a great contribution to bringing Japanese and European cultures together. The impetus to create such an exotic garden in Karlovy Vary in the spirit of Zen Buddhism came from Masumi Schmidt-Muraki, another Japanese woman living in Munich. Design was by the famous Japanese architect Kanji Nomura, and nine expert gardeners from Japan created the garden. Completed on the 16th of June 1998, this remarkable place is situated at the end of the so-called ‘spring line’ running through Karlovy Vary, along which rise the hot mineral springs.

The Japanese garden is above all intended for meditation and relaxation and the stones are positioned in such a way so as to bring the human mind and body into harmony with one another. Water is also strangely represented ‘without water’, the white gravel representing the sea between the eastern and western hemispheres. In the centre rises a piece of stone representing Good which is striving to united East and West, though it could also symbolise a sacred turtle or a wandering person longing for peace in the stormy and endless sea of an unpredictable world. The stone is illuminated by a lantern meant to represent the wise Buddha. The circular form of the garden with a division snaking through the middle symbolises the opposing forces of yin and yang.

Name: Japanese Stone Garden Location (specific park it is located within): Japanese Stone Garden near the Hotel Richmond City: Karlovy Vary Fees: no Designer: Kanji Nomura Date of Creation: 1998 Parking Coordinates: N 50° 12.824 E 012° 53.398 Garden Website: Not listed

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Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   04/19/2023 paldina visited it 09/15/2017 Adonysek visited it 07/20/2016 rgbreaker visited it 05/30/2016 bleskovi.hledaci visited it 02/24/2014 Arne1 visited it 12/01/2013 Monty&Miru visited it 03/19/2013 yvenka visited it 08/08/2012 *Team Krombaer* visited it 10/03/2011 D1k74 visited it

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