Josef Schaffer (1862–1938)
The architect
Schaffer transformed the modest Classicist Neubad of 1828 into a monumental four-towered palace in the Italian Neo-Renaissance style. The reconstruction took three years (1893–1896), and the result surpassed all expectations — Marienbad suddenly possessed a building that could rival the finest bathhouses in Karlovy Vary, Baden-Baden, or Vichy.
Schaffer designed the Roman Baths with marble columns and pools fed by mineral water, private cabins for royal guests, and the engineering infrastructure to pipe the Ferdinand Spring through 1.7 km of conduit from the village of Úšovice. Ensana Nové Lázně remains his greatest masterpiece to this day.




