Japanese Zen Garden — Attraction in okres Karlovy Vary

A modern and quite untraditional place of interest in Karlovy Vary 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...

Was ok. Tbh was quite boring. Didn't get the Japanese vibe. It was just a small part with stones and there were no Japanese plants. The Japanese part was also way too small. However the nature overall was nice it just wasn't...

Pretty boring and small 'garden'. Actually a bunch of stones with a warning not to step on them (bad English and Russian translations included), would probably collapse or so. Seems for some kind of...