Olympia House, Cultural monument in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.
Olympia House is a building in Karlovy Vary with a stone facade featuring symmetrically arranged windows and carved decorative elements. The exterior displays careful proportions and ornamental details typical of early 20th-century urban architecture.
A late-baroque house called Monopol stood on this site; builder J. Voigt altered it in 1877 and Josef Waldert enlarged it in 1892. In 1911–1913 it was rebuilt and raised for Heinrich Fousek, a retired imperial-royal postmaster, to Julius Kubíček's design, with construction by Karel Fousek's firm. The rebuilt hotel took the name Goldener Schild; since 27 May 1991 it has been protected as a cultural monument under the name spa house Olympia.
The house was built in 1911–1913 for Heinrich Fousek, a retired imperial-royal postmaster, and took the German name Goldener Schild (Golden Shield). Today it is run as the hotel Olympia, so both the Czech and the German name remain in use on Divadelní náměstí.
Olympia House stands at Divadelní náměstí 43/5, a corner site in the spa centre of Karlovy Vary, within the town heritage zone. The street front faces the square; the polished black and grey granite cladding of the ground floor marks the entrance. The building is operated as a hotel, so the interior is not open to casual visitors.
The building was historically known as Goldener Schild, a name used by the German-speaking population for many years. This former name is less common today but reveals how the region's language and culture shifted over time.
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