History of the product

In 1513, King Vladislas II Jagiellonian abolished the fiefdom of Bílina Castle and confirmed that the owners thereof be the Lobkowicz dynasty. Depold from Lobkowitz conferred to Bílina townsmen privileges that were already in force from earlier times. As far back as in his Chronicle, Hájek of Libočany recollects that a certain stable boy of yeoman Kašťala once – during a hunting event – came across a spring of water that appeared to have special physiological effects.

  Still in early 18th century, Bílina acidulous water would be collected – due to shortage of potable water – for even domestic use. It was however not until after 1761 that the spring was cleared from “wild waters”. Drawn together to reservoirs made of sandstone were all three springs of acidulous water, and walled. Two decades later, Bílina acidulous water (Bílinská kyselka) had already had its customers both at home and abroad, with the number thereof constantly growing. In order to cope with the increasing demand, a new house was built, serving as a packing and dispatch facility. Franz Joseph, Prince of Lobkowicz and owner of Bílina municipality, carried out a costly makeover of the springs. In an attempt to beautify the setting, the spring was roofed with a chic temple resting on four columns.

Guessing from the original Latin inscription preserved on a marble plate mounted at the face of the spa terrace, therapeutic effects of the local mineral water were known since 1782. The repute of the acidulous water contributed to the spread thereof into a host of European countries. While in 1786, altogether 42,000 jugs were dispatched, in 1850 the number thereof stood at 109, 559 – only to reach the impressive milestone of 4,315,307 jugs dispatched in 1900. A pottery was built, and jugs were manufactured therein. Dating back to those times are some of the spa-resort buildings. Greatly contributed to the development and utilization of mineral resources had scientists such as Dr. F. A. Reus, followed by A. F. Reus – his son. While the former was a geologist and balneologist later on, author of a number of expert publications, his son was a mineralogist, physician, Professor of Prague and Vienna Universities. Later still, he would serve as a spa physician in Bílina.

Having performed a number of analyses, father and son Reuses contributed to expert utilization of the mineral water that even nowadays is known as Bílinská kyselka (Bílina Acidulous Mineral Water). As far back as that time, physicians would recommend Bílinská kyselka for the treatment of respiratory tracts, asthma, initial stages of pulmonary tuberculosis, kidney disorders and urinary tract diseases, particularly in case of occurrence of urinary calculus and sand, as well as in cases of rheumatism and – last but not least – to cure nervous system disorders such as hysteria and vapour.

Delivery destinations of Bílina acidulous water and Zaječice bitter water are displayed on the attached map, using general ledger records on list B, covering years 1797 through 1802. The general ledger has survived and is deposited at the Public Records Office in Litoměřice. As for commercial activities of Bílina acidulous water company, these had been evidenced – in a provable manner – in the Lobkowicz dynasty public records from as far back as 1664. So, for instance, with the then Russian tsardom, the company would pursue trading activities as early as at the turn of 18th and 19th centuries. Between 1798 and 1802, deliveries of acidulous water to Moscow would be performed by M. A. Bollmann and Zenker & Colley. At the same time, exports to St. Petersburg were realized by Johan Asmus Kranse and Dr. Christian Thal. Due to export reasons, in 1910, the company made arrangements to have its trade mark and product protected for the Russian market.  

In its heyday, i.e. at the turn of 19th and 20th century, Bílina acidulous water was exported world-wide – as far as, e.g., to Rio de Janeiro.