Stará Voda (Cheb District)

Stará Voda (German: Altwasser) is a municipality and village in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants.

Stará Voda
Municipality
A pond in the centre
Flag Coat of arms
Stará Voda Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°59′30″N 12°35′45″E
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Karlovy Vary
District	Cheb
First mentioned	1380
Area
• Total	54.01 km2 (20.85 sq mi)
Elevation	605 m (1,985 ft)
Population  (2025-01-01)[1]
• Total	505
• Density	9.35/km2 (24.2/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal codes	350 02, 353 01
Website	www.staravoda.cz

Administrative division

Stará Voda consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):^[2]

• Stará Voda (323)
• Sekerské Chalupy (115)
• Vysoká (25)

Etymology

The name means 'old water' in Czech.

Geography

Stará Voda is located about 17 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of Cheb and 32 km (20 mi) southwest of Karlovy Vary, on the border with Germany. The eastern part of the municipal territory with the village of Stará Voda lies in the Upper Palatine Forest Foothills, but most of the municipality lies in the Upper Palatine Forest. The highest point is the second highest peak of the entire Upper Palatine Forest, Dyleň at 940 m (3,080 ft) above sea level.

The streams Kosový potok and Hamerský potok, which are notable tributaries of the Mže River, originate in the southwestern part of the municipal territory. The Wondreb River (here known as Mikulášský potok) also originates near the Czech-German border, but then it soon enters Germany.

History

The first written mention of Stará Voda is from 1380.^[3]

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 2,564 —     1880 2,683 +4.6% 1890 2,458 −8.4% 1900 2,404 −2.2% 1910 2,387 −0.7%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 2,382 −0.2% 1930 2,293 −3.7% 1950 671 −70.7% 1961 637 −5.1% 1970 504 −20.9%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 397 −21.2% 1991 350 −11.8% 2001 444 +26.9% 2011 458 +3.2% 2021 463 +1.1%
Source: Censuses[4][5]

Transport

The I/21 road, which connects the D5 and D6 motorways, passes through the municipality.

The main railway line Prague–Cheb via Plzeň runs through the municipal territory. The train station named Lázně Kynžvart, which serves mainly the neighbouring town of Lázně Kynžvart, is located in the territory of Stará Voda.^[6]

Sights

Church of Saint John the Baptist

The main landmark of the municipality is the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Vysoká. It was originally a Romanesque-Gothic building from the mid-13th century. It was gradually rebuilt and modified until 1847. In 1982, the roof was taken off and only the tower was preserved.^[7]