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Jáchymov is situated at an altitude of 672 m in northern West Bohemia. During the 15th century the area was important for silver and lead mining. The first settlement was called Konradsgrün. A new town for miners who had been called in from Saxony was founded in 1516 and was called Thal, later Sankt Joachimsthal. Already four years later, in 1520, the town received the status of a Free Mining Town. The rich deposits in silver were the main source of the wealth of the town. The silver coins minted in Sankt Joachimsthal (first called 'Joachimsthaler', then simply 'Taler') became one of the most successful coins in monetary history (even the word 'dollar' is derived from it). During the 16th century the town was the second-most important town in Bohemia after Prague. In the 18th century mining for bismuth, arsenic, lead and cobalt were the basis of a second booming period. The world's first mining school was opened here in 1716. In the mid 19th century the first deposits of uranium were discovered and made Austria one of the most important exporters of this mineral. Pierre Curie and Marie Curie-Skłodowska used the material for their isolation and characterization of radium for which they received the Nobel Award for physics in 1903.

The first radium spa was opened in the town in 1901. The waters contain radon (10.5 kBq per litre) and are used for the treatment of inflammatory rheumatoid diseases, degenerative diseases, diseases of the peripheral nervous system, vascular and metabolic diseases.

The Kuranstalt or Kurhotel [right] was built in 1912. Following a complete restoration it was reopened in 1997.