Ústí nad Labem (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction.

Administrative division

Ústí nad Labem is divided into four Statutory city (Czech Republic)#Differences of statutory city, self-governing boroughs. In addition, Ústí nad Labem consists of 22 municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Ústí nad Labem-město (35,015) **Božtěšice (496) **Bukov (5,988) **Habrovice (395) **Hostovice (249) **Klíše (6,944) **Předlice (1,544) **Skorotice (1,379) **Strážky (234) **Vaňov (755) **Všebořice (2,870) **Ústí nad Labem-centrum (14,161) *Ústí nad Labem-Neštěmice (22,148) **Krásné Březno (12,417) **Mojžíř (4,222) **Neštěmice (5,509) *Ústí nad Labem-Severní Terasa (18,965) **Severní Terasa (18,965) *Ústí nad Labem-Střekov (13,585) **Brná (1,308) **Církvice (179) **Kojetice (129) **Olešnice (89) **Sebuzín (503) **Střekov (10,249) **Svádov (1,128)

Etymology

The name of Ústí nad Labem is formed from the Old Czech ' ('river mouth') and ' ('Elbe'). It thus literally means "Mouth-upon-the-Elbe", in reference to its location at the Bílina (river), Bílina's confluence with the Elbe. The Czech name was Latinization of names, Latinized as ' and Germanized as ' (also written as '). Before Czechoslovak independence amid the dissolution of Austria-Hungary following World War I, the town was usually known in English as Aussig.

Geography

Ústí nad Labem is located about north of Prague and south of Dresden in Germany. It lies mostly in a hilly landscape of the České Středohoří, Central Bohemian Uplands, but it also extends into the Most Basin in the northwest. The highest point is the hill Široký vrch at above sea level. The city is situated at the confluence of the Elbe and Bílina (river), Bílina rivers. Half of Lake Milada lies in the municipal territory. The southern part of the territory lies in the České středohoří Protected Landscape Area.

Climate

History

10th–15th centuries

The first verified written mention is in the charter of the chapter at the Church of St. Stephen in Litoměřice, dated to 1056 or 1057. In 1249, it was first mentioned with the title of royal town. The charter of the Prague Benedictine monastery from 993 was considered to be the first written mention of Ústí nad Labem, but its legitimacy has been called into question. In the second half of the 13th century, King Ottokar II of Bohemia, Ottokar II invited Germans, German settlers into the country and granted them a German form of municipal incorporation, thereby founding the city proper. In 1423, as King of Bohemia, Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund pledged the town to Elector Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, Frederick I of Meissen, who occupied it with a Saxony, Saxon garrison. On 16 June 1426, after the city was besieged by the 25,000 Hussites, the besiegers defeat a German army of 70,000 troops was sent to its relief but the Hussites defeated the Germans amid great slaughter. The next day, the Hussites stormed and razed the town. It was left derelict for three years before rebuilding began in 1429.

16th–19th centuries

Ústí nad Labem was again burned down in 1583 and was sacked by the Military of the Swedish Empire, Swedes in 1639 amid the Thirty Years' War. It also suffered grievously during the Seven Years' War and was near the 1813 Battle of Kulm between First French Empire, France and the alliance of Austrian Empire, Austria, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia, and Russian Empire, Russia during the Napoleonic Wars. As late as 1830, its population was only 1,400. As part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, it was eventually incorporated into the Habsburg monarchy and heavily industrialized over the 19th century. After the Compromise of 1867, it headed the Aussig District, one of Austrian Bohemia's 94 district commissions (). In the 1870s, with only 11,000 people, it was a major producer of woolen goods, linen, paper, ships, and chemicals and carried on a large trade in grain, fruit, mineral water, lumber, and coal. By 1900, large-scale immigration had boosted the population to nearly 40,000, mostly German, and added glassworking and Quarrying, stone to its trades. The local river port became the busiest in the entire Austria-Hungary, surpassing even the seaport in Trieste.

20th century

The factories of Aussig—as it was then known—were an early centre of the Nazism, Nazi movement. The German Workers' Party in Austria () was founded on 15 November 1903 and later gave rise to the Sudeten German Party and Austrian National Socialism. Their books continued to be printed in Ústí nad Labem even after the formation of First Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia in 1918. During the 1930 census, Ústí nad Labem was home to 43,793 residents: 32,878 considered German, 8,735 Czech or Slovak, 222 Jews, 16 Russians, and 11 Hungarians. Ústí nad Labem was ceded to Nazi Germany with the rest of the Sudetenland in October 1938 under the terms of the Munich Agreement and placed under the administration of the ''Regierungsbezirk Aussig'' of the Reichsgau Sudetenland. On New Year's Eve of that year, the Nazis burnt down the local synagogue; a meat factory was later raised in its place. The History of the Jews in Ústí nad Labem, Jewish community in Ústí nad Labem was mostly exterminated over the course of World War II amid the Holocaust. In April 1945, the city was severely bombed by the United States Air Force. Under the terms of the Potsdam Conference and the Beneš decrees, the city was restored to Czechoslovakia and almost the totality of its previous population expelled as being German.

Ústí massacre

Shortly after the war ended, on 31 July 1945, an explosion of the local ammunition depot triggered a pogrom of the German population, known as the Ústí massacre, mostly at the hands of out-of-town paramilitary groups. Whilst the official government investigation attributed the explosion to Werwolf, Nazi Werwolves (German saboteurs), contemporary historians have questioned the attribution as several other equally probable possibilities have been proposed. The pogrom was used as part of the justification of the Potsdam Conference to Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, deport German citizens from Czechoslovakia, as continued cohabitation was argued to be impossible. It is estimated that between 80 and a 100 people died in the explosion and subsequent murders, nearly double the 43 confirmed victims.

After World War II

In May 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Communist government passed a new constitution History of Czechoslovakia (1948–89), declaring a people's republic. Beginning in the 1960s dissidence and general unhappiness with communist rule gave way to new artistic pursuits tackling the country's issues, Ústí nad Labem was primarily representative of this with Kladivadlo, a theatre which moved to Ústí nad Labem after it ran into issues with support from organizers, and Dialog a monthly political magazine. The city gained notoriety in 1999, when the Roma wall#Czech Republic, Matiční Street Wall was built to separate Matiční Street with mainly Romani people, Romani population from other residents, which turned into an international scandal. The wall was torn down after six weeks of its existence.

Demographics

Economy

Ústí nad Labem is the economic centre of the Ústí nad Labem Region and the seat of many industrial companies. The largest industrial employers with its headquarters in Ústí nad Labem and at least 500 employees are Spolek pro chemickou a hutní výrobu (chemical industry) and Strabag, Strabag Rail (construction industry). Other large industrial companies in the city include Kone, Kone Industrial (manufacture of elevators), Severotisk (printing industry) and Rheinmetall Automotive, Pierburg (manufacture of car parts).

Transport

Road transport

The D8 motorway (Czech Republic), D8 motorway (part of the European route E55) from Prague to Dresden intersects the western border of Ústí nad Labem. The European route E442 from Liberec to Karlovy Vary, formed by first class road, also passes through the city. Mariánský most, Mariánský Bridge is a road bridge over the Elbe which was built over a period of five years and opened in 1998. It bleongs to the main landmarks of the city. International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering ranked Mariánský Bridge between the 10 best structures of the world in the decade.

City mass transport

The city has a network of mass transport that includes bus and trolley bus lines. The city has its own transport company, ''Dopravní podnik města Ústí nad Labem''.

Railway transport

Ústí nad Labem is an important railway node with four railway stations. The largest of these is Ústí nad Labem main railway station which is served by international EuroCity trains. Ústí nad Labem lies on the line from Prague to Děčín, which is part of several international lines, and thus the city has direct connections with Berlin, Budapest, Graz and Zürich. Lines of national importance are Prague–Cheb and Ústí nad Labem – Kolín.

River transport

The Elbe River Line is a junction with the West-European river lines opening access to Germany, Benelux countries, northern France and to important sea ports. Freight transportation and pleasure cruises are run on the water line section Pardubice – Chvaletice – Ústí nad Labem – Hřensko – Hamburg.

Air transport

An airport for small sports planes (International Civil Aviation Organization airport code, ICAO code LKUL) is located northwest of the city. The nearest airports for airliners are in Václav Havel Airport Prague, Prague (64 km) and Dresden Airport, Dresden, Germany (56 km).

Education

The city is home of the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. This public university has about 8,500 students and with about 900 employees, it is one of the most important employers in the region.

Sport

The local ice hockey club HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi. The association football, football club is FK Viagem Ústí nad Labem, which plays at the Městský stadion (Ústí nad Labem), Městský stadion. The city hosts the Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon, one of the World Athletics Label Road Races. During the 1950s and 1960s, the motorcycle speedway team AMK Ústí nad Labem raced in the city. It raced initially at a stadium in the Bukov area until it was converted into an athletics facility in 1960. Then the team raced at a track in the Klíše area from 1967 to 1968 and finally in Polepy (Litoměřice District), Polepy. The team raced in the inaugural 1956 Czech Republic Team Speedway Championship, Czechoslovak Championship and won two silver medals and three bronze medals from 1961 to 1971.

Sights

The Střekov Castle is one of the main sights of Ústí nad Labem, and one of the most visited tourist destinations in the whole region. It is located in a southern suburb of the city. The castle was built in 1316–1319. With a break in 1945–1992, it has been owned by the Lobkowicz family since 1563. The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built in 1318 and is located in the city centre. It is well known for its leaning tower. The tower is high and its deviation, caused by bombing at the end of World War II, is . It is the most leaning tower north of the Alps. A significant landmark is the hill Větruše with an observation tower and the Větruše Castle, which was built in 1847 as a hotel and restaurant serving cultural and social purposes. In Krásné Březno part is located the Ústí nad Labem Zoo, founded in 1908. A notable building is the Krásné Březno Castle. It is formed by the Old Castle, built before 1568, and by the New Castle, built in the early 17th century and modified in the Baroque style in the first half of the 18th century. The castle is surrounded by an English park. Nowadays the castle serves as the seat of the branch of National Heritage Institute of the Czech Republic.

Notable people

*Anton Raphael Mengs (1728–1779), German painter *Mimi Wagensonner (1897–1970), Austrian composer *Felix Weinberg (1928–2012), Czech-British physicist *Günther Herbig (born 1931), German conductor *Alfred Lipka (1931–2010), German violist *Vladimír Páral (born 1932), writer *Heinz Edelmann (1934–2009), Czech-German illustrator and designer *Milan Hejduk (born 1976), ice hockey player *Jiří Jarošík (born 1977), footballer *Petra Gelbart (born 1978), musicologist, musician, music therapist and human rights defender *Jan Mertl (born 1982), tennis coach and player *Tomáš Černý (born 1985), footballer *Michal Neuvirth (born 1988), ice hockey player

Twin towns – sister cities

Ústí nad Labem is Sister city, twinned with: * Chemnitz, Germany * Borough of Halton, Halton, England, United Kingdom Ústí nad Labem also cooperates with Dresden, Germany.

Gallery

Ústí nad Labem, Větruše, přes Labe (02).jpg, Větruše Castle ZamekKrasneBrezno1.JPG, Krásné Březno Castle Ústí nad Labem, Centrum, Trolejbus Škoda 22Tr.JPG, Municipal trolleybus Z Erbenovy vyhlídky, směr Střekov (01).jpg, Panorama from a nearby observation tower Holocaust memorial in Ústí nad Labem, 2012, 01.JPG, Holocaust memorial built in 2005

References

External links

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Architecture in Ústí nad Labem
{{DEFAULTSORT:Usti Nad Labem Ústí nad Labem, Populated places in Ústí nad Labem District Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Romani communities in the Czech Republic Populated riverside places in the Czech Republic Populated places on the Elbe