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Cheb (; german: Eger) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře. Before the 1945 expulsion of the German-speaking population, the town was the centre of the German-speaking region known as Egerland, part of the
Northern Austro-Bavarian Northern Bavarian is a dialect of Bavarian, together with Central Bavarian and Southern Bavarian. Bavarian is mostly spoken in the Upper Palatinate, although not in Regensburg, which is a primarily Central Bavarian–speaking area, according to ...
dialect area. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation.


Administrative parts

Cheb is divided into the following parts: * Bříza * Cetnov * Cheb * Chvoječná * Dolní Dvory * Dřenice * Háje * Horní Dvory * Hradiště * Hrozňatov * Jindřichov * Klest * Loužek * Pelhřimov * Podhoří * Podhrad * Skalka * Střížov * Tršnice


Name and etymology

The name of the town was in 1061 recorded as ''Egire''; in 1179 it was known as ''Egra''; from 1322 as ''Eger'' and the surrounding territory as ''Regio Egere'' and ''Provincia Egrensis''; after the 14th century also as ''Cheb'' or ''Chba''. From 1850 it was given the twin official names of ''Eger'' and ''Cheb''. The name of Cheb is derived from the old-Czech word ''heb'' (modern-Czech ''oheb, ohyb''), which means "bend". It is related to bends of the river Ohře.


Geography

Cheb is located about southwest of
Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. ...
on the border with Germany. The town lies on the river Ohře. The northern and western parts of the municipal territory lie in the
Fichtel Mountains The Fichtel MountainsRandlesome, C. et al. (2011). ''Business Cultures in Europe'', 2nd ed., Routledge, Abingdon and New York, p. 52. . (german: Fichtelgebirge, cs, Smrčiny), form a small horseshoe-shaped mountain range in northeastern Bavaria ...
; the rest of the territory lies in the Cheb Basin, named after the town. The highest point is the hill Zelená hora, at . There are two large reservoirs in the municipal territory: Skalka (northeast of the town and fed by the Ohře) and Jesenice (southeast of the town and fed by the Wondreb). There are also several small ponds, especially in the southern part of the territory.


Climate


History

The earliest settlement in the area was a Slavic gord at what is now known as the Cheb Castle complex, north of the town centre. In 807 the district of today's Cheb was included in the new margraviate of East Franconia, which belonged at first to the
Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its e ...
s, but from 906 to the margraves (marquis) of Vohburg.
Děpolt II Děpolt II (1150s – 21 November 1190), also known as Diepold II ( modern English ''Theobald''), was a Bohemian nobleman from the cadet branch of the Přemyslid dynasty and the leader of the Bohemian troop in the Third Crusade. Life Děpolt II ...
built the castle about which the town then grew. In 1179
town status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...
was achieved. In 1149, by the marriage of Adelaide of Vohburg to the Emperor Frederick I, Eger (Cheb) came into the possession of the
House of Swabia The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to List of German monarchs, royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 ...
, and remained in the hands of the Holy Roman Emperors until the early 13th century, during which time it became an Imperial Free City. In 1265, it was taken by the King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who retained it for eleven years. After being repeatedly transferred from one power to the other, according to the preponderance of the Kingdom of Bohemia or the Holy Roman Empire, the town and territory were finally incorporated into Bohemia in 1322, under
John of Bohemia John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of ...
. Several imperial privileges, however, continued to be enjoyed by the town until 1849. The later local history was marked by continued resistance against incorporation into Bohemia. On 5 May 1389, during a Reichstag between King
Wenceslaus IV Wenceslaus IV (also ''Wenceslas''; cs, Václav; german: Wenzel, nicknamed "the Idle"; 26 February 136116 August 1419), also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he w ...
and a group of Imperial Free Cities of south-west Germany, the
Peace of Eger The Treaty of Eger (german: Vertrag von Eger), also called Main Compromise of Eger (''Hauptvergleich von Eger'') or Peace of Eger ( cs, Chebský mír) was concluded on 25 April 1459 in the Imperial City of Eger (''Cheb''), administrative seat of ...
was agreed upon, after Wenceslaus had failed to secure his interests in the town. It suffered severely during the
Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...
, during the
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
invasion in 1631 and 1647, and in the War of the Austrian Succession in 1742. In 1634, during the Thirty Years' War, Albrecht von Wallenstein was killed here. George of Poděbrady gave away his daughter in marriage and fathered two sons in the town. From the Middle Ages until 1945, the lands around the town were known by the German name '' Egerland''. In 1723, Cheb became a free royal town. The northern quarter of the town was devastated by a large fire in 1809, and many middle-age buildings were irreplaceably destroyed. Until 1851, the renowned spa-town of Františkovy Lázně belonged to the Magistrate of Cheb. The carbonated mineral water coming from these springs was delivered to spa visitors residing in Cheb. In 1757, the town's financial self-government was abolished for the sake of Austrian centralization. In 1848, the citizen's council demanded separation from Bohemia and reconstitution of its Landtag. Austrian National Socialism and hence
German National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
can trace its origins to Cheb when
Franko Stein Franko may refer to: * Franko (name) Franko is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Franko (bishop of Poznań), 11th-century Polish bishop * Franko Andrijašević (born 1991), Croatian footballer * Franko ...
transferred a small newspaper (''Der Hammer'') from Vienna to Cheb in 1897. There he organized a German workers congress called the ''Deutschvölkischer Arbeitertag'', which published the 25-point program. The terms of the 1919 Treaty of St. Germain triggered civil unrest between the
Sudeten German German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part ...
population and the new First Czechoslovak Republic, just as in the rest of the
Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...
. As elsewhere, protests in the town – now officially named Cheb – were eventually suppressed by force. During the Sudeten Crisis, the town was occupied by the Nazi German-sponsored '' Sudetendeutsches Freikorps'' paramilitary group. On 3 October 1938, the town was visited by Adolf Hitler; shortly afterward Wehrmacht troops marched into the Sudetenland and seized control. From 1938 until 1945, the town was annexed to Germany and it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. On 1 May 1939, the town split away from the surrounding district to form its own municipal district together with the settlement of Matzelbach, and gave its name to the most westerly of the three administrative regions of the Sudetenland. The administrative seat of the
Regierungspräsident A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...
lay in Karlsbad, however. Cheb was liberated by the
97th Infantry Division The 97th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. Nicknamed the "Trident division" because of its shoulder patch, a vertical trident in white on a blue background, it was originally trained in amph ...
of the United States Army on 25 April 1945. After the end of World War II the region was returned to Czechoslovakia. Under the
Beneš decrees The Beneš decrees, sk, Dekréty prezidenta republiky) and the Constitutional Decrees of the President of the Republic ( cz, Ústavní dekrety presidenta republiky, sk, Ústavné dekréty prezidenta republiky) were a series of laws drafted by t ...
of the same year, the German-speaking majority of the town was dispossessed of their homes and property, and was forcibly expelled from the country. In 1954, the town of
Amberg Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town. History The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under t ...
, West Germany, adopted the expelled Sudeten German population from Cheb and the surrounding districts.


Demographics

In the 15th century, Cheb was one of the larger towns of
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
with inhabitants 7,300 and about 400 houses, plus 200 in suburbs. In 1910, only 0.5% of the population were Czech.Ernst Pfohl: ''Ortslexikon Sudetenland.'' Seite 124. Helmut Preußler Verlag-Nürnberg.1987. In 1930, 11% were Czech. After World War II, due to the expulsion of ethnic Germans and resettlement of Czechs, the population significantly dropped. The current population includes a large group of Vietnamese, whose families were invited to the country as guest workers during the Communist era, and
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
, who were resettled after World War II.


Economy

After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, because many goods were cheaper in Cheb than in nearby Germany, it became common for Germans to shop and spend time in Cheb. Because of this the town developed
bilingual signage A bilingual sign (or, by extension, a multilingual sign) is the representation on a panel (sign, usually a traffic sign, a safety sign, an informational sign) of texts in more than one language. The use of bilingual signs is usually reserved for ...
and currency exchange points.


Transport

Cheb Airport Cheb Airport (in Czech ''Letiště Cheb'') (ICAO: LKCB) is the oldest in the Czech Republic. It is located 4.5 km from city of Cheb (in German ''Eger''). The airport was built during the World War I to serve needs of the Austro-Hungarian ...
is located east of the town centre. It is the second-oldest airport in the country and the oldest still existing.


Education

Cheb is known for its
Cheb Violin Making School The Cheb Violin Making School is a public school in Cheb in the Czech Republic. It is the outgrowth of the Imperial-Royal Music School, a -year-old institution, located — from inception on 1 August 1873 until 2005 — in Luby. In 2005, the scho ...
.


Sights

On the rock to the north-west lies Cheb Castle, built in the 12th century and now mostly in ruins. The main attractions are the Chapel of Saints Erhard and Ursula, the Black Tower and the ruins of a palace; all from around 1180. The chapel has two storeys; the lower storey is in Romanesque style, while the upper storey is Gothic. An eight-cornered opening connects the two storeys. The upper-storey contains a ribbed vault supported on four polygonal columns with statues depicting sins, including a statue of a prostitute and Onan. In the banquet room of this castle, Wallenstein's officers Terzky, Kinsky, Illo and Neumann were assassinated on 25 February 1634. Wallenstein himself was murdered few hours later by Captain Devereux in the burgomaster's house at the main square. The house, a 15th-century gothic town hall (''Pachelbel House''), was transformed in 1872, it contains many historical relics and antiquities of the town of Cheb. One of the symbols of the Cheb architecture is a group of houses known as ''Špalíček''. It is located in the middle of the town square and dates from the 13th century. The bizzare complex of eleven houses consists of narrow, four and five-storey houses without a courtyard, divided by a wide alley. The are mostly in the late Gothic style. The outline of the two blocks can still be seen on the oldest existing records of 1472. The Green House on the market place belonged to the well-known Wrendl dynasty, whose family crest lies above the entrance. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe frequently spent time here. The Church of St. Nicholas was established in the 13th century as a three-naved basilica, of which the western portal and the lower part of the tower remain in place. The three-part nave, presbytery and
sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...
stem from the Gothic era. After the fire of 1742, the tower was rebuilt with a
baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
cupola, after the design of the indigenous architect
Balthasar Neumann Johann Balthasar Neumann (; 27 January 1687 (?) – 19 August 1753), usually known as Balthasar Neumann, was a German architect and military artillery engineer who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Ita ...
. The top of the twin steeples were destroyed by German artillery fire during World War II and restored in summer 2008. The Franciscan Church is located in the town centre. The Church of St. Clara was built according to a design of Christoph Dientzenhofer between 1708 and 1711. The early-Baroque pilgrimage complex Maria Loreto is located in a local part of Starý Hrozňatov. The annex, which had lain in ruins since 1990 has since been renovated through the initiative of an inhabitant of the neighbouring town Waldsassen.


In popular culture

In
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
's
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
story " A Scandal in Bohemia", it is referred to by Holmes as 'Egria'.


Notable people

* Johannes Widmann (c. 1460 – after 1498), German mathematician *
Johann Habermann Johann Habermann, also Johannes Avenarius (10 August 1516 – 5 December 1590) was a German Lutheran theologian. Life He was born at Eger (92 m. w. of Prague) on 10 August 1516. He went over to the Lutheran Church about 1540, studied theology, a ...
(1516–1590), German Lutheran theologian * Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583–1634), military leader and statesman; died here *
Johann Georg Macasius Johann Georg Macasius (1617–1653) was a German physician. He was born in Eger, Bohemia (part of the Holy Roman Empire, now in the Czech Republic). __TOC__ Education He received the Medicinae Doctorate from the University of Jena in 1638 under ...
(1617–1653), German physician *
Pavel Klein Paul Klein (25 January 1652 in Cheb, Bohemia, now Czech Republic – 30 August 1717 in Manila, Philippines; often used in Spanish: Pablo Clain, Latin: ''Paulus Klein'', Czech: ''Pavel Klein'') was a Jesuit missionary, pharmacist, botanist, author of ...
(1652–1717), Jesuit missionary, botanist, writer * Johann Balthasar Neumann (1687–1753), German architect and military artillery engineer *
Hugo Zuckermann Hugo Zuckermann (15 May 1881, Eger ( cs, Cheb), Kingdom of Bohemia, Royal Bohemia – 23 December 1914, Eger) was a Jewish-Austrian poet and zionism, Zionist. Zuckermann was born in Cheb. In 1907 he founded, together with writer Oskar Rosenfeld, ...
(1881–1914), Jewish-Austrian poet * Rudolf Serkin (1903–1991), Czech-American pianist * Erich Riedl (1933–2018), German politician *
Neda Al-Hilali Neda Al-Hilali (born 1938) is an American fiber artist. Biography Al-Hilali was born in Cheb, Czechoslovakia and has lived in Baghdad. She moved to southern California in 1961. She trained as an artist in Europe, and extensively at the Univ ...
(born 1938), American fiber artist and weaver * Peter Glotz (1939–2005), German politician and social scientist * Norbert Singer (born 1939), German automotive engineer * Pavel Nedvěd (born 1972), footballer, 2003 Ballon d'Or winner


Twin towns – sister cities

Cheb is
twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...
with: * Bắc Ninh, Vietnam * Hof, Germany *
Nová Dubnica Nová Dubnica (german: Neudubnitz; hu, Újtölgyes) cz, Nová Dubnice) is a town in Trenčín Region, Slovakia. Geography It is located in the Ilava Basin at the foothills of the Strážovské vrchy mountains. History The town was established ...
, Slovakia Since
the fall of the Iron Curtain The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
, Cheb has also had cordial relationships with the neighbouring German towns of Waldsassen and Marktredwitz.


Gallery

Romanische Basilika St. Nikolaus und Elisabeth in Cheb 13. Jh - Bazilika Chrám sv. Mikuláše a Alžbety v Chebu Česká republika Tschechien - Foto Wolfgang Pehlemann IMG 1369.jpg, Church of Saints Nicholas and Elisabeth after the reconstruction in 2008 Cheb most přes Ohři a chrám svatého Mikuláše.jpg, Bridge over the Ohře Cheb Písečná brána.jpg, Sand gate near the Ohře Cheb divadlo 2.jpg, Theater Cheb Cheb Františkánský klášter zahrady (2).jpg, Gardens of the Franciscan monastery Cheb Eger Lenin on stock franciscan monastery garden-0187.jpg, Statues of Vladimir Lenin and Julius Fučík stored in the monastery garden Bundesarchiv Bild 137-004055, Eger, Besuch Adolf Hitlers.jpg, Adolf Hitler drives through the crowd in Cheb on 3 October 1938


References


External links

*
Cheb Castle site

Church of Maria Loreto

Hardeck Castle

Euregio Egrensis
{{authority control Populated places in Cheb District Cities and towns in the Czech Republic