Chodov (; german: Chodau) is a town in

Sokolov District Sokolov District ( cs, okres Sokolov) is a district ('' okres'') within the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Sokolov. Complete list of municipalities Březová - Bublava - Bukovany - Chlum Svaté Maří ...

in the

Karlovy Vary Region The Karlovy Vary Region or Carlsbad Region ( cs, Karlovarský kraj, German: ''Karlsbader Region'') is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the westernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named afte ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It has about 13,000 inhabitants.

Administrative parts

The village of Stará Chodovská is an administrative part of Chodov.

Etymology

The name is derived from the personal Slavic name Chod, meaning "the village of Chod's people".

Geography

Sokolov is located about northeast of Sokolov and west 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. ...

. It lies in the

Sokolov Basin The Sokolov Basin or Falkenau Basin (german: Falkenauer Becken, formerly also ''Falkenau-Elbogen-Karlsbader Becken''; cz, Sokolovská pánev) is a drainage basin and geomorphological unit in the Czech Republic. It is located in northwestern Boh ...

. The Chodovský Stream flows through the town. There are several bodies of water in the municipal territory, most notably the artificial lake Bílá voda, used for recreational purposes.

History

Chodov was originally a Slavic settlement. The Slavic colonisation was not successful and in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

this part 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 ...

was colonised by

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

. In the 12th–13th century Chodov belonged to the

Waldsassen Abbey Waldsassen Abbey (German: ''Abtei Waldsassen'') is a Cistercian nunnery, formerly a Cistercian monastery, located on the River Wondreb at Waldsassen near Tirschenreuth, Oberpfalz, in Bavaria, Germany, close to the border with the Czech Republic. ...

and in the 14th–17th century was ruled from

Loket Loket (; german: Elbogen) is a town of in Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,100 inhabitants. The town centre itself features Loket Castle, a 12th-century Gothic castle. The town centre is well prese ...

. In 1894 Chodov was promoted to a town and got the right to use its own coat of arms. From 1938 to 1945 it was annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and asministered as part of

Reichsgau Sudetenland The Reichsgau Sudetenland was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of the ''Sudetenland'' territory, which was annexed from Czechoslovakia according to the 30 September 1938 Munich Agreement. ...

. Until the end of World War II the town was inhabited mostly by Germans. after the war, the German population was expelled and the town was resettled by Czechs. In the 1960s a big chemical factory was built in nearby

Vřesová Vřesová (german: Doglasgrün) is a municipality and village in Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 400 inhabitants. Economy Vřesová is known for the large industrial complex of Sokolovská uhelná. ...

and then new housing estates were built for Czech and Slovak workers who moved here.

Demographics

Sights

The most significant building is the Church of St. Lawrence, built by the constructor Johann Wolfgang Braunbock. It was built in the Baroque style in 1725–1733. In the interior there is a

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

, which consists of fourteen large canvases. It is the work of regional artists from the 18th and 19th centuries, which is rare in its dimensions and its age. In front of the church there is the early Baroque statue of St. Sebastian from 1673. Another early Baroque statue is the Virgin Mary on the Marian column from 1675, located on the town square. The other church in the town belongs to the

Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB) ( cs, Českobratrská církev evangelická; ČCE) is the largest Czech Protestant church and the second-largest church in the Czech Republic after the Catholic Church. It was formed in 1918 in Czec ...

Notable people

* Willi Huttig (1909–2001), German photographer and alpinist

Twin towns – sister cities

Chodov is twinned with: * Oelsnitz, Germany *

Waldsassen Waldsassen ( Northern Bavarian: ''Woidsassen'') is a town in the district of Tirschenreuth in the Upper Palatinate region of Bavaria. Geography Waldsassen is the northernmost municipality of the Upper Palatinate region. In the northeast, it border ...

, Germany

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Sokolov District