Podhradí () is a municipality and village in

Cheb District Cheb District () is a Okres, district in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Cheb. It is the westernmost district of the Czech Republic. Administrative division Cheb District is divided into three Districts of ...

in the

Karlovy Vary Region The Karlovy Vary Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the westernmost part of the country. It is named after its capital Karlovy Vary. It is known for spas, which include Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně. ...

of the

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

. It has about 200 inhabitants.

Etymology

The name Podhradí (from , i. e. "under the castle") means "area under the castle".

Geography

Podhradí is located about northwest of

Cheb Cheb (; ) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. Before the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, expulsion of Germans in 1945, the town was the centre of the G ...

and west of

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...

, in the Aš Panhandle area. It lies in the

Fichtel Mountains The Fichtel Mountains (, ; ) is a mountain range in Germany and the Czech Republic. They extend from the valley of the Red Main River in northeastern Bavaria to the Karlovy Vary Region in western Czech Republic. The Fichtel Mountains contain an ...

. The highest point is the hill Studánecký vrch at above sea level, located on the northern municipal border. The stream Ašský potok flows through the municipality.

History

The first written mention of Neuberg Castle is from 1288, however, it was built in the first half of the 13th century. Until 1288, it was owned by the Lords of Neuberg, then King Rudolf I handed it to Lords of Plauen as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

. Podhradí soon returned to the possession of the Lords of Neuberg. In 1395, the castle and the village was acquired by the

Zedtwitz The Zedtwitz family is the name of an old and distinguished German noble family, which also belonged to the Bohemian nobility. The family originated in Franconia, Germany. History The family first appeared in a written document in 1235 and la ...

family, who owned it until 1945. In the 16th century, the Romanesque castle was abandoned, and after a big fire at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, it was severely damaged. The remains of the castle were used for building materials. The castle was replaced by a Renaissance castle, which was damaged during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

and rebuilt in the late 17th century. In 1902, it was destroyed in a big fire. After the estate was divided among several branches of the Zedtwitz family, the members of one of them had built new residence called Upper Chateau, and another residence known as Lower Chateau was built in the mid-18th century. The Upper Chateau was demolished in the 1960s, the Lower Chateau was completely demolished in 1965. After World War II, the German population was expelled and the village significantly depopulated.

Demographics

Transport

There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality.

Sights

The Church of the Good Shepherd is the oldest Lutheran church in the area. It was built in the late Gothic style by the Zedtwitz family in 1470–1490. In the 1680s, it was rebuilt in the Baroque style. The tower was modified in 1677–1699. Ruins of Neuberg Castle and Upper Chateau are preserved and freely accessible.

Notable people

Ernestine von Fricken Christiane Ernestine Franziska von Fricken (7 September 1816 – 13 November 1844) was an Austrian pianist who, for a while, was the fiancée of Robert Schumann. Life Ernestine von Fricken was born on 7 September 1816 in Neuberg, Bo ...

(1816–1844), Austrian pianist

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Podhradi (Cheb District) Villages in Cheb District