Teplice (, until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz, ''Teplitz-Schönau'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 51,000 inhabitants. It is the most populous Czech spa town, followed by

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. ...

. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Administrative division

Teplice comprises the administrative parts of Teplice, Hudcov, Nová Ves, Prosetice, Řetenice,

Sobědruhy Sobědruhy (german: Soborten) is an administrative part of the city of Teplice in the Czech Republic. Geography Sobědruhý lies about above sea level. The highest point is about above sea level. History Traditionally, Sobědruhy was a town ...

and Trnovany.

Etymology

The name ''Teplice'' is an Old Czech word meaning "hot spring".

Geography

Teplice is located about west of Ústí nad Labem and northwest of Prague. The northern part of the municipal territory lies in the Most Basin, the southern part lies in the

Central Bohemian Uplands Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. The highest point is the hill Doubravská hora at above sea level. There are several small fish ponds in the territory.

History

According to the 1541 ''Annales Bohemorum'' by chronicler

Wenceslaus Hajek Wenceslaus Hájek of Libočany ( cz, Václav Hájek z Libočan; german: Wenzeslaus Hagek von Libotschan; la, Wenceslaus Hagecius, Wenceslaus Hagek a Liboczan; died 18 March 1553) was a Bohemian chronicler, author of famous '' Czech Chronicle'' (15 ...

, the

thermal springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

are fabled to have been discovered as early as 762; however, the first authentic mention of the baths occurred in the 16th century. The settlement of Trnovany was first documented in a 1057 deed, while Teplice proper was first mentioned in 1154, when

Judith of Thuringia Judith of Thuringia ( cz, Judita Durynská; – 9 September after 1174), a member of the Ludovingian dynasty, was Queen consort of Bohemia from 1158 until 1172 as the second wife of King Vladislaus II. She was the second Queen of Bohemia after Ś ...

, queen consort of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia, founded a Benedictine convent near the hot springs, the second in

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 ...

. A fortified town arose around the monastery, which was destroyed in the course of 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 ...

after the 1426

Battle of Aussig The Battle of Aussig (german: Schlacht bei Aussig) or Battle of Ústí nad Labem ( cs, Bitva u Ústí nad Labem) was fought on 16 June 1426, between Roman Catholic crusaders and the Hussites during the Fourth Crusade of the Hussite Wars. It was ...

. In the late 15th century, queen consort

Joanna of Rožmitál Joanna of Rožmitál ( cs, Johana z Rožmitálu; c. 1430 – 12 November 1475) was Queen of Bohemia as the second wife of George of Poděbrady. Life She was a daughter of John of Rožmitál and his wife Ludmila of Strakonice. Marriage Joanna ma ...

, wife of King George of Poděbrady, had a castle erected on the ruins. Teplice municipal seal ~1750

Teplice figures in the history of the Thirty Years' War, when it was a possession of the Protestant Bohemian noble

Vilém Kinský Count Wilhelm Kinsky von Wchinitz (; ; 1574 – 25 February 1634) was a Czech landowner and a statesman. By birth, he was member of the House of Kinsky, which belonged to the highest circle of Bohemian aristocracy. Early life Wilhelm was bo ...

, who was assassinated together with Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein at Cheb in 1634. The

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

emperor Ferdinand II thereafter enfeoffed castle and town to his general

Johann von Aldringen Johann Reichsgraf von Aldringen (sometimes spelled Altringer or Aldringer; 10 December 158822 June 1634) was an Austrian soldier active before and during the Thirty Years' War. He was born in Luxembourg in the Duchy of Luxembourg,princely House of

Clary-Aldringen The House of Clary und Aldringen, also known as Clary-Aldringen, is one of the most prominent Austro-Hungarian princely families. Originally from Friuli, Northern Italy, one branch of the family moved to the County of Tyrol around 1500 and to the ...

. After the Thirty Years' War, the devastated town was the destination of many German settlers. After a blaze in 1793, large parts of the town were rebuilt in a Neoclassical style. The health resort was a popular venue for wealthy bourgeois like the poet Johann Gottfried Seume, who died on his stay in 1810, or Ludwig van Beethoven, who met here with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1812; as well as for European monarchs. During the Napoleonic War of the Sixth Coalition, Teplice in August 1813 was the site where Emperor Francis I of Austria, Emperor Alexander I of Russia and King

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

first signed the triple alliance against

Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

that led to the coalition victory at the nearby Battle of Kulm. (TTO) Teplický zámek - Teplice 517-14 B

In 1895, Teplice merged with neighbouring Lázně Šanov (''Schönau''). Upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary after World War I and the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the predominantly

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-speaking population found itself in newly established Czechoslovakia. According to the 1930 census there were 30 799 people living in the city (5,232 persons of Czechoslovak ethnicity, 12 persons of Hungarian ethnicity, 23,127 persons of German ethnicity and 667 of Jewish ethnicity). Right-wing political groups like the German National Socialist Worker's Party referred to themselves as '' Volksdeutsche'' and began to urge for a unification with Germany, their efforts laid the foundation for the rise of the Sudeten German Party under

Konrad Henlein Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein (6 May 1898 – 10 May 1945) was a leading Sudeten Germans, Sudeten German politician in Czechoslovakia. Upon the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German occupation in October 1938 he joined the Nazi Party as well ...

after 1933. With 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 ...

'', Teplice was annexed by Nazi Germany according to the 1938 Munich Agreement and incorporated into '' Reichsgau Sudetenland''. In 1930, 3,213 Jews lived in Teplice, 10% of the population. Under the Nazi regime they faced

the Holocaust in the Sudetenland The Holocaust in the Sudetenland resulted in the flight, dispossession, deportation and ultimately death of many of the 24,505 Jews living in the Reichsgau Sudetenland, a Nazi German administrative region established from former Czechoslovak te ...

. Many fled and the Teplice Synagogue was burnt during Kristallnacht. Památník letců na Doubravce

After World War II the Czechoslovak government enacted 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 ...

, whereafter the German-speaking majority of the population was expelled from Teplice. In 1945, the Princes of Clary-Aldringen, lords of Teplice since 1634, were

expropriated Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

. In 1994,

Jaroslav Kubera Jaroslav Kubera (16 February 1947 – 20 January 2020) was a Czech politician for the Civic Democratic Party, who served in the Czech Senate representing Teplice from 2000 and the Senate President from 2018 until his death in 2020. He previousl ...

of the ODS became mayor of Teplice and he held the position until 2018.

Demographics

Economy

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine 20220228 150805

The largest employers based in the city are AGC Flat Glass Czech (manufacturer of flat glass for the construction and automotive industries) and Severočeská servisní (a company that deals with construction and maintenance of pipelines), both with more than 1,000 employees.

Spa

One of the most important employers is the spa. The thermal mineral springs were mentioned already in 1154, which makes the spa the oldest in the country and Central Europe. The Pravřídlo spring reaches a temperature of 41 °C. The spa focuses on treatment of

musculoskeletal disorder Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are injuries or pain in the human musculoskeletal system, including the joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support limbs, neck and back. MSDs can arise from a sudden exertion (e.g., li ...

s, nervous system diseases, and vascular diseases.

Culture

The city used to be nicknamed "Little Paris" and "Salon of Europe" for its spa architecture and cultural level until World War II. The opening of the spa season is an annual three-day celebration with a rich cultural program. The Krušnohorské Theatre is the city's main venue for

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

and plays.

Sport

Teplice is home to the professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club FK Teplice playing in the Czech First League. The stadium '' Na Stínadlech'' is one of the largest in the country and has hosted international matches.

Sights

The main landmark is Teplice Castle. It houses a regional museum with historic castle interiors and a library. In the inner courtyard of the castle, there is a unique Romanesque exposition with the remains of Queen Judith and the remains of a Romanesque basilica with a rarely preserved Romanesque crypt. Adjoining the castle is a large castle garden. The Church of Saint John the Baptist is a baroque building from 1594, rebuilt in 1703 to its current form. Its tower is open to the public and serves as a lookout tower. The neo-Gothic Church of Saint Bartholomew was built in 1884 for German population of Lutheran faith. After their expulsion, the church changed owners several times and ceased to serve its purpose. Today it is conserved as a cultural monument and there are expositions concerning the history of the Jewish community in Teplice, and other. Doubravka Castle is a castle ruin located in Trnovany part of Teplice. It was built in 1483 and conquered in 1639 during the Thirty Years' War. The castle began to serve as a destination for walks and in the 19th century, a restaurant and the neo-Gothic extension were built. Today there is a restaurant and a private lookout tower.

Paleontology

Fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

of an elasmosaurid plesiosaur (large carnivorous marine reptile from the Cretaceous period) were found near Teplice at the end of the 19th century. In the village of Hudcov (a part of Teplice), plesiosaur '' Cimoliasaurus teplicensis'' was described in 1906 by Czech paleontologist Antonín Frič.

Notable people

* Julius von Payer (1841–1915), Austrian arctic explorer *

August Stradal August Stradal (17 May 1860, Teplice – 13 March 1930, Krásná Lípa) was a Czech virtuoso pianist, arranger, composer, author and music teacher. Career A diverse piano arranger, Stradal arranged music from Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, B ...

(1860–1930), pianist * Karl Pohlig (1864–1928), conductor *

Prince Siegfried von Clary-Aldringen Siegfried (Franz Johann Carl) Graf (from 1920, Fürst) von Clary und Aldringen (14 October 1848 – 11 February 1929) was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat during the time before World War I. Life He was born in Teplitz (now Teplice) on 14 October ...

(1848–1920), Austro-Hungarian diplomat *

Humbert Achamer-Pifrader Humbert Achamer-Pifrader (21 November 1900 – 25 April 1945) was an Austrian jurist, who was member of the SS of Nazi Germany. He was commander of ''Einsatzgruppe'' A from September 1942 to September 1943. Biography Achamer-Pifrader was bor ...

(1900–1945), Austrian jurist and member of the SS * Paul Kohner (1902–1988), Austrian-American film producer *

Frederick Kohner Friedrich Kohner (September 25, 1905 – July 7, 1986), credited professionally as Frederick Kohner, was an Austrian-born novelist and screenwriter, both in Germany and the U.S.. He is best known for having created the "Gidget" novels, which ins ...

(1905–1986), Austrian-American writer *

Marianne Winder Dr Marianne Winder (10 September 1918 – 6 April 2001) was a British specialist in Middle High German and a librarian at the Institute of Germanic Studies at the University of London. She later was associated for more than thirty years with ...

(1918–2001), British librarian * Felix Holzmann (1921–2001), comedian *

Helmut Pfleger Helmut Pfleger (born August 6, 1943) is a German chess grandmaster and author. He was one of the most promising chess players in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1977 until 2005, Pfleger hosted a series of chess programs on German public TV, including ' ...

(born 1943), German chess grandmaster * Jaromír Kohlíček (1953–2020), politician * Bohdan Chlíbec (born 1963), poet *

Daniela Peštová Daniela Peštová (born 14 October 1970) is a Czech model. She was born in Teplice, Czech Republic, and was discovered by the Madison Modeling Agency's Dominique Caffin. She had plans to attend college after grammar school but after winning a mo ...

(born 1970), model * Robert Lang (born 1970), ice hockey player *

Lucie Králová Lucie Šlégrová, née Králová (born 10 February 1982 in Teplice, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech dancer, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Czech Republic as a 23-year-old in 2005. Biography Lucie Králová was born in the Czech R ...

(born 1982), Miss Czech Republic 2005

Residents

Adam Adamandy Kochański Adam Adamandy Kochański (5 August 1631 – 17 May 1700) was a Polish mathematician, physicist, clock-maker, pedagogue and librarian. He was the Court Mathematician of John III Sobieski. Kochański was born in Dobrzyń nad Wisłą. He began his ...

(1631–1700), mathematician; died here * Johann Gottfried Seume (1763–1810), poet; died here * Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), composer; began writing his Symphony No. 7 here in 1812 * Novalis (1772–1801), poet and philosopher; wrote his "Teplitz Fragments" while staying hereNovalis: Philosophical Writings * Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont (1777–1857), Austrian diplomat and statesman; resided here at his daughter's castle *

Dorothea de Ficquelmont Dorothea "Dolly" de Ficquelmont (russian: Да́рья Фёдоровна Фикельмо́н; ''Daria Fyodorovna Fikelmon''; 14 October 1804, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire10 April 1863, Venice, Austrian Empire), born Countess Dorothea von Ties ...

(1804–1863); died here at her daughter's castle *

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

(1813–1883), began composing the music to his opera '' Tannhäuser'' here during a vacation in 1843 *

Adolf Kurrein Adolf Kurrein (January 28, 1846 – October 23, 1919) was a Czech-Austrian rabbi, Zionistic activist. Early life Kurrein lost his father when he was two and grew up with his sister Katharina and his mother, a seamstress. When he was fiftee ...

(1846–1919), rabbi of Teplice from 1888 *

Count Manfred von Clary-Aldringen Count Manfred von Clary-Aldringen (30 May 1852 Palais Mollard-Clary, Vienna12 February 1928 Castle Herrnau, Salzburg) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian nobleman and statesman. He served as the 16th Minister-President of Cisleithania (therefo ...

(1852–1928), Austro-Hungarian statesman; resided here in his family's castle *

Otto Tetens 450px , Otto Tetens (right) with Mataafa in Mulinuu, Samoa 1904 Otto Tetens (26 September 1865, Rendsburg, Kingdom of Prussia – 15 February 1945, Teplitz-Schönau) was a German natural scientist with an astronomy background. Life Tetens was ...

(1865–1945), astronomer; died here * Oscar Straus (1870–1954) worked here as a ''

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' *

Ruth von Mayenburg Ruth von Mayenburg (1 July 1907 – 26 June 1993) was an Austrian journalist, writer and translator. In her earlier years, she was politically active in the Communist Party of Austria (''Kommunistische Partei Österreichs'', or KPÖ). Fleeing the ...

(1907–1993), writer; grew up here *

Kurt Eichhorn Kurt Peter Eichhorn (4 August 1908 – 29 June 1994), was a German conductor. Eichhorn was born in Munich, the son of a painter. He studied music at the conservatory in Würzburg with Hermann Zilcher and progressed through provincial houses. His ...

(1908–1994), conductor; worked here *

František Fajtl Lieutenant General František Fajtl (20 August 1912 – 4 October 2006) was a Czech fighter pilot of World War II. He was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron and wing commander and led a group of Czechoslovak fighter pilots who formed an ai ...

(1912–2006), fighter pilot and writer; studied here in 1928–1932

References

External links

*
Historical Maps "Herrschaft Toeplitz" & Streetmap Toeplitz with different Views (A. F. Zuerner, Amsterdam, 18th century)Audioguide through Teplice
{{authority control Populated places in Teplice District Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Spa towns in the Czech Republic Burial sites of the Ludovingians