Aš (; german: Asch) is a town in

Cheb District Cheb District ( cs, okres Cheb) is a district (''okres'') within the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Cheb. It is the most western District in the Czech Republic. List of municipalities Aš - Cheb - Dolní � ...

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 after ...

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 villages of Dolní Paseky, Doubrava, Horní Paseky, Kopaniny, Mokřiny, Nebesa,

Nový Žďár Nový Žďár (German: ''Neuenbrand'') is a small border village in Karlovy Vary Region, Czech Republic; it is one of the districts of Aš. In 2001 the village had a population of 24. Geography Nový Žďár lies 2,5 kilometres south from Aš, a ...

and Vernéřov are administrative parts of Aš.

Geography

Aš is located about northwest of

Cheb 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-s ...

, on the border with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. With the neighbouring municipalities Hranice, Krásná, Podhradí and Hazlov, it lies in the westernmost area of the Czech Republic known as the Aš Panhandle. This area is a salient surrounded by German territory in the east, north and west. It lies in the historical

Egerland The Egerland ( cs, Chebsko; german: Egerland; Egerland German dialect: ''Eghalånd'') is a historical region in the far north west of Bohemia in what is today the Czech Republic, at the border with Germany. It is named after the German name ''Eg ...

region. Aš is situated in the Fichtel Mountains. The highest point of Aš and of the whole Czech part of the Fichtel Mountains is Háj, at . The upper course of the

White Elster The White Elster
Accessed on 16 Jan 2011. (, ) is a long river in central

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 **Ge ...

colonists descending from the Bavarian

march of the Nordgau The Margraviate of the Nordgau (german: Markgrafschaft Nordgau) or Bavarian Nordgau () was a medieval administrative unit ('' Gau'') on the frontier of the German Duchy of Bavaria. It comprised the region north of the Danube and Regensburg (Ratisb ...

in the course of the '' Ostsiedlung''. So far, previous Slavic settlements in the area are not known. The first recorded rulers were the

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minist ...

'' from

Weida, Thuringia Weida () is a town in the district of Greiz, in Thuringia, Germany, situated 12 km south of Gera on the river Weida. History Within the German Empire (1871-1918), Weida was part of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The Eisenhamm ...

, who gave the entire Vogtland region its name. In 1281, they officially received the estates as an immediate fief at the hands of King Rudolph I of Germany. Emperor Louis IV elevated them to

Princes of the Holy Roman Empire Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors o ...

in 1329. Nevertheless, two years later, they sold Aš land to King John of Bohemia, who since 1322 also held the adjacent Egerland in the south. Together with neighbouring Selb and Elster, Aš was enfeoffed to the ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

en'' of Neuberg ( Podhradí).Rüdesheimer Erklärung
When in 1394 Konrad von Neuburg died without a male heir, by virtue of Hedwig von Neuburg's marriage to Konrad von Zedtwitz, Aš passed into the control of the noble

House of Zedtwitz The House of Zedtwitz is the name of an old and distinguished German and Czech noble house which originated from Franconia, Germany. History The family first appeared in a written document in 1235 and later in 1288 where progenitor Berthold ...

Kostel Nejsvětější Trojice Aš 19 století

In 1557, the Aš region was incorporated into the

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of ...

by the Habsburg king Ferdinand I. Like the neighbouring Egerland, it remained

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

until the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

, as the

Counter Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

did not stretch to the West Bohemian borderlands. In the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, the Protestant confession of the citizens was confirmed. In 1774, Empress Maria Theresa officially mediatised Aš as part of the Bohemian crown land within the Habsburg monarchy, against the delaying resistance by the Zedtwitz noble family. Nevertheless, she granted its Protestant citizens

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

, confirmed in the 1781

Patent of Toleration The Patent of Toleration (german: Toleranzpatent) was an edict of toleration issued on 13 October 1781 by the Habsburg emperor Joseph II. Part of the Josephinist reforms, the Patent extended religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians livi ...

, issued by her son Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

19th–20th centuries

From 1806, Aš with Bohemia belonged to the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

and Cisleithanian Austria after the

Compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...

. Until 1918, the town remained part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, head of the Asch district, one of the 94 ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' in Bohemia. In 1854 a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

legal code was granted to the region, ending five centuries of legal control by the Zedtwitz family. Aš was linked to the Eger (Cheb)–Hof railway line in 1864, with a branch-off to Saxon Adorf opened in 1885. It obtained the status of a town in 1872, as the population grew due to a flourishing

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

industry. By 1910 the population had risen to 21,880, from 9,405 in 1869. Upon the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy at the end of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a

soldiers' council A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...

seized power and rejected the demands of separatists from

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bui ...

for annexation to the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n lands of the German

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

, preferring to remain with the

Republic of German-Austria The Republic of German-Austria (german: Republik Deutschösterreich or ) was an unrecognised state that was created following World War I as an initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German population wi ...

, which was however soon denied by the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. During the negotiations of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye the Americans, like

Allen Welsh Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles (, ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and its longest-serving director to date. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the early Cold War, he ...

, had failed to persuade other powers to make at least the Bohemian peninsulas within Germany, like Aš Land or Rumburk in the Šluknov Hook, legal parts of Weimar Germany. Thus the area became part of newly established state of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and received its current Czech nameCz. Republik
On 18 November 1920, Czech militia toppled the monument of Emperor Joseph II against local protest, whereby three citizens were shot. A 1921 Czechoslovak census counted 183 ethnic

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

, in a population of 40,000 in the district, a 1930 census 520 Czechs, in a population of 45,000 in the district. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H13158, Anschluss sudetendeutscher Gebiete

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H13158, Anschluss sudetendeutscher Gebiete

In 1937, the

Sudeten German Party The Sudeten German Party (german: Sudetendeutsche Partei, SdP, cs, Sudetoněmecká strana) was created by Konrad Henlein under the name ''Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront'' ("Front of the Sudeten German Homeland") on 1 October 1933, some months afte ...

took over in Aš, led by

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

, who for several years had worked in the town as a gym teacher. Henlein openly advocated the annexation of the '' Sudetenland'' territories to

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 ...

, while Czech residents, mainly officials, were forced to leave the town. On 22 September 1938, a few days before the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

, a Sudeten German ''

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...

'' proclaimed a "Free State of Asch". Upon the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in October, according to the Agreement,

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

troops officially arrived, unopposed. By 1939 a German census counted a population of 23,130 in the town, almost 100% German Lutherans. From 1938 to 1945, Aš was administered 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. ...

. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the town was occupied by

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

forces on 20 April 1945. Czech officials arrested 64 men on 7 June and took them to Bory Prison in Plzeň, where half of them perished Due to the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia in 1946 by the Beneš decrees, the town's population was reduced to "half of the pre-war number of inhabitants". A German expellee website states that 30,327 Germans have been expelled from March to November in 27 trains. In 1949, 3,000 expellees met in far away

Rüdesheim am Rhein Rüdesheim am Rhein is a German winemaking town in the Rhine Gorge, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in this region. It lies in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt, Hessen. Known as Rüdesheim, i ...

, to protest, stating that their area never was inhabited by Slavs other than as a tiny minority. The population shrank further in 1950 due to the establishment of the Iron Curtain and the

Czechoslovak border fortifications during the Cold War The Czechoslovak border fortifications were built in the period 1946-1964 along the south and south-western frontier, on the common border with the capitalist countries of West Germany and Austria. Unlike the Czechoslovakian section of the Iron C ...

, as the whole Aš district was included into the border zone which made many people move out. Because of the lowering number of inhabitants some houses remained uninhabited. There was lack of money for their renovation and it was necessary to demolish them.

Demographics

The present-day population in the town is roughly half of the pre-war population.

Transport

There are three road border crossings and one railway border crossing. Road border crossings lead to

Bad Elster Bad Elster () is a spa town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in Saxony, Germany. It lies on the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic in the Elster gebirge hills. It is situated on the river White Elster, and is protected from extremes of t ...

and Bad Brambach in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

in the east, as well as to

Selb Selb is a town in the district of Wunsiedel, in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the Fichtelgebirge, on the border with the Czech Republic, 20 km northwest of Cheb and 23 km southeast of Hof. Selb is well known fo ...

in the west. The railway border crossing leads to Selb. The Cheb–Hranice v Čechách railway goes through the town. There are three train stations: ''Aš'' (the main train station), ''Aš-město'' and ''Aš-předměstí'' (currently just a shelter). This railway and the first station were built in 1865. In 1968, the old Royal Bavarian State Railways station building was demolished, and the current one was built in 1969. ''Aš'' station also lies on the '' Cheb–Oberkotzau railway''. This railway was closed during the Cold War, but reopened in 2015.

Education

There are five kindergartens, four elementary schools, a gymnasium, a special school and a

school of art An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

located in Aš. A high school of textile also existed here.

Sights

The main square of the town is Goethovo Square named after J. W. Goethe, who often visited the town. In the middle of the square is the Memorial of J. W. Goethe from 1932, designed by Johannes Watzal. The landmark of the square is the town hall. It was built in 1733 in the Baroque style, but in 1814 was burned out. In 1816 it was built again, according to the original plans. The Aš Museum was founded in 1892 and is subtitled "Ethnography and Textile Museum of Aš". It is housed in a building on the site of a former manor house, today called ''Zámeček'' ("Little Castle"). The most important textile collection is the collection of 22,000 pairs of gloves. Under the administration of the museum also operates "The stone crosses research society" which maintaints the central register of these monuments. The museum also includes gardens open to the public. Into the corner pillar of the garden is built the ''Salva Guardia'' stone relief with imperial symbols. The town firehouse is a significant building from 1930 designed by Emil Rösler. In 2014, it was reconstructed. Today it houses part of the town museum. The Evangelical Church of the Good Shepherd is located on the site of a former church from 1480–1490. The original church was rebuilt in the Baroque style and only the tower was preserved. The Church of Saint Nicholas is a Roman Catholic church built in 1867–1871 that replaced a late Baroque church from 1780. It has a high tower. The Memorial of Dr.

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

was erected in 1883 and re-erected in 2008. It is the only Luther Monument in the country and in the whole of the former Austria-Hungary. It was located next to the evangelical church, which was one of the most important monuments of the region. The church burned down in 1960 and today is commemorated by perimeter wall and wooden cross. On Háj, there is an eponymous observation tower. It was designed by Wilhelm Kreis and built in 1902–1903. The tower is high. Gustav Geipel Memorial from 1924 is dedicated to this factory owner and patron of Aš, who sponsored children, poor and old people. Gustav Geipel's villa from 1888 is an architectural monument.

Trivia

Alongside with the municipality of Eš, Aš has the shortest place name in the Czech Republic.

Notable people

Sebastian Knüpfer Sebastian Knüpfer (6 September 1633 – 10 October 1676) was a German composer, conductor and educator. He was the ''Thomaskantor'', cantor of the Thomanerchor in Leipzig and director of the towns's church music, from 1657 to 1676.''Grove Concise ...

(1633–1676), German composer * Friedrich Wettengel (1750–1824), Lutheran theologian * Andreas Leonhardt (1800–1866), Austrian composer * Ernst Bareuther (1838–1905), Austrian politician * Karl Alberti (1856–1953), German historian * Emil Baumgärtel (1885–1939), Austrian politician * Otto Jäger (1894–1917), German flying ace * Wilhelm Ludwig (1901–1959), German geneticist *

Karl Fritzsch Karl Fritzsch (10 July 1903 – reported missing 2 May 1945) was a German member of the Nazi secret police ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) from 1933–1945. He was a deputy and acting commandant at the Auschwitz concentration camp. According to Rudolf H� ...

(1903–1945), German KZ-commander * Hermann Fischer (1912–1984), German athlete and Communist resistance fighter against Nazism * Karl Komma (1913–2012), German composer * Herbert Bareuther (1914–1945), German flying ace * Rudolf Hilf (1923–2011), German historian and political scientist * Ernst Wilfer (1923–2014), German engineer *

Oskar Fischer Oskar Fischer (12 April 1876 – 28 February 1942) was a Czech academic, psychiatrist and neuropathologist whose studies on dementia and Alzheimer disease were rediscovered in 2008. Early life and education Fischer was born into a German-s ...

(1923–2020), German politician * Anton Bodem (1925–2007), German theologian * Gerhard Hahn (born 1933), German professor of medieval studies * Horst Tomayer (1938–2013), German writer and actor * Markéta Zinnerová (born 1942), children's book writer * Charly Höllering (1944–2009), German jazz musician * Wolf Stegemann (born 1944), German journalist, author and poet * Rüdiger Bartelmus (born 1944), German theologian and professor * Milan Bokša (born 1951), football manager * Petr Sepéši (1960–1985), singer * Jiří Plíšek (born 1972), football player and manager *

Lukáš Rešetár Lukáš Rešetár (born 28 April 1984), is a Czech futsal player who plays for Era-Pack Chrudim and the Czech Republic national futsal team The Czech Republic national futsal team is the national futsal team of the Czech Republic and represents ...

(born 1984), futsal player * Lenka Marušková (born 1985), athlete * Jiří Sekáč (born 1992), ice hockey player

Twin towns – sister cities

Aš is twinned with: *

Fiumefreddo di Sicilia Fiumefreddo di Sicilia (; scn, Ciumifriddu) is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania on the coast of the Ionian Sea on the island of Sicily, southern Italy. It shares its borders with the municipalities of Calatabiano to the north, Ma ...

, Italy * Marktbreit, Germany * Oelsnitz, Germany *

Plauen Plauen (; Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in the S ...

, Germany *

Rehau Rehau is a Town#Germany, town in the Hof (district), district of Hof, in Bavaria, Germany. The first documented name of Rehau was "Resawe" in the year 1234. Rehau is situated in the Fichtelgebirge, 12 km southeast of Hof, Germany, Hof, and 12 ...

, Germany

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:As Populated places in Cheb District Cities and towns in the Czech Republic