Žatec (; german: Saaz) is a town in Louny District in the

Ústí nad Labem Region Ústí nad Labem Region or Ústecký Region ( cs, Ústecký kraj, , ), is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of the historical land of Bohemia, and named after the capital, Ústí nad Labe ...

of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It lies on the

Ohře The Ohře () or, slightly less commonly in English sources, the Eger (, Czech also: ''Oharka'' or ''Ohara'', Celtic: ''Agara'', pl, Ohrza), is a 316 km river in Germany (50 km) and the Czech Republic (266 km), left tributary of ...

river. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation and partly as an urban monument zone. Žatec is famous for an over-700-year-long tradition of growing Saaz noble hops used by several breweries.

Administrative parts

Villages of Bezděkov, Milčeves, Radíčeves, Trnovany, Velichov and Záhoří are administrative parts of Žatec.

History

The first written mention of Žatec is in the Latin chronicle of

Thietmar of Merseburg Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. Two ...

of 1004. In 1248, Žatec is firstly titled as a town. In 1265, it received the privileges of a royal town from King

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his de ...

. In the 16th century, Žatec had around 5,000 inhabitants and was one of the most populous towns in the kingdom. In 1827, a chain bridge over the

, the first chain bridge 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 Bohe ...

, was built. From the outbreak 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 Ca ...

in 1419 to the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

, the town was

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussi ...

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 ...

, but after the

Battle of White Mountain ), near Prague, Bohemian Confederation(present-day Czech Republic) , coordinates = , territory = , result = Imperial-Spanish victory , status = , combatants_header = , combatant1 = Catholic L ...

(1620) the greater part of the Czech inhabitants left the town. It remained German and Roman Catholic until 1945, when the German speaking inhabitants were expelled to Germany. On 3 June 1945, about 5,000 German inhabitants were gathered on the Market place and marched to

Postoloprty Postoloprty (; german: Postelberg) is a town in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,600 inhabitants. Administrative parts The villages of Březno, Dolejší Hůrky, Hradiště, Levonice, Malnice, M ...

, where at least 763 were murdered in the Postoloprty massacre, estimates range up to 2,000 victims killed by Czechoslovak military in Žatec and on the March.

Demography

Economy

Žatec and its surroundings is known for its tradition of growing

Saaz hops Saaz is a "noble" variety of hops. It was named after the Czech city of Žatec (german: Saaz). This hop is used extensively in Bohemia to flavor beer as the Czech pilsener. Saaz hops accounted for more than of total 2009 hop production in the Cz ...

. Saaz hops or Žatec hops is a

protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

. The tradition of beer brewing started here in 1261, growing of hops is first documented in 1348. In 1800–1801, Žatec brewery started its production, which continues to this day.

Culture

Žatec hosts ''Dočesná'', its hops-related harvest festival every September on the town square.

Sights

Since 1961, the historic core of Žatec has been protected as an urban monument reservation. It is a collection of important buildings and architectural styles from the Romanesque period to the Art Nouveau. Since 2003, the area south of the historic centre has been protected as an urban monument zone. It is valuable mainly for its technical constructions related to hop growing. Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the most significant monuments. it was originally built in Romanesque style and some of its Romanesque parts are still preserved. In 1724–1728, the Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk was added. Around 1740, the west façade was reconstructed into the Baroque style. The hop-growing and brewing tradition is widely presented by the town. There are Hop Museum and Brewing Museum. The Temple of Hops and Beer is a tourist complex with several attractions, including a lookout tower and a small

astronomical clock An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. Definition ...

In popular culture

Žatec was used as a filming location for many historical films and TV series, including ''

Yentl Yentl may refer to: * ''Yentl the Yeshiva Boy'', short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer in ''Short Friday and Other Stories'' (1963) * ''Yentl'' (play), 1975 play by Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer based on the short story * ''Yentl'' (film) ...

'' (1983), ''

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. Filming took place in various locations around the world, with "Old Indy" bookend segments filmed in Wilmington, North ...

'' (1992), ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origina ...

'' (1998),

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

(1999), ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with a ...

'' (1999), ''

Burning Bush The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb. According to the bibl ...

'' (2013), ''

The Zookeeper's Wife The Zookeeper's Wife is a non-fiction book written by the poet and naturalist Diane Ackerman. Drawing on the diary of Antonina Żabińska, unpublished in English (though published in Polish in 1968), it recounts the true story of how Antonina an ...

'' (2016), and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-winning ''

Jojo Rabbit ''Jojo Rabbit'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, adapted from Christine Leunens's 2008 book ''Caging Skies''. Roman Griffin Davis portrays the title character, Johannes "Jojo" Betzler, a ten-year-old Hitler Y ...

(2018)''.

Notable people

Johannes von Tepl Johannes von Tepl (c. 1350 – c. 1415), also known as Johannes von Saaz ( cs, Jan ze Žatce), was a Bohemian writer of the German language, one of the earliest known writers of prose in Early New High German (or late Middle German—dep ...

(c. 1350 – c. 1415), writer * Eugen Gura (1842–1906), German operatic baritone * Gabriel Anton (1858–1933), Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist * Adolf Strauss (1902–1944), pianist and composer * Maria Treben (1907–1991), Austrian author and herbalist * Karel Reiner (1910–1979), composer and pianist *

Peter Glaser Peter Edward Glaser (September 5, 1923 – May 29, 2014) was a Czechoslovakian-born American scientist and aerospace engineer. He served as Vice President, Advanced Technology (1985–94), was employed at Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, MA (195 ...

(1923–2014), Czech-American scientist and aerospace engineer * Zdeněk Svěrák (born 1936), actor, humorist and scriptwriter * Miroslav Varga (born 1960), sports shooter, Olympic winner *

Jan Svěrák Jan Svěrák () (born 6 February 1965 in Žatec) is a Czech film director. He is the son of screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák. He studied documentary filmmaking at the FAMU. He and his films have received awards including the Academy Awa ...

(born 1965), film director

Twin towns – sister cities

Žatec is twinned with: *

Krasnystaw Krasnystaw ( uk, Красностав, Krasnostav) is a town in southeastern Poland with 18 630 inhabitants (31 december 2019). Situated in the Lublin Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Chełm Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of ...

, Poland *

Poperinge Poperinge (; french: Poperinghe, ； vls, Poperienge) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, Flemish Region, and has a history going back to medieval times. The municipality comprises the town of Poperinge p ...

, Belgium * Thum, Germany * Žalec, Slovenia

References

External links

*
Friends of Saaz/ Žatec
(in German and English)
UNESCO on Žatec – the Hops Town
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zatec Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Louny District