Cheb 237656 220498846 2008-06-20T04:06:52Z Jirka6 1681989 Making inhabitants numbers in text and infobox consistent {{otheruses}} {{Geobox | Settlement <!-- *** Heading *** --> | name = Cheb | other_name = Eger | category = Town <!-- *** Image *** --> | image = Cheb-main square.JPG | image_caption = [[George of Podebrady]] square <!-- *** Symbols *** --> | flag = Flag_Cheb.png | flag_border = 1 | symbol = Znakchebu.png <!-- *** Name *** --> | etymology = | official_name = | motto = | nickname = <!-- *** Country etc. *** --> | country = Czech Republic | country_flag = 1 | state = | region = [[Karlovy Vary Region|Karlovy Vary]] | region_type = [[Regions of the Czech Republic|Region]] | district = [[Cheb District|Cheb]] | district_type = [[Districts of the Czech Republic|District]] | commune = Cheb | municipality = <!-- *** Family *** --> | part = | river = <!-- *** Locations *** --> | location = | elevation = 459 | lat_d = 50 | lat_m = 04 | lat_s = 46 | lat_NS = N | long_d = 12 | long_m = 22 | long_s = 14 | long_EW = E | highest = | highest_elevation = | highest_lat_d = | highest_long_d = | lowest = | lowest_elevation = | lowest_lat_d = | lowest_long_d = <!-- *** Dimensions *** --> | area = 96.37 | area_round = 2 <!-- *** Population *** --> | population = 33462 | population_date = | population_density = auto <!-- *** History & management *** --> | established = 1061 | established_type = First mentioned | established1 = 1179 | established1_type = Town status since | mayor = Jan Svoboda | mayor_party = [[Civic Democratic Party|ODS]] <!-- *** Codes *** --> | timezone = [[Central European Time|CET]] | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | postal_code = 350 02 | area_code = | code = <!-- *** Free frields *** --> | free = <!-- *** Maps *** --> | map = Czechia - outline map.svg | map_background = Czechia - background map.png | map_caption = Location in the Czech Republic | map_locator = Czechia <!-- *** Websites *** --> | commons = Cheb | statistics = [http://www.statnisprava.cz/ebe/ciselniky.nsf/i/554481 statnisprava.cz] | website = [http://www.mestocheb.cz/ www.mestocheb.cz] <!-- *** Footnotes *** --> | footnotes = }} '''Cheb''' ([{{IPA|ˈxɛp}}]; [[German language|German]]:{{Audio|Eger.ogg|Eger}}, [[Latin]]: Egra) is a city in the [[Karlovy Vary Region]] of the [[Czech Republic]], with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river [[Ohře]] (also called Eger in German), at the foot of one of the spurs of the [[Smrciny|Smrčiny]] and near the border with [[Germany]]. Prior to 1945, the town was the centre of the German-speaking region known as [[Egerland]], and was part of the [[Northern Austro-Bavarian]] dialect area. The name of the city was in 1061 recorded as ''Egire''; in 1179 it was known as ''Egra'', from 1322 as ''Eger'' and the surrounding territory as ''Regio Egere'' and ''Provincia Egrensis'' after the fourteenth century also as ''Cheb'' or ''Chba''. From 1850 it was given the twin official names of ''Eger'' and ''Cheb''. Since 1945, the town calls itself ''Cheb'', yet uses also ''Stadt Eger'' on the German edition of its website. [http://www.mestocheb.cz/d_index.asp|website] The [[twin towns]] of Cheb are [[Hof]] in [[Germany]], [[Rheden]] in the [[Netherlands]] and [[Nizhny Tagil]] in [[Russia]]. ==History== The first known settlement in the area was a [[Slavs|Slavic]] stronghold at what is now called Jánský Vrch, north of downtown. In 807 the district of today's Cheb was included in the new [[margraviate]] of [[East Franconia]], which belonged at first to the [[Babenberg]]s, but from 906 to the counts of [[Vohburg]], who took the title of margraves. In 1179 town status was achieved, and the castle was built in the twelfth century. In 1149, by the marriage of Adela of Vohburg to the emperor [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick I]], Eger (Cheb) came into the possession of the House of [[Swabia]], and remained in the hands of the emperors until the early 13th century, during which time it became an [[Imperial Free City]]. In 1265 it was taken by the king [[Ottokar II]] of [[Bohemia]], who retained it for eleven years. After being repeatedly transferred from the one power to the other, according to the preponderance of Bohemia or the empire, the town and territory were finally incorporated into Bohemia in 1322, under [[John of Bohemia]]. Several imperial privileges, however, continued to be enjoyed by the town until 1849. On [[5 May]] [[1389]], during a [[Reichstag (institution)|Reichstag]] between King [[Wenceslaus, King of the Romans|Wenceslaus]] and a group of Imperial Free Cities of south-west Germany, the [[Peace of Eger]] was agreed upon, after Wenceslaus had failed to secure his interests in the city. It suffered severely during the [[Hussite Wars]], during the [[Sweden|Swedish]] invasion in 1631 and 1647, and in the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] in 1742. In 1634, during the [[Thirty Years' War]], [[Albrecht von Wallenstein]] was killed here. [[George of Podebrady]] (the main square is named after him) married his daughter and two sons in the city. From the [[Middle Ages]] until 1945, the lands around the town were known by the German name ''[[Egerland]]''. [[Image:Ermordung-wallensteins-in-eger-anonymer-kupferstich 1-640x370.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Killing of [[Albrecht von Wallenstein]]|right]] In 1723, Cheb became a free royal town. The northern quarter of the town was devastated by a large fire in 1809, and many middle-age buildings were irreplacably destroyed. Until 1851, the renowned spa-town of [[Františkovy Lázně]] belonged to the Magistrate of Cheb. The carbonated mineral water coming from these springs was delivered to spa visitors residing in Cheb. Geographers of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy proclaimed the nearby 939m high Tillen (Dileň in Czech) as the [[geographical centre of Europe]]. This claim was documented on a copper plaque mounted at the summit. [[Austrian National Socialism]] and hence [[Nazism|German National Socialism]] can trace its origins to Cheb when [[Franko Stein]] transferred a small newspaper (''Der Hammer'') from [[Vienna]] to Cheb in 1897. There he organized a German workers congress called the ''Deutschvölkischer Arbeitertag'', which published the [[Nazi 25-point program|25-point program]]. The terms of the 1919 [[Treaty of St. Germain]] triggered civil unrest between the Sudeten German population and the new Czechoslovak administration, just as in the rest of the [[Sudetenland]]. As elsewhere, protests in the town - now officially named Cheb - were eventually suppressed by force. On [[3 October]] [[1938]], the town was visited by [[Adolf Hitler]]; shortly afterwards German troops marched into the Sudetenland and seized control. From 1938 until 1945 the town was annexed to Germany. On [[1 May]] [[1939]], the town split away from the surrounding district to form its own municipal district together with the settlement of Matzelbach, and gave its name to the most westerly of the three administrative regions of the Sudetenland. The administrative seat of the [[Regierungsbezirk|Regierungspräsident]] lay in Karlsbad, however. After the end of [[World War II]] the region was returned to [[Czechoslovakia]]. Under the [[Beneš decrees]] of the same year, the German-speaking majority of the town was dispossessed and expelled to Germany. In 1954, the town of [[Amberg]] in Germany adopted the expelled Sudeten German population from Cheb and the surrounding districts. On [[24 August]] [[2001]], German [[Chancellor]] [[Gerhard Schröder]] and Czech Prime Minister [[Miloš Zeman]] visited the ''[[Euroregion|Euregio]] Egrensis'' (a cross-border initiative between districts in Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia and Bohemia), and received the ''Freedom of the City of Cheb''. In 2004, a town-twinning agreement was made with [[Hof]] in Bavaria. Since the fall of the [[Iron Curtain]], Cheb has also had cordial relationships with the neighbouring German towns of [[Waldsassen]] and [[Marktredwitz]]. ==Population== * 1400s - 7,300 inhabitants (one of the larger towns of [[Bohemia]]) with about 400 houses, plus 200 in suburbs<ref>J. Bohač at [http://www.mestocheb.cz/vismo/dokumenty2.asp?u=5091&id_org=5091&id=150211&p1=1221&p2=&p3=]</ref> * 1930 - 31,406 inhabitants, of whom 3,493 (11%) were Czech. * 1945 - 45,000 inhabitants * 1947 - 14,533 inhabitants, due to the expulsion of ethnic Germans and resettlement of Czechs * 1990 - 29,962 inhabitants (1,837 houses) * 2005 - 33,462 inhabitants The current population includes a large group of Vietnamese, whose families were invited to the country as guest workers during the Communist era, and [[Roma people|Roma]], who were resettled after the Second World War. ==Sights== [[Image:Cheb_sv_Erhart_a_Ur%C5%A1ula_%281180%29_DSCN1472.JPG|thumb|'''Chapel of St Erhard and Urshula''' at the castle]] On the rock, to the north-west of the city center, lies '''Cheb castle''', built in the 12th century, and now mostly in ruins. The main attractions are the '''Chapel of St Erhard and Urshula''', the '''Black Tower''' and the ruins of a palace; all from around 1180. The chapel has two stories; the lower storey is in [[Romanesque architecture|romanesque]] style, while the upper storey is [[Gothic architecture|gothic]]. An eight-cornered opening connects the two storeys. The upper-storey contains a ribbed vault supported on four polygonal columns with statues depicting sins, including a statue of a prostitute and [[Onan]]. In the banquet room of this castle, [[Albrecht von Wallenstein|Wallenstein]]'s officers Terzky, Kinsky, Illo and Neumann were assassinated on [[February 25]], [[1634]]. Wallenstein himself was murdered few hours later by Captain Devereux in the burgomaster's house at the main square. The house, a 15th century gothic town hall (''Pachelbel House''), was transformed in 1872, it contains many historical relics and antiquities of the town of Cheb. [[Image:Spalicek-Cheb gesamt.jpg|thumb|Špalíček]] On the notable '''market place''' dating from the thirteenth century are a group of houses originating from the late-Gothic period known as ''Špalíček''. This distinctive feature of the market place is a bizarre complex of eleven houses. The outline of the two blocks can still be seen on the oldest existing records of 1472. The '''Green House''' on the market place belonged to the well-known Wrendl dynasty, whose family crest lies above the entrance. [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]] frequently spent time here. The '''Church of St. Nicholas''' was established in the thirteenth century as a three-naved [[basilica]], of which the western portal and the lower part of the tower remain in place. The three-part nave, [[presbytery (architecture)|presbytery]] and [[sacristy]] stem from the Gothic era. After the fire of 1742, the tower was rebuilt with a [[baroque]] [[cupola]], after the design of the indigenous architect [[Balthasar Neumann]]. The tall roofs of the church towers were destroyed during the [[World War II]]. The '''Franciscan Church''' is one of the greatest architectural treasures of the town center. The pristine '''Church of St. Clara''' was built between 1708 and 1711 according to a design of [[Christoph Dientzenhofer]]. ==Surrounding area== The three world-renowned spa-towns of [[Karlovy Vary]] (Karlsbad), [[Marianske Lazne|Marianské Lázně]] (Marienbad) and [[Františkovy Lázně]] (Franzensbad) are located only a few kilometres away from Cheb. The German state of [[Bavaria]] is easily reached by car via the [[Svatý Kříž]]-[[Waldsassen]] border-crossing, while the musically renowned areas of ''[[Saxony|Saxon]] [[Vogtland]]'' can be accessed via the [[Kraslice]]-[[Klingenthal]] and [[Vojtanov]]-[[Schönberg]] crossings. For walkers, wheelchair-users and cyclists, border crossings are present going into Bavaria ([[Aš]]-[[Rehau]]) and Saxony ([[Bad Brambach]]-[[Plesná]], [[Bad Brambach]]-[[Vernéřov]], [[Bad Elster]]-[[Podhradí]], [[Markneukirchen]]-[[Luby (city)|Luby]] and [[Hranice u Aše|Hranice]]-[[Eichigt|Ebmath]]). The early-baroque Church of Maria Loreto in Starý Hroznatov is situated 5km from Cheb. The annex, which had lain in ruins since 1990 has since been renovated through the initiative of an inhabitant of the neighbouring town [[Waldsassen]]. [[Image:Kirche Maria Loreto.jpg|thumb|Maria Loreto in Starý Hroznatov]] Notable in this area are several timbered houses in the sparsely-populated villages, particularly in [[Doubrava]]. Eight kilometres north-east of Cheb, near the district of Nový Drahov is the popular Soos nature reserve. The reserve consists of peat moors and springs, with gas-producing [[mofette]]s. [[Cheb Airport]], the oldest airport in the country, is located 4,5 km south-east. Attractions near the Bavarian border include the Komorní hůrka and Železná hůrka. These are remains of the most recent Czech volcanoes, which now form the basis of a nature reserve. This area was researched by [[Goethe]]. For watersports enthusiasts, two [[reservoir (water)|reservoirs]] are of interest - ''Skalka'' (north-east of Cheb and fed by the [[Ohře]] River) and ''Jesenice'' (south-east of Cheb). ==Famous people== * Prof. [[Peter Glotz]], [[SPD]] politician, publicist and media analyst, member of the German [[Bundestag]]; born in Cheb in 1939. * [[Heinrich Gradl]], historian born in Cheb in 1842. * [[Johann Habermann]], [[Lutheran]] theologian, born in 1516. * [[Helmut Lederer]], sculptor, born in 1913. * [[Pavel Nedvěd]], [[football (soccer)|football]] [[Czech Republic national football team|Czech national]] and [[Juventus F.C.]] footballer. * [[Johann Balthasar Neumann]], baroque architect. * Dr. [[Erich Riedl]], [[Christian Social Union of Bavaria|CSU]] politician and member of the German [[Bundestag]], born in Cheb, 1933. * [[Johann Adam Schertzer]], [[Protestant]] theologian, born in 1628. * [[Kaspar Schlick]], born in 1396 who became the chancellor under three different kings and one of the most politically-significant figures of the fifteenth century. * [[Rudolf Serkin]], Cheb born pianist of Jewish-Russian ancestry * [[Norbert Singer]], responsible for many of [[Porsche]]’s victories at the [[24 Hours of Le Mans]] race * [[Wallenstein|Albrecht von Wallenstein]], military leader during [[Thirty Years' War]] was killed in Cheb. * [[Johannes Widmann]], mathematician born in 1460. ==Districts== Cheb is divided into the following districts (German names given in brackets) * Bříza (Pirk) * Cetnov (Zettendorf) * Dolní Dvory (Unterschön) * Dřenice (Treunitz) * Háje (Gehaag) * Horní Dvory (Oberschön) * Hradiště (Reichersdorf) * Hrozňatov (Kinsberg) * Cheb (Eger) * Chvoječná (Sebenbach) * Jindřichov (Honnersdorf) * Klest (Reißig) * Loužek (Au) * Pelhřimov (Pilmersreuth) * Podhoří (Kreuzenstein) * Podhrad (Pograth) * Skalka (Stein) * Střížov (Triesenhof) * Tršnice (Tirschnitz) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.mestocheb.cz/e_index.asp Municipal website] * [http://hrady.dejiny.cz/cheb/index.htm Cheb Castle site] * [http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/thomas100806.htm Captive market:The sexual slave traffic in children] ''The following links are in [[German language|German]], and were sources used in this article'' * [http://www.maria-loreto.de/ Church of Maria Loreto] * [http://www.schloss-hardeck.de/ Hardeck Castle] * [http://www.deutsche-botschaft.cz/DE/POLITIK_PRESSE/REG_ZUSAM/euregio_dt.html#eureg_eger Euregio Egrensis] * [http://www.Dreilaendereck-vogtland.de ''"Freunde im Herzen Europas"'' - Friends in the Heart of Europe] {{1911}} {{Cheb District}} [[Category:Cheb District]] [[Category:Cities and towns in the Czech Republic]] [[bg:Хеб]] [[cs:Cheb]] [[de:Cheb]] [[es:Cheb]] [[eo:Cheb]] [[fr:Egra]] [[is:Cheb]] [[it:Cheb]] [[la:Egra]] [[lt:Chebas]] [[nl:Cheb]] [[ja:ヘプ]] [[pl:Cheb]] [[pt:Cheb]] [[ro:Cheb]] [[ru:Хеб]] [[sk:Cheb]] [[sr:Хеб]] [[sv:Cheb]] [[zh:海布]]