Chomutov

Chomutov
Town
General view from the northwest
Flag
Country Czech Republic
Region Ústí nad Labem
District Chomutov
Elevation 340 m (1,115 ft)
Coordinates 50°27′40″N 13°25′00″E / 50.46111°N 13.41667°E / 50.46111; 13.41667Coordinates: 50°27′40″N 13°25′00″E / 50.46111°N 13.41667°E / 50.46111; 13.41667
Area 29.26 km2 (11.30 sq mi)
Population 49,187 (As of 2013)
Density 1,681/km2 (4,354/sq mi)
First mentioned 29 March 1252
Mayor Marek Hrabáč (ANO)
Postal code 430 01
Location in the Czech Republic
Location in Chomutov District
Wikimedia Commons: Chomutov
Website: www.chomutov-mesto.cz

Chomutov (Czech pronunciation: [ˈxomutof]; German: Komotau) is a town in the Czech Republic, in the Ústí nad Labem Region. Chomutov has been a statutory town since 1 July 2006. It occupies an area of 29,26 km² and has 50 782 inhabitants (2008), thereby making it the 20th largest town in the Czech Republic, the 4th largest in the Ústí nad Labem region and the biggest in the Chomutov district. There are almost 80 000 inhabitants in the town's wider metropolitan area.

Location and natural conditions

The town with the historical heart on the left side of the river Chomutovka[1] shore in altitude of 234m is extended in Chomutovsko-Teplice basin by the foot of the Ore Mountains. The surface is mostly flat only the parts in the north and southeast protrude to the hillside about several tens meters.

Administrative division

Chomutov is a municipality with extended authority. There is one municipality with an authorized municipality office Jirkov and another 23 municipalities [this is an ambiguous translation from Czech to English]. The administrative territory of Chomutov borders with Germany in the north. Additionally, it borders with the municipality territories of town Kadaň in the west, Louny in the south, Most in the east and Litvínov in the northeast. A municipality with extended responsibilities represents a new type of municipality which holds certain administrative powers delegated from the state government. A municipality with an authorized municipality office is delegated some parts of the authority of a municipality with extended authority. Thus, it is a smaller municipality than a municipality with extended authority, whereas the latter is under the authority of an administrative district 9.

Municipality with extended activities

  • 1 – Chomutov

Municipality with authorized municipality office

  • 2 – Jirkov

History of town

In 1252 Chomutov came into the possession of the Teutonic Order. The Gothic church of St. Catharine built during that era still stands to this day. In 1396 Chomutov received a town charter, and in 1416 the knights sold both the town and the lordship to Wenceslaus IV. On March 16, 1421, the town was stormed, sacked and burned by the Taborites. After several upheavals and changes of ownership, Chomutov was taken by Popel of Lobkovic in 1588, who established Jesuit rule, leading to trouble between the Protestant citizens and the town's new overlord. In 1594 the feudal lordship fell to the crown, and in 1605 the town purchased its freedom and was made a royal city. After the Thirty Years' War, Chomutov stagnated. Rapid development did not come until the second half of the 19th century, with advances in the mining and heavy industries.

By 1938 Chomutov had over 30,000 inhabitants. Part of the Sudetenland, it had a population comprising about 95% ethnic Germans. A very small Jewish population, (444 in 1930 − 1.3% of the total population), came under increasing pressure, and Chomutov was declared "Judenrein" on September 23, 1938 by the increasingly pro-Nazi administration.[2] A week later, Chomutov and its surrounding districts were occupied by Nazi Germany as a result of the 1938 Munich Agreement. This broader, north-western border area of what is the modern-day Czech Republic was annexed by Germany and reorganized as the Reichsgau Sudetenland.

After 1945, the German population was expelled with great brutality.[3][4] Industrial facilities and large high-rise housing projects were then built to redevelop the area. In the late 1970s an urban settlement was built, linking Chomutov with its neighbouring Jirkov. Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the heavy industry significantly decreased its activity, but the environment in and around the town has been visibly improved. The leisure facilities of the area were emphasised, notably the Alum lake, the Chomutov Zoo,[5] and the Bezruč Valley recreational area.

Development of population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1702 1,129—    
1811 2,967+162.8%
1843 4,014+35.3%
1869 8,183+103.9%
1880 11,707+43.1%
YearPop.±%
1900 19,813+69.2%
1921 20,894+5.5%
1930 33,001+57.9%
1950 28,848−12.6%
1970 39,905+38.3%
YearPop.±%
1991 53,107+33.1%
2003 50,251−5.4%
2013 49,187−2.1%

Historical sights

The centre of historical town is oblong and it is edged by arcades. The Square of 1 May with its baroque Pillar of Trinity by Ambrož Laurentis from 1697, which is banked by seven statues of saints from years 1725–1732.

Pillar of Trinity

The Town Hall is situated in the northwest side and it used to be a commendam until 1607. Town Hall borders with the most valuable building in the town which is the church of St. Catherine built in early Gothic style and finished in 1281.

On the opposite side of the north direction there is the church of Assumption Virgin Mary in late Gothic style from years 1518–1542 and it borders with 53m tall Town Tower which was renovated after the fire in 1525 and which is used as an observation tower.

Church of Saint Ignatius

At the end of the south side there is a Baroque church of St. Ignatz with two towers on the north frontage which was built for Jesuits by Carlem Luragem in years 1663–1671. The building called Špejchar from the 17th century was used by Jesuits as earlier church and it adjoins the east side of the church of St. Ignatz. Nowadays it is used as a gallery. There is a Jesuitical dormitory in the south neighboring of the church of St. Ignatz from the 16th and 17th century which is nowadays a settlement of a town museum. The most important building from the Gothic citizens' houses is the late Gothic house no.: 9, known as Collin's which is at the bottom of the northeast side of the square.

Alum Lake is the water plane in altitude of 337m at the northeast edge of Chomutov. It was caused at the end of the 18th century by flowage after the mining of the space from the years 1558–1785. Its dimension is 240 to 676m and it occupies the area of 16, 3 ha, the maximum depth is 3,25m and its capacity is 285 000 m³. The high content (about 1%) of alum in the water from Alum Lake is as a small Dead Sea, because it prevents the lake from the growth of weed and anabaena. For that reason it is very frequently visited by many people in summer months.

The Ore Mountains Zoo borders with the Alum Lake at the north side. It is a Zoo concentrated mostly on breeding European and mainly domestic wild animals (wolf, European bison, etc.).

Bezruč Valley is 13 km long and 200m deep woody valley on the river Chomutovka at the northwestern side of the town and it is famous place for trips.

The Hill Strážiště (551) rises over the northern edge of Chomutov and on its peak there is a hotel with an observation tower.

Culture

Galleries:

  • Lurago[6]
  • Špejchar
  • Na Schodech

Cinemas:

  • Oko
  • Summer cinema
  • Svět (opened since 2011)

Theatres:

  • The City theatre

Museums:

  • Town Hall
  • Grammar school

Sport centers:

  • Local swimming pool
  • Minigolf
  • Golf club
  • Skate Park
  • Squash Centrum
  • Summer stadium
  • Winter stadium

Transport

Roads through Chomutov:

Railways in Chomutov:

Public transport Transport around the town Chomutov is obtained by buses since 1995 and also by trolleybuses[7] (the newest trolleybus transport). The runner of the trolleybus link is The Public Transport of Chomutov and Jirkov.[8]

People

  • Matthäus Aurogallus (1490–1543), scholar
  • Simona Baumrtová (1991-), a Czech swimmer
  • Ernst Eichler (1925–2005), German sportsman
  • Franz Josef von Gerstner (1756–1832), mathematician
  • Franz Höfer von Feldsturm (1861–1918), Austrian Fieldmarshal
  • Max Fleischer (1880–1941), German-Jewish poet, Chomutov native, died in a concentration camp
  • Ernst Fischer (1899–1972), Austrian politician, writer
  • Hans Goldmann(1899–1991), a Swiss ophthalmologist, a rector at the University in Bern
  • Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová (1978- ), a Czech pole vaulter
  • Vlastimil Harapes (1946-), a Czech dancer, director and choreographer
  • Ernst Hassler (1922–), German author
  • Erich Heller (1911–1990), British philosopher and literary scholar
  • Rainer Holbe (1940–), German TV host
  • Marian Korn (1914-1987), printmaker
  • Petr Klíma (1964-), a Czech hockey player, defected to US at 18 to play in NHL
  • Edwin Kratschmer (1931–), German author
  • Ruth Maria Kubitschek (1931–), German actress
  • Uschi Nerke (1944–), German TV host
  • Jiří Žáček (1945-), a Czech poet, writer and translator

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  2. ↑ "CHOMUTOV: Bohemia - czech-republic- - International Jewish Cemetery Project". Iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  3. ↑ App, Dr. Austin J., PhD, The Sudeten-German Tragedy, Maryland, 1979.
  4. ↑ de Zayas, Alfred Maurice, A Terrible Revenge, New York, 2nd edition, 1994.
  5. ↑ "Zoopark Chomutov". Zoopark.cz. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "The Lurago gallery". Skks.cz. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Trolleybuses in Chomutov". Tram.rusign.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Úvodní stránka - Dopravní podnik měst Chomutova a Jirkova". Dpchj.cz. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.