Žatec (; german: Saaz) is a town in

Louny District Louny District ( cs, okres Louny) is one of seven districts ('' okres'') located within the Ústí nad Labem Region in the Czech Republic. Its administrative center is the town of Louny. Louny is the largest district in the Ústí nad Labem regi ...

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 La ...

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 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 dea ...

. 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, 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 Cat ...

in 1419 to 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 ...

, 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 Huss ...

or Protestant, but after the Battle of White Mountain (1620) the greater part of the Czech inhabitants left the town. It remained German people, German and Roman Catholic until 1945, when the German speaking inhabitants were Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, expelled to Germany. On 3 June 1945, about 5,000 German inhabitants were gathered on the Market place and marched to Postoloprty, 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 hops or Žatec hops is a Geographical indications and traditional specialities in the European Union, protected designation of origin. 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.

In popular culture

Žatec was used as a filming location for many historical films and TV series, including ''Yentl (film), Yentl'' (1983), ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' (1992), ''Les Misérables (1998 film), Les Misérables'' (1998), The Scarlet Pimpernel (TV series), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999), ''Oliver Twist (1999 TV series), Oliver Twist'' (1999), ''Burning Bush (miniseries), Burning Bush'' (2013), ''The Zookeeper's Wife (film), The Zookeeper's Wife'' (2016), and 92nd Academy Awards, Oscar-winning ''Jojo Rabbit (2018)''.

Notable people

*Johannes von Tepl (c. 1350 – c. 1415), writer *Eugen Gura (1842–1906), German operatic baritone *Gabriel Anton (1858–1933), Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist *Adolf Strauss (composer), Adolf Strauss (1902–1944), pianist and composer *Maria Treben (1907–1991), Austrian author and herbalist *Karel Reiner (1910–1979), composer and pianist *Peter Glaser (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 (born 1965), film director

Twin towns – sister cities

Žatec is Sister city, twinned with: * Krasnystaw, Poland * Poperinge, Belgium * Thum, Germany * Municipality of Žalec, 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