Loket (German: Elbogen) is a town in the northeastern part of the Sokolov district. Approximately 3,100 inhabitants live here. Loket lies at the foot of the Slavkov Forest in the meander of the Ohře River and used to be an important royal town and the center of the Loket region. Elbow is a popular tourist destination. The dominant feature of the town is a Gothic castle overlooking a stone promontory above the river. The picturesque city center is a monument reserve.
In 1980, the historic core was declared a city
monument reserve.
The dominant feature of the town is Loket
Castle from the 12th century. In addition to the Czech kings, the
Šliks from Jáchymov and also the lords from Plavno took turns in
possession. In the second half, the castle began to serve as a
prison, and it was that way until 1948. After that, it was
nationalized and abandoned. After 1989, its reconstruction took
place and the castle is open to the public.
There is an
international motocross track near the city, where international
races of the MXGP series are held every year.
City fortifications
St. Wenceslas Church
Column of the Holy Trinity
Hotel U Bílého
koné
City Hall
Marian Column
Chapel of Saint Anne
Chapel
of Our Lady
Founding of the castle and town
The history of the Loket
castle dates back to the 12th century, the foundation of the town
below it is of a younger date (the first written mention of Loket
dates from 1234; it is also mentioned in Latin as Cubitum) and is
probably related to the German colonization of the border by
Wenceslaus I. By the beginning of the 14th century, the grid was
completed royal cities of Bohemia and Moravia. The government of the
Czech king Přemysl Otakar II contributed the most to this. Only he
gave the pace of urbanization the necessary dynamism. The network of
royal cities thickened and practically completed.
Loket also
belongs to more than fifty cities connected with the foundations of
this great king, as historian Josef Žemlička writes in his
publication Přemysl Otakar II. king at the edge of the ages.
Žemlička further writes that the strong castle in Lokti belonged to
the land supports on the border with Chebsk from the second quarter
of the 13th century. Under Přemysl Otakar II. gained in Loketsk at
the pace of colonization penetrating from Chebsk. It can therefore
be assumed that the king's initiative to populate the borderlands
led to the establishment of a municipality under the Loket castle,
even if the opinions on this are not clear-cut. The king equipped
the Loket castle fortress with a system of manors, whose hereditary
users he removed from provincial jurisdiction and assigned to the
court of the burgrave or the king, although clear documents date
back to the time of John of Luxembourg. The existence of the Manx
system in Loketsk can be derived from the Manx system founded by
Přemysl Otakar II. in Kladsk, where some charters of privileges have
been preserved.
From the above, it can be concluded without
much construction that Loket belonged to the area of strong interest
of Přemysl Otakar II. in the fortification and settlement of the
borderlands, just as it is with the nearby Ostrov and Kadana.
After a geological survey by Friedrich Mohs in 1811, during which kaolin deposits were discovered, Josefa Haidingerová bought land here. In 1816, her sons, brothers Evžen and Rudolf Haidingerová, built a pottery kiln, brought in professional employees (spinners, mallets, modelers and painters), of whom they already had twelve at the end of 1817. A porcelain manufactory was established, advertised as a branch of the Viennese porcelain factory. After the Vienna Inspectorate found deficiencies and ended its patronage, the porcelain factory received its own provincial privilege in 1818 from the governorate. After overcoming the crisis, a very successful production of tableware and pharmaceutical containers began in 1821, which continues under various brands (Gebrüder Haidinger, 1873–1918 Springer et al., From 1918 Epiag) to this day.
The city is located in the Ohře valley and its significant meander.
Kamenitý potok and Stoka also flow here, which flow into Ohře in Lokti.
In the cadastral territory of the city is the natural monument Moučná
pytle.
Elkot lies on the Karlovy Vary pluton, i.e. an igneous
body that determines the geological structure. The predominant rocks are
of granitic origin (granite and its metamorphisms). A geological
peculiarity is the occurrence of the so-called Karlovy Vary twin, which
is a specific form of feldspar.
From a geomorphological point of
view, Loket is located above the meander of the Ohře River, created in
the shape of a cubit, i.e. a human elbow. This shape was then reflected
in the name of the city. The town itself overlooks the Ohři River from a
rock promontory (again of granite origin). The entire area is
characterized by its undulating surface, which was formed after the
Alpine-Carpathian folding, when the so-called Podorušnohorský breach was
created, the southern border of which runs north of the town of Loket.
To the south lies the Slavkovský forest, which is both a protected
landscape area and an upland area. While the surrounding peaks offer
views from 530 to 658 meters above sea level, the average elevation of
the city is 427 meters.
The Ohře River forms the water backbone
of the region. It is connected by numerous tributaries, in Lokta
specifically: Loučský potok (left), Kamenitý potok (right), Stoka
(right) and other smaller streams with a short flow (up to 1000 meters).
Apart from the watercourses, there is no other body of water worth
mentioning.
The soil cover is due to the development and
fragmentation of the local terrain. Podzols and brown soils are mostly
found here. Only in the vicinity of Ohra can one speak of fluvial soils.
The nature of the land is determined, among other things, by
afforestation: of the city's 26.74 km² area, a full 18.12 km² (67%) is
forested and only 7% is arable land.
The climate in Lokti is
mild, the average temperature for the last 15 years is 7.9 °C and the
average annual rainfall is 646 millimeters. The climate is greatly
influenced by the Ore Mountains, which create a rain shadow during the
northwesterly flow, and precipitation almost does not occur here during
this wet flow compared to the rest of the Czech Republic. On the other
hand, with a south-westerly flow, the precipitation on the Ore Mountains
stops and it can rain here for several days. The minimum temperature
measured here for the last 15 years is −23.4 °C on January 6, 2002, and
the maximum temperature is 38.1 °C on July 16, 2007. The measurements
here are carried out by amateur meteorologist Karel Hrdlička.
From a biospheric point of view, the average Czech biota is found here,
a temperate forest with deciduous and coniferous vegetation. The fauna
here is similar to that in the rest of the republic (a so-called fish
passage is built at the upper weir).
In the 1921 census, there were 3,837 inhabitants, of whom 69 were Czechoslovaks, 3,660 Germans, three Jews and 105 foreigners. 3,678 inhabitants joined the Roman Catholic Church, 90 inhabitants joined the Evangelical Church, 55 belonged to the Church of Israel, nine belonged to another church and five were of no religion.