Ústí nad Labem (Aussig an der Elbe in German) is a statutory town in
northern Bohemia, the center of the Ústí Region. It lies at the
confluence of the Elbe and Bílina rivers between the Český středohoří
and the Ore Mountains. Approximately 90,000 inhabitants live here and it
is part of the North Bohemian agglomeration of half a million people.
Ústí nad Labem is a university town with an industrial tradition and
sports facilities, an important railway and road junction. Ústí nad
Labem is 90 kilometers northwest of Prague, 180 kilometers northeast of
Pilsen, 130 kilometers east of Karlovy Vary, 95 kilometers southwest of
Liberec and 65 kilometers southeast of Dresden, Germany.
Name
The name was probably derived from the old Czech word ustie (estuary)
due to its location at the confluence of two rivers. The name Aussig an
der Elbe has been used in the German language since at least the 15th
century. The city was predominantly German-speaking for most of its
existence.
In Latin records from 1368 (in the records of the
Prague Benedictines at St. George's) the name Vsk super Albium is
documented. The name Austia super Albea was used in the title of the
City Book of Courts and Memorials, founded in 1438 as part of the
restoration of the city 12 years after the Hussite conquest and kept
until 1514. The memorial book was first written in Latin, from 1440 some
entries were also in German, and in 1474 Czech appeared, which
predominated around 1490. In the title of the book of wills kept in the
years 1504–1585, the town is referred to as Ausigh super Albea, entries
also alternate in three languages, initially Czech prevails.
By plane
Prague Airport (IATA: PRG) and Dresden Airport (IATA:
DRS) are both less than 90 kilometers away by road. You can get from
Dresden Airport to Ústí in just under two hours by S-Bahn and EC via
Dresden-Neustadt. From Prague Airport it takes 2:10 hours by bus and
train via Praha hl.n.
By train
The Ústí nad Labem hlavní
nádraží railway station is on the international line between Dresden and
Prague. Eurocity trains from Hamburg (journey time 5:20 hours), Berlin
(just under 3 hours) and Dresden (just over 1 hour) and Prague (1:10
hours) stop here every two hours.
Express trains (R) of the Czech
Railways (ČD) from Prague also run every two hours - staggered to the
ECs - in the opposite direction from Cheb (2:40 hours), Karlovy Vary
(1:55 hours) and Chomutov (1: 05 hrs). There is also an express train
connection with Liberec (about 2 hours) and Česká Lípa (1 hour) every
two hours. There are several connections per hour between Ústí and
nearby Děčín (EC, express train R or regional train Os), the journey
takes 15 to 25 minutes depending on the type of train. Acuh between Ústí
and Teplice you have the choice between express and regional trains, the
journey takes about 20 minutes.
The Elbe-Labe ticket is ideal for
arrivals from the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (VVO; Dresden and Saxon
Switzerland area). However, it does not apply in the Eurocity, but you
can z. B. From Bad Schandau or Schmilka in Saxon Switzerland, take the
regional train to Děčín and change there to a Czech express train to
Ústí (journey time from Bad Schandau a total of 55 minutes).
In
the street
Ústí is on the Czech Autobahn D8 Prague-Dresden, which is
a continuation of the German A17 (Dresden-Prague). For the 70 km from
Dresden you have to plan around an hour's drive; for the 90 km from
Prague just over an hour.
Anyone who is afraid of tunnels or
wants to save on the Czech motorway toll (vignette) can instead take the
old route via the B170 (Dippoldiswalde, Altenberg, Teplice) or the
scenic route through the Elbe valley that cuts into Saxon Switzerland (B
172: Pirna, Bad Schandau, Děčín).
By bicycle
The Elbe Cycle
Route, which is also designated as the European long-distance cycle
route EuroVelo 7, leads through Ústí. It is 70 km downstream from Mělník
and 25 km from Litoměřice. You can also cycle from Prague to Ústí via
the Vltava and Elbe cycle paths (a total of 125 km). In the upstream
direction, it is 93 km from Dresden, 72 km from Pirna, 48 km from Bad
Schandau, and 26 km from Děčín.
The city transport company Dopravní podnik města Ústí nad Labem
(DPMUL) operates 11 trolleybus and 13 ordinary bus lines in urban
transport. Central stopping points, where most lines meet, are the
square in front of the main train station (Hlavní nádraží), Mírové
náměstí (Peace Square) and Revoluční in the city center.
A
330-metre-long cable car (Lanová dráha Větruše) connects the OC Forum
shopping center in the south of the city center with the top of Větruše
hill, on which a chateau hotel and restaurant is located.
churches
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (kostel
Nanebevzetí P. Marie, Kostel Nanebevzetí Panny Marie). Gothic
three-aisled hall church on the main square in Ústí nad Labem.
Originally consecrated in 1318, it has been damaged, rebuilt and rebuilt
several times over the centuries. In 1897, as part of a thorough
renovation based on a design by Josef Mocker, it was given a neo-Gothic
character. It was severely damaged during American bombing raids in
1945, and since then the tower has been noticeably inclined, which is
why it is also called the "Church with the Leaning Tower".
Church of
Saint Adalbert (Kostel svatého Vojtěcha), Hradiště 97/4, Ústí nad Labem
wikipediacommons. Baroque church designed by Octavio Broggio, built
1704–34.
St. Paul's Church (kostel apoštola sv. Pavla, "Red Church";
Kostel svatého Pavla, Červený kostel), Horova 12, Ústí n. Labem, 400 01
wikipediacommons. Red brick evangelical church built in 1904-1906 in
neo-Romanesque style with Art Nouveau elements. It is used
simultaneously by the two Protestant churches of the Czech Brethren and
the Hussites.
palaces and castles
Střekov Castle (zřícenina
hradu Střekov, Schreckenstein), Na Zacházce 844 400 03 (4 km walk from
the Main Train Station or bus 17 or 27 direction "Pod Hradem"). Email:
hrad.strekov@volny.cz. The castle ruins are the symbol of Ústí nad
Labem. It stands prominently on a 100 meter high, steeply rising,
monolithic clinker rock over the Elbe. The hilltop castle dates back to
the early 14th century and was rebuilt and expanded in the 16th century.
After the Thirty Years' War it was abandoned and fell into disrepair. In
the 19th century, the Schreckenstein attracted romantic artists such as
Caspar David Friedrich and Ludwig Richter, who captured it in their
pictures, and Richard Wagner, who found inspiration here for his opera
Tannhäuser. Price: 75Kč (adults), 55Kč (children 6-15 years, students,
pensioners), children under 6 years 1Kč.
Velké Březno Castle (zámek,
Grand Priesen), 403 23 Velké Březno (10 km from the center of Ústí nad
Labem, accessible by bus (line 13) or train). Tel.: +420 475 228 331,
e-mail: zamek.velkebrezno@usti.npu.cz . Empire-style palace built in
1842-56 on a ridge above the Elbe valley. The architect was Ludwig
Förster, who also designed the Arsenal in Vienna and the Great Synagogue
in Budapest. A landscape park with an arboretum made of precious wood
belongs to the chateau. Open: 10:00-18:00 (May-September). Price: 90Kč,
60Kč (children).
Castle Krásné Březno (zámek, Schönpriesen) .
Renaissance castle from around 1600. In the 19th century an extension,
the so-called new castle, was added.
Buildings
Mariánský most
(St. Mary's Bridge). Striking cable-stayed bridge over the Elbe from the
1990s.
Most Dr. Edvarda Beneše (Dr. Edvard Beneš Bridge). Inaugurated
in 1936, a steel arch bridge over the Elbe between the city center (main
station) and the Střekov district on the other side of the river. It is
named after the former Czechoslovak President Beneš, from 1938 to 1945
it was called Hermann Göring Bridge. After the end of the war, the Ústí
massacre took place here on July 31, 1945, in which between 43 and 220
German civilians were murdered. A commemorative plaque in Czech and
German, dedicated in 2005, commemorates this.
Municipal Theater
(Severočeské divadlo opery a baletu), Lidické náměstí 10. Elegant
neo-Baroque theater building with Art Nouveau elements, built in
1908–09. Hall with over 800 seats. The ceiling painting is remarkable.
Administration building of the Spolchemie chemical works (správní budova
Spolku per chemickou a hutní výrobu, Správní budova Spolchemie),
Revoluční 86. 11-storey office tower built in 1929-30 in the style of
Expressionism and Functionalism, designed by the Dresden architect Max
Hans Kühne (Büro Lossow & Kühne ). From its completion it was the
tallest building in Czechoslovakia for four years. Maybe not beautiful
in the eyes of most, but an interesting testimony to architectural
history and a listed building since 2014.
Museums
City Museum
(Bývalá škola, Muzeum města Ústí nad Labem), Masarykova 1000/3. The
museum is housed in a representative neo-Renaissance school building
from 1876. Neo-Renaissance. Exhibitions on the history of the city,
history of technology, archaeology, geology and natural history. The
building also houses the magnificent Kaisersaal, which was set up for
city council meetings and representative community events.
Parks
Zoo Ústí nad Labem (Zoologická zahrada Ústí nad Labem), Drážďanská
454/23 (By bus about 2km from the city center). Tel.: +420 475 503 421,
e-mail: zoo@zoousti.cz. More than 200 animal species including
orangutan, rhinocerus and leopard. Open: 9am-6pm (April 1st to October
31st), 9am-4pm (November 1st to March 31st). Price: 120Kč (adults), 60Kč
Various
Dam Střekov (zdymadlo) . Dam wall built in 1924-36 to
generate energy on the Elbe below Střekov Castle. At the time of its
inauguration, it was one of the most modern hydroelectric power plants
in Europe.
Brewery Krásné Březno (Pivovar Krásné Březno) . Ústí has a
long brewing tradition. Today the brewery is part of the Heineken Group
and produces Zlatopramen beer. Březňák also comes from Ústí, but from
the smaller Velké Březno brewery.
Erbova vyhlídka . Observation tower
on the top of the hill of the same name, 420 meters high, north of the
city.
HC Slovan Usti nad Labem, Zlatopramen Arena. The ice hockey team
plays in the Czech premier league.
Činoherní studio Ústí nad Labem
(Alhambra cinema), Varšavská 767/7, Varšavská 767, 400 03 Ústí nad
Labem-Střekov . Municipal theater with a progressive programme.
Severočeské divadlo opery a baletu (North Bohemian Opera and Ballet
Theatre), Lidické náměstí 10 . Classic music and dance theater.
Collegium Bohemicum, Masarykova 1000/3. Tel.: +420 413 034 583, e-mail:
info@collegiumbohemicum.cz . German-Czech cultural, educational and
research institution; changing events on points of contact between Czech
and German culture. Exhibition on German cultural heritage in the Czech
lands.
Clarion Congress Hotel Usti nad Labem, Špitálské náměstí 3517. Tel.:
+420 270 004 200, E-Mail: reception.cchu@clarion-hotels.cz.
Interhotel Bohemia, Mírové náměstí 2442/6 (Rechts vom Hauptplatz im
Stadtzentrum). Phone: +420 222 500 555.
Pension Komtesa, Velka
Hradebni 763/39 (ca. 159 vom Hauptplatz der Stadt (Peace Square)). Tel.:
+420 777 322 986, E-Mail: info@penzionkomtesa.cz. Pension with WiFi and
TV.
Hotel Větruše (Větruše), Fibichova 392. Tel.: +420 474 620 330,
E-Mail: hotel@hotelvetruse.cz. Hotel with Restaurant.
Jan Evangelist Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (Univerzita Jana
Evangelisty Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem, Univerzita Jana Evangelisty
Purkyně, UJEP) . University with an international focus. There are
numerous courses taught in English in the fields of art and design,
humanities, education, environment, health, mechanical engineering,
natural sciences, social sciences and economics.
Severočeská vědecká
knihovna (SVKUL; North Bohemian Scientific Library), W. Churchilla 3.
E-mail: knihovna@svkul.cz . Regional library, which also fulfills the
function of the city library. The main building is located in the listed
Villa Weinmann, an industrial villa built in 1929/30. The children's
department, lending library for fiction and popular scientific
literature and the music department are housed there. There is a reading
room at Velká Hradební 49. There are also seven branches in different
parts of the city.
The area with the oldest historical tradition is around the
nearby village of Stadice, located in the Bílina river valley. The
Czech chronicler Kosmas attributes the story of the legend about the
birth of the Přemyslov family here. According to his story, it was
here that the legendary Přemysl the Plowman was invited to leave his
plow, marry Princess Libuša and sit on the princely throne. The
Přemysl family ruled Bohemia from approximately 800 until 1306.
Přemysl Otakar II. promoted Ústí to a city, probably in the middle
of the 13th century. The privileges that the city received from its
founder were confirmed and expanded by John of Luxembourg. The city
was governed by Magdeburg law, had the right of free navigation and
the right of miles.
During the Hussite Wars, the town
occupied by the Margrave of Meissen was besieged by the Hussites,
and the fighting culminated in the summer of 1426 with a battle in a
place that has since been called Na Běhání. As the name suggests,
the German troops were defeated. After that, Jakoubek from Vřesovice
took over the government in Ústí. Chronicles of the time state that
the victors let the local German-speaking population continue to
live peacefully. Unlike a number of other royal cities, Ústí did not
acquire any land during the Hussite wars, and the city's prestige
declined in the following period. The city reached its peak
development in the second half of the 16th and the first decade of
the 17th century. Thanks to the fact that it did not participate in
the failed uprising against Ferdinand I in 1547, it was not punished
and achieved at least relative economic prosperity. From the second
half of the 16th century, mainly as a result of population
immigration, the German element in Ústí significantly strengthened,
which gradually prevailed.
The Thirty Years' War, during
which Ústí became a victim of various campaigns seven times, brought
great decline to the city. It was also the cause of a protracted
population crisis lasting more than two centuries. In the following
years, Ústí nad Labem remained for a long time only a small
agricultural center with a population of no more than 2,000, until
1830, when, as a result of rapid industrial development, the
population began to grow unusually. In the vicinity of the villages
of Chlumec, Přestanov, Stradov, Žandov and Telnice, in the summer of
1813, after Slavkov, the second largest battle of the Napoleonic
Wars fought on Austrian territory took place. On August 29 and 30,
there was a battle at Přestanov and Chlumec, followed by a whole
series of local skirmishes, which culminated on September 16 and 17
of the same year with the battle at Varvažov. Several monuments
commemorate these events.
Development in the 19th century
Economic growth has brought many significant positive changes. In
the period from 1800 to 1830, after long decades of stagnation, the
first twenty houses were built, most of them on Skrivánek, in places
known as Uhelný lom (Kohlbruch). The medieval and Renaissance city
walls that surrounded Ústí nad Labem were demolished during the
1840s.
Contemporary sources from these years state that the
inhabitants of Ústí are engaged in agriculture, growing vines and
cucumbers, trade and transport of fruit and coal along the Elbe.
Among the crafts and industries represented in Ústí are weaving,
drapery, textile industry, paint production, paper mills, braiding
and small domestic production, 60 lignite mines are open in the
vicinity of the city.
An unprecedented boom in shipping and
shipbuilding played a significant role. Two harbors were created
here, and the arrival of the steamship Bohemia under the command of
the British captain J. Ruston in May 1841 became the impetus for the
start of regular river navigation. Work on the
Prague–Podmokly–Dresden railway began in the spring of 1845, and the
line was completed in 1851.
In 1860, 7,950 inhabitants lived
in the city, which is a full fourfold increase compared to 1840. In
1880, despite the war and considerable losses caused by repeated
epidemics of cholera, typhus and smallpox, the local population
already reached 16,524 people. In the critical year of 1873, when
the wave of cholera was at its peak, one in fifteen people died in
the city. In the years of epidemics, the number of deaths exceeded
the number of births, but at the same time immigration always
increased. In 1867, a new brewery was established, in which beer was
produced under the Zlatopramen brand (originally Aussiger Bier)
until 2011. The first bridge over the Elbe, intended for both road
and rail transport, was constructed in 1872, thereby connecting the
city to the planned Berlin-Baghdad railway and other important
places. Seven years after the completion of the railway in Prague,
operations began on the line to Teplice, extended in 1870 to
Chomutov. Favorable rail and ship transport connections and easily
accessible sources of energy in the form of powerful deposits of
brown coal in close proximity to the city contributed to its
extensive industrialization. At the end of the 19th century, the
Ústí port on the Elbe surpassed even Trieste, the largest in
Austria-Hungary at the time, by the volume of transported goods, and
thus became the most prominent port of the entire monarchy.
According to the census carried out in 1910, the local population,
compared to the beginning of the 19th century, when only around 2,000
inhabitants lived here, reached almost 40,000, making it one of the
largest cities in Bohemia after Prague, Pilsen, České Budějovice and
Liberec . At that time, Ústí nad Labem consisted of only three
settlements: Klíše, Krásné Březno and the town itself. However, its
agglomeration also included Bukov, Předlice and Střekov, with a total of
63,000 inhabitants living in it by 1930.
National Crisis, World
War II
However, the extraordinary economic prosperity also brought
negative effects, in addition to environmental pollution and the
destruction of most historical monuments, there was also a growing
escalation of social and national conflicts between the German and Czech
minority populations. In May 1935, under the banner of the Sudeten
German Party, Konrád Henlein spoke in Ústí on náměstí, and in the
parliamentary elections his party received a majority of 23
participants, 16,494 (58%) out of a total of 28,331 votes. As part of
the construction of the Czechoslovak border fortifications, the
construction of light fortification lines model 36 (along the Bílina
river) and later řopík (along the Elbe) began in Ústí nad Labem in the
summer of 1936. After the conclusion of the Munich Agreement, the city
was annexed to the German Empire on October 9, 1938 as part of the
Sudetenland. Czech teachers had to leave schools in the Sudetenland,
many Czechs had to leave their homes in this area. A protectorate decree
was issued that Czech teachers from the Sudetenland may not be accepted
for service at other schools. The fates of many Czechs from the
Sudetenland, including those from Ústí, remained unclear.
On 17
and 19 April 1945, a fifth of the city center was almost razed to the
ground by Allied air raids, claiming more than 500 lives. The attacks
caused significant damage to the Nazis, but there were also mistakes,
whose civilian victims became a grateful morsel of propaganda - both
Nazi and later communist.
Between 1945 and 1948, 53,000 Germans
were displaced from the region. In their place came settlers from the
Czech lands, Slovakia, Romania and the Soviet Union. On July 31, 1945,
an unexplained massacre of the German population took place in Ústí,
during which about 80–100 people were killed.
The period of
socialism
After the Communists took over, the removal of war damage
continued and heavy industry developed. At the beginning of the 1960s,
the city adopts a comprehensive reconstruction plan, which envisages the
demolition of the vast majority of the historic buildings in the center
and their replacement by modern construction. This was then applied
mainly in the 1970s and 1980s, when large-scale remediation was carried
out, new massive buildings were built on the sites of the original
buildings, transport structures and the overall character of the urban
core changed. The demolition on Masaryk (at that time Fučík) avenue is
often referred to as the most extensive blasting in Czechoslovakia at
the time. At the same time, a number of housing estates are being built,
mostly on elevated parts of the city due to better air quality.
After 1989
In the first half of the 1990s, the city's development
stagnated, despite improving living conditions, Ústí did not get rid of
its bad reputation, it struggled with relatively high unemployment and
several socially excluded localities arose (e.g. in Matiční Street). The
turning point came only with the beginning of the new millennium. A
massive rebuilding and reconstruction of the center began (among other
things, the repair of Mírové náměstí and adjacent streets, the main
station and the surrounding area, the completion of gaps created during
the war and socialism), support for sports and culture increased, the
People in Need organization launched a social integration program.