Halže
Encyclopedia
Plzen Region
Plzeň Region is an administrative unit in the western part of Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is named after its capital Plzeň .- Communes :...
of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. It lies near the town of Tachov
Tachov
Tachov is a town in the Pilsen Region of the Czech Republic. It lies on the Mže River, some to the west from the region capital of Pilsen....
. It has around 940 inhabitants.
The natural western border is formed by the Bohemian Forest
Bohemian Forest
The Bohemian Forest, also known in Czech as Šumava , is a low mountain range in Central Europe. Geographically, the mountains extend from South Bohemia in the Czech Republic to Austria and Bavaria in Germany...
(Český les). Halže is an ideal starting point for trips to the Bohemian Forest and only a few km south-east from spa resort Mariánské Lázně
Mariánské Lázne
Mariánské Lázně is a spa town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. The town, surrounded by green mountains, is a mosaic of parks and noble houses...
.
History
The first written document mentioning Halže comes from 1479. The church of Halže was built in the years 1799 – 1801.In the 14th century the district of Tachov comprised over a hundred villages. Several important battles of the Hussite Wars
Hussite Wars
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1419 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were notable for the extensive use of early hand-held gunpowder weapons such as hand cannons...
took place throughout the Tachov region. Later the region was under the Habsburg rule since the 16th century. After the death of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia
Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia
Louis II was King of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia from 1516 to 1526.- Early life :Louis was the son of Ladislaus II Jagiellon and his third wife, Anne de Foix....
in the Battle of Mohács
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
in 1526, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
became King of Bohemia and Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
became a constituent state of the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
. In 1919, after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
whole Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
became the core of the newly formed country of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
The Tachov region fell to Germany in 1938. Following the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
in 1938, the border regions of Bohemia inhabited predominantly by ethnic German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
s (the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
) were annexed to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
; this was the single time in Bohemian history that its territory was divided.
In 1946 most German-speaking inhabitants, the majority in the village Hals and the whole Tachov area, were expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
. After the war the area was only partly repopulated.
After the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
(1989) German companies started to operate factories to make use of the cheap labour in the Tachov area.
Other towns in Tachov miniregion
- Konstantinovy LázněKonstantinovy LázněKonstantinovy Lázně is a village and municipality in Tachov District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 937 ....
, RozvadovRozvadovRozvadov is a village and municipality in Tachov District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic, on the border with Germany.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 821 ....
, StříbroStríbroStříbro is a town in the Pilsen Region of the Czech Republic, some to the west from the region capital of Pilsen.Stříbro is also the seat of the Municipality with Extended Competence....
, KladrubyKladruby (Tachov District)Kladruby is a town in the Czech Republic, in the region of Plzeň, near the town Stříbro.The Abbey of Kladruby is a large Benedictine monastery first cited 1115...
, TrpistyTrpistyChâteau Trpísty is a late baroque 18th century manor house located at Trpísty in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic...
, MilířeMilíre (Tachov District)Milíře is a village in the Czech Republik, in the region of Plzeň, near the town of Tachov .The first written document mentioning Milíře comes from 1669. The church of Miliře was built in 1814....
, TachovTachovTachov is a town in the Pilsen Region of the Czech Republic. It lies on the Mže River, some to the west from the region capital of Pilsen....
.