Historical description

After the arrival of the Slavs, the names of the individual tribes settled around documented castles appear in legends, and these sites became the centres of the Přemyslid Bohemia castle districts from the 10th century onwards. In the following centuries, the system of church and noble tenure was consolidated in the region, the most important of which were the Litoměřice Chapter founded as early as 1057 and the families of the Berks of Dubá, the Vartemberks, the Hrabšic family and the Zajíc family of Házmburk. From the beginning of the 13th century, the network of royal towns of Žatec, Louny, Most, Ústí nad Labem and Litoměřice was established.

After somewhat peaceful times in the 14th century, the region was the scene of several battles during the Hussite campaigns. The Hussites primarily found a strong base in Žatec and Louny, and their centre in the Litoměřice area was Jan Žižka’s Kalich Castle.

From the second half of the 15th century and in the first half of the 16th century, the town of Litoměřice gained significance and gradually became the most important town in north Bohemia, even during the anti-Habsburg resistance around 1547 and the Reformation.

The burning of the Protestant church in Hrob near Teplice is considered one of the main causes of the Thirty Years’ War, which caused great suffering in the region. The subsequent poverty and recatholicisation led to a series of peasant uprisings, which were suppressed. In spite of the religious and political oppression, the region developed considerably in the Baroque period, not only in culture but also in industry. One of the first manufactories in the country and many architectural monuments were built here.

Around the middle of the 18th century, successful development was limited by a series of wars over Austrian succession, and either Austrian or Prussian armies were constantly marching through the region. The abolition of serfdom and subsequently corvée led to strong industrial development. In the first half of the 19th century, the region was the scene of the Napoleonic Wars.

In a region with a large number of workers, many labour strikes occurred beginning in the late 19th century. Before the Second World War, the region was separated from the interior and annexed by Germany, as the German population had always played a strong role there.

Perhaps the most significant influence on the development of the Ústí nad Labem region came after the end of the Second World War, when the German population was expelled as part of the principle of collective guilt and the territory was settled by people from other parts of Czechoslovakia. Most of these new settlers had no cultural ties to the area, and their undefined relationship to the region led to a numbness and indifference to the centrally promoted focus of the region on lignite mining, energy and heavy industry, which led to the devastation of the area.

After 1945, it was impossible to restore the level of historical settlement in the region, and many villages with historical traditions disappeared as a result of mining and industrial activities, or because of their location in the border zone and military areas.

After 1989, environmental programmes succeeded in reducing air and water pollution. The restructuring of industry from large enterprises to new small and medium-sized enterprises also slowly began. However, the economic transition has also brought an increase in unemployment with it.

On the basis of the reform of state administration and local government, the Ústí nad Labem region was established on 1 January 2001 as one of the 14 self-governing regions of the Czech Republic.

Important Archaeological Sites