Děčín Castle

Děčín stands where the Ploznice flows into the Elbe, and it is this position that determines its character from time to time. The Statutory City of Děčín district in the Ústí Region occupies an area of more than 117 km ² and has approximately 46,000 inhabitants. The Elbe is divided into two halves and the whole area is permeated by a quaint river character - Děčín is therefore among the greenest Czech cities. Whoever arrives from the south will soon realize that he is standing on the threshold of the Labic Canyon, Europe's most powerful sandstone canyon.

The beginnings of the settlement are linked to the Elbe Brod, through which an important trade path passed. On today's castle rock there was a castle, which served as an administrative and defence centre. In the 13th century, the castle was replaced by a Gothic stone castle and the king Přemysl Otakar II. had the royal city built in its subbase. Děčín enters the written sources for the first time as a city in 1283.

The fourteenth century brought repeated floods, resulting in the city's centre of gravity being moved above - approximately to the level of today's Masaryk Square. At that time Děčín had the right to trade, river transport and fishing. The Hussite period has marked numerous fires. In the 16th and 17th centuries, three owners took their place on the estate before they were acquired by the Knights of Bünau. Under their rule, trade and craft production rose sharply; The city operated bricks, limestone and quarry and benefited from the port, shipyard and ferry. The Knights of Bünau held the manor until the Thirty Years War, sold it to the Thun-Hohenstein family in 1628.

After a 30-year war, the city's importance temporarily declined. The Thun used this period to reconstruct the castle into a Baroque castle surrounded by gardens. The revival came in the 18th century, when Děčín was abolished. At that time, the Thunes moved on to another reconstruction and the castle was given today's classical form.

The decisive impulse for modern development came on April 8, 1851, when the railway connection Praha- Dresden was operational. The track leading on the left bank of the Elbe started the transformation of Děčína into an industrial city. Particularly the neighbouring Podmokly, where the track was passing, has seen turbulent growth. In 1874, Děčín became a railway junction - additional tracks from Teplice, České Kamenice and Ústí nad Labem, the railway bridge was built over the Elbe and the Elbe paratroop was developed hand in hand with the tracks. The podmokles were promoted to a separate city in 1901 and in 1914 they were already around 20,000 inhabitants.

The 20th century brought deep turns to Děčín. The Munich Agreement caused the city to join Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945. In 1942 Děčín and Podmokly combined under the common name Děčín. After the war in 1945, this whole was extended to include other municipalities - Melodies, Chromince, Želenice, Vilsnice, Bynov, Belá, Boletice nad Labem, Berezády and Březiny. Since 1960, Děčín has been the administrative centre of a large district of 909 km ² with approximately 130,000 inhabitants.

For visitors, Děčín is a gateway to the landscape of the Labské sandstone and the Czech Central Fire. Castle rock with baroque and then classicically rebuilt castle, two historical cores formed from two originally separate settlements and the Elbe canyon itself give the city an unmistakable character, the roots of which go back to the imaginary castle.