Sokolov, Czech Republic

Sokolov (Czech pronunciation: [ˈsokolof], until 1948 Falknov nad Ohří; German: Falkenau an der Eger) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře and it is located to the northeast of Cheb.

For other uses, see Sokolov.
Sokolov
Town
Sokolov Château
Flag
Coat of arms
Sokolov
Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 50°10′53″N 12°38′25″E
Country Czech Republic
RegionKarlovy Vary
DistrictSokolov
First mentioned1279
Government
 • MayorRenata Oulehlová (ANO 2011)
Area
 • Total22.92 km2 (8.85 sq mi)
Elevation
401 m (1,316 ft)
Population
 (2021-01-01)[1]
 • Total22,924
 • Density1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
356 01
Websitewww.sokolov.cz

Administrative parts

Villages of Hrušková and Novina and area of former village of Vítkov are administrative parts of Sokolov.

History
Church of Saint James the Greater in the historical centre

The first written mention of Sokolov is from 13 April 1279 under the name Falkenau / Falknov. The town was a property of noble families of Nothaft and later Schlick. The Schlick family built here a small castle, which was rebuilt to a château in the 16th century.[2]

After the Battle of White Mountain the Nostic family gained Sokolov. During the Thirty Years' War the town and the château was repeatedly burned out. The town and the château was recovered in the 1760s by Jan Hartvík Nostic. In the 18th century, there was a great expansion of urban crafts and hop growing.[2]

Until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austrian side after the compromise of 1867), head of the Falkenau a.d. Eger District, one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia.[3] In 1919, the town, being part of the continuous German Sprachraum, was proclaimed part of the Republic of German-Austria, but shortly afterwards became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic.

From 1938 to 1945 it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. During World War II, Falkenau was the site of a sub-camp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp. The camp at Falkenau was captured by the U.S. 1st Infantry Division on 6 May 1945. Nearly all of the town's population, being Germans, were expelled after 1945. It was renamed Sokolov in 1948 in honour of the Battle of Sokolovo in which Czechoslovak soldiers had fought alongside Soviet soldiers on the Eastern Front in World War II.

Demography
Historical population
YearPop.±%
18694,370—    
18805,250+20.1%
18906,530+24.4%
19008,679+32.9%
191010,126+16.7%
YearPop.±%
192111,429+12.9%
193012,647+10.7%
19509,777−22.7%
196115,242+55.9%
197018,256+19.8%
YearPop.±%
198024,763+35.6%
199125,210+1.8%
200125,081−0.5%
201123,347−6.9%
202122,924−1.8%
Source: Historical lexicon of municipalities of the Czech Republic[4]

Sport

The town is home to a professional football club, FK Baník Sokolov.

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic

Sokolov is twinned with:[5]

References
  1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2021". Czech Statistical Office. 2021-04-30.
  2. "Historie města Sokolov" (in Czech). Město Sokolov. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  3. Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890, Wilhelm Klein, 1967
  4. "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011 – Okres Sokolov" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21. pp. 9–10.
  5. "Partnerská města" (in Czech). Město Sokolov. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
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