Chodov (Sokolov District)

Chodov (Czech pronunciation: [ˈxodof]; German: Chodau) is a town in Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of about 13,000 people.

Chodov
Town
Saint Lawrence Church
Flag Coat of arms
Chodov Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 50°14′29″N 12°44′38″E
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Karlovy Vary
District	Sokolov
First mentioned	1195
Government
• Mayor	Patrik Pizinger
Area
• Total	14.26 km2 (5.51 sq mi)
Elevation	418 m (1,371 ft)
Population  (2021-01-01)[1]
• Total	13,089
• Density	920/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	357 35
Website	www.mestochodov.cz

History

Chodov was originally a Slavic settlement. Its name comes from an old Slavic term "choda", which means a road. The Slavic colonisation was not successful and in the Middle Ages this part of Bohemia was colonised by Germans. In the 12th–13th century Chodov belongs to the monastery in Waldsassen and in the 14th–17th century is ruled locally from Loket. In 1894 Chodov is declared a town and gets the right to use its own coat of arms.^[2]

From 1938 to 1945 it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. Until the end of World War II the town was inhabited practically only by Germans, who were exiled from Czechoslovakia after the war. In the '60s a big chemical factory was built 4 km from Chodov in Vřesová and then new districts were built for the Czech and Slovak workers who moved here.

Demography

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 2,472 —     1880 3,389 +37.1% 1890 5,204 +53.6% 1900 7,104 +36.5% 1910 7,470 +5.2% 1921 7,035 −5.8% 1930 7,849 +11.6% 1950 3,786 −51.8%	Year Pop. ±% 1961 4,551 +20.2% 1970 11,798 +159.2% 1980 14,704 +24.6% 1991 14,929 +1.5% 2001 14,687 −1.6% 2011 13,748 −6.4% 2021 13,089 −4.8%
Source: Historical lexicon of municipalities of the Czech Republic[3]

Sights

Protestant church in Chodov

The most significant is Church of St. Lawrence, built by the constructor Brauenbock according to the plans of the architect Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. On the main shrine there is a painting by the famous Czech-German artist Peter Johann Brandl. In front of the church we find a 17th-century statue of St. Sebastian and on the main square a statue of the Virgin Mary (1675). The other church in the town belongs to the Protestants, Czech Brethren. Close to the gate of the Protestant church there is a monument to war victims. It was re-erected in 1998 exactly 100 years after its first erection.

Notable people

• Willi Huttig (1909–2001), German photographer and alpinist

Twin towns – sister cities

Chodov is twinned with:^[4]

• Oelsnitz, Germany
• Waldsassen, Germany

References

1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2021". Czech Statistical Office. 2021-04-30.
2. "Z historie města Chodova" (in Czech). Město Chodov. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
3. "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011 – Okres Sokolov" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21. pp. 3–4. Archived from the original on 2021-12-28. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
4. "Partnerská města" (in Czech). Město Chodov. Archived from the original on 2019-08-24. Retrieved 2019-08-24.

Other websites

• Official website