My town - Klášterec nad Ohří
Klášterec is a smaller city. It lies on the left riverside of Ohře and it has nearly 17.000 inhabitants and it has quite long tradition. For the first time it is being mentioned as a branch of and monastery in Postoloprty. It was built between the years 1150-1250. After this small Benedict cloister got the village the name too - Claustrellum. This name was used since the year 1352, and four years after this, the German name Klosterlin. The Czech name Klasterecz we can find in the year 1407.
After the Benedicts have left Klášterec, the possession was given to the masters of Šumburk. After some years Klášterec was sold to Wilhelm from Illburg and he had to sell it to the masters of Fictum. In the year 1512 - 1514 they have built a mansion on the left riverside of Ohře. Shortly after the fire of New Šumburk, the Fictums moved to this mansion, which was suited to their requirements as a Renaissance castle. Originally, the castle had only two wings until the Christopher Fictum built two next wings and closed the building complex with one tower. After the battle on the White mountain, the possession of Fictums has been confiscated and given to the masters of Thun. After the thirty years long war the castle has been rebuilt to an Baroque visage by an Italian architect Rossi de Luca. The Salla-Terrena has been built by Carlo Lurago, the same as the garden and fountains. In the end of 17th century Thuns invited the popular sculptor Jan Brokof. After the third fire of the castle in the year 1856 the Thuns have rebuilt the castle to it's nowadays visage - that means pseudo gothic English style. In the year 1945 the possession of Thuns has been confiscated by the state and since the year 1953 there has been an exhibition of the Bohemia porcelain producing history.
I have already mentioned the great fires in Klášterec. The first was in the year 1639 and it was made on purpose. It was because of the castle was occupied by Swedish soldiers, and the imperial soldiers wanted to chase them out. The Swedish soldiers came out of it alive and they have left Klášterec. The bad luck was, that the whole city was burned down. The next fire started in the year 1726 at the potter and it destroyed the upper part of the city. After next sixty years, the city has burned for the third time. There has unfortunately blown a big wind - so the city was completely destroyed in less than four hours. The fourth fire started in the same potter workshop as the second - it was at the nephew of the first potter. The city was destroyed again.
What's very interesting are the executions in Klášterec. In 1661 here was hung a smith-apprentice, who has robbed the church here. In the year 1664 there has been an execution of Georg Wächter, who has raped a widow in the wood and than he has killed her. He has been broken in the wheel, after two strips of skin have been tore down from his back. In the year 1665 the servant of earl Thun has been executed by a sword without giving a further reason. Than it was the Hans Brandl, because of poisoning his family with ratcide. The last execution was done to a woman because of killing of her new-born child. After this execution the trials have been established by Maria Teresia.
There are two important churches in Klášterec. The first is the Holiest triplet's church, which was built after the project of Carlo Lurago and was built by Rossi de Luca. Nowadays it's the place, where the Thun sarcophagus are buried. The next church is the Our Lady's cemetery church. This one was built by J.K.Kosch.
Thuns were the family, who brought porcelain producing to Klášterec. In our town was established the second (maybe first) porcelain manufacture in Bohemia. It was in the autumn 1794, when the porcelain factory started producing of pottery. There has been found a cup with a saucer with the sign "Via Bohemia" about whom nobody exactly knows, where it was produced, but it is known, that is the oldest piece of porcelain in Czech Rebulic. Of course we mean that it was in our porcelain factory, but wicked tonques say, it was in Slavkov, which should have been opened in the year 1792. Nowadays there is still being produced porcelain under the trade mark of Thun pottery.
Klášterec is famous thanks to the acidulous water spring Eugenie, that helps people with digestion. You can go there today to the bath which was made after the original bath, which was here. It's only smaller now. At the end of 19th century a filling room for this water was built here for the spring water.
In the year 1917 Simon's cork producing company was built here and in the year 1939 it was the war industrial plant, which was later rebuilt to nowadays ZKL. In the second half of the twentieth century Klášterec has became an industrial town thanks to the mentioned companies. People from whole republic came here to get job in the new opened power-plants EPRU & ETU too. After this flood of employees there has been built the New Town of Klášterec which is compound only of housing estates. The two parts of the city are divided by the road D13, which is the main connection on the way from Karlovy Vary to Most. Nowaday a new industrial zone is being built here to get some investors to this region.
As to the education in this town. We have altogether 5 basic schools. The first, third and fourth are only basic schools, but the second is a grammar school too and the fifth is special school for inadaptable children.
In this town we have an Cultural house and altogether four theatres - Kandrdas, Klas, Klapot (where am I one of the actors) and a new theater that is being lead by my friend. We have the only one stadium in Czech republic with Canadian proportions too, and of course we have our own hockey team and football team.
Nowaday the best attraction for tourists is the Aqua park. It has the biggest roller coaster, spin bath, pearl bath and many other opportunities how to spend free time.