dux (duchcov), sudetes, CZ

what an interesting (it means not really nice, you see?) break in duchcov (dux) on the way to erzgebirge (saxony). well, we've planned to stop in the nearby spa teplice, but we were already to hungry + needed a break + have seen a sign on the road about a castle in dux, so we changed our minds and stopped here ... 

well, dux as well as the whole sudetes (sudeten/sudety) region, especially in the northwest czech republic, have seen their best days long time ago, if you asked me ... there was not much built-up after the germans were expelled at the end of WWII and the downfall is omnipresent everywhere. even the originally nice castle + church need thoroughgoing restauration or at least a fairly paint from outside ... anyway, the small city center was easy to reach, with free parking at the town hall square (maybe because it was sunday), the castle and the most restaurants were closed, but we have found a bistro ... i've ordered 'svickova', what in my opinion shoud be a piece of beef like a steak in some cream sauce, but it was a mincemeat (hackfleisch) instead ... it somehow fits to the overall downfall of the region, doesnt it?

as we stayed in saxony at the german-czech border 1 week, we later came twice to the hunter restaurant hubert in mikulov (niklasberg) from the czech side of the ore mountains (erzgebirge, krusne hory) and enjoyed the food, friendly personnel and the tasty gambrinus beer from pilsen (since 1869).

let's enjoy few camera impressions 😊

dux castle - schloss dux - zamek duchcov. closed.

cafe casanova? yes, giacomo casanova stayed few days in dux.

town hall's square

museum. closed.

+

= the idea how we came here meets dux's beautiful coat of arms😆

restaurant. closed.

some old nice stuff aka palace from outside. closed.

some old nice stuff aka palace from inside. closed.

the 2nd church at a small lake, but no houses around => ???

private houses? nice.

castle's park from behind the castle #1

castle's park from behind the castle #2 => arts?

castle's park from behind the castle #3 => so decayed, so sad 😭

what a nice building! what a nice clouds!

ruins in the northwestern czech republic

back to the market square

town hall (left) + todays administration office (right)

what a nice facade ... hey, you!😃

one of the many industrial ruins in the northwestern czech republic

lets jump over the ore mountains (erzgebirge, krusne hory) back to germany

pension + restaurant hubert in mikulov (niklasberg)

the alkaline (basic) beer gambrinus, named by the king of beers🍺

btw, is gambrinus the brother of bacchus (dionysus), the god of wines?🍷

good-bye, hubert 🍻

when in the border area, then it is interesting to study some history abt the nations in the region => here the nations in czechoslovakia 1921. source: wikipedia.DE

germans in czechoslovakia. the dark red + blue areas contain german population of over 70%. the black ones in slovakia where my parents were born even 90%-100%. yes, the germans lived nice with and among all other nations from 13th century till 1945 => so sad ... source: wikipedia.DE

germans in CZ, 1930. hmmm, prague (prag, praha) below 20%? source: wikipedia.DE

industry in the northwestern czech republic (CZ)

brown coal, open pit district, chomutov (komotau) - most (brüx), CZ

litvinov (oberleutensdorf), chemical industry in the northwestern CZ

just very few more pictures here.

komotau, brüx, erzgebirge ~ chomutov, most, krusne hory ~ CZ

what a nice weekend in erzgebirge (ore mountains, krusne hory) in the czech republic: brüx (most), komotau (chomutov) ... i've visited good friends with whom i lived close together as a refugee 30 years ago in munich. well, they have moved to czech republic last year 😄

castle landeswarte (zamek hnevin) above the city of brüx (most)

i was happy to visit this interesting formerly german settled region in the erzgebirge mountains and to have local guides all over the area, which is unfortunately essentially affected by open pit brown coal mining. please enjoy few pictures and insights in the following blog post ....

in the nearby thermal baths area of karlsbad and marienbad is the nature still fine ... not so in the brown coal open pit mining area of  brüx (most) & komotau (chomutov)

a scene from the moon or just dust over the open pit coal mines?

 

view from my window in hohenofen (vysoka pec), CZ

erzgebirge (ore mountains, krusne hory)

castle eisenberg (zamek jezeri) is currently renovated, bur looks still like a ruin, doesn't it?

lunch in brüx (most) in a 'good soldier svejk (schweik)' restaurant,

called after the satirical anti-military roman by jaroslav hasek

black&white view at castle landeswarte (zamek hnevin) above the city of brüx (most)

observatory at the castle landeswarte (hnevin)

 

remaining of old brüx (most): the church that was moved 800m and rescued

ten or eleven years ago, after approximately 30 years of open pit mining, all the coal below old city of brüx (most) was mined. today there is an artificial lake and the nature seems to take the destroyed industrial site back under its control. if we only let everywhere the nature restore our sins 😇. on the left side are the chimneys of leutensdorf (litvinov), the chemical industry center

short visit to marienberg, erzgebirge (ore mountains), saxony, DE. marienberg is also a former mining area, but unlike komotau & brüx all the mining (of metals) in marienberg took place underground

back to komotau: castle rothenhaus (cerveny hradek) in borough görkau (jirkov) is a hotel today

 all of us

1675

city center of komotau (chomutov):

 coat of arms

 main old town square in komotau

 
 

train station komotau (chomutov)

good-bye, my loved center of komotau

my dears, there is at least one other really interesting thing in komotau. have you ever heard about an alum lake (alaunsee ~ kamencove jezero)? well, they have flooded the 18th century alum mine and there is a lake today => a lake where no plants and no animals live, but good for swimming 🏊

 
 

more pictures here.

eof