| Statistics | | City emblems | | | | | | Population: | 52,500 (2004) | | Map |
Map of the Czech Republic
highlighting Decin | Děčín (German Tetschen) is one of the larger towns in the Ústí nad Labem (Czech: Ústecký kraj) administrative region of the Czech Republic with over 52,000 inhabitants (2001).
Just over the German border, not far from Dresden and 83 minutes north-east of Prague by rail, Decin is on the trade route between the Czech Republic and Germany. Cargo transported by road, rail and water all passes through the town, as it is also at the meeting-point of the rivers Labe (Elbe) and Ploučnice. Decin is actually made up of two towns, one on either side of the river Labe; the old town of Decin is on the right bank, and on the left bank is Podmokly (German: Bodenbach) which became part of the town in 1942. Decin is also the name of the district of which the town is the greatest urban area.
The Labe having cut its way through the soft sandstone of the region, the town is at the centre of three low mountain ranges; Decinska vrchovina (the Decin Highlands), the Czech Midlands and the Luzice Mountains.
Products made in Decin include sheet-metal, food, textiles, chemicals, soap, beer and preserved fish; the town is also home to a printing and publishing industry.
History
The Decin area was settled by the Slavic tribe of the Decane in the 9th century, giving it its name. At first it was built on the left bank of the Labe, but after a flood it was rebuilt on the right bank in 1059. From 1305, the Lords of Wartenberg were in control of Decin for two hundred years until 1534, when it was bought by the rich Lord Rudolf von Bünau. This family introduced Protestantism to the region but the religion was dropped when the Bünaus were driven out in 1620. Unable to live in Decin any more, in 1628 Bünau sold the town to the Baron of Thun, whose descendants today still own it.
In the 18th century, Decin followed fashion and became a spa town under Baron Johann Joseph Thun, who searched the area for a suitable spring and found one in Horní Zleb in 1768. The centre of a busy trading hub was not, however, the ideal place to build a spa, and the idea was eventually dropped in 1922; today the town's spa past has been largely forgotten.
Attractions Decin Castle's Rose Garden - Jewish Synagogue, 1907
- Renaissance bridge
- Silver mine, from Middle Ages
- Holy Rood Church, 1687-1691
- "Sheep Bridge", 1620
- Decin castle (zámek Decin), 1305
The Long Ride at Decin Castle Decin castle is probably the most popular tourist attraction in the town. Built on a hill near the town centre and overlooking the Labe river, the castle has enjoyed an extremely varied history. It has gone from being a fort during the Seven Years War, to becoming a Renaissance castle in 1673, to turning Baroque after its restoration in 1788. Once the home of Bohemian kings (built by Premysl king Václav III) the castle has since functioned as the administrative centre of the Thuns and even as a military garrison for German and Soviet troops after being handed to the Czechoslovak state in 1932. The castle has inspired both musicians - Chopin wrote his Valse in A flat major here - and artists - Caspar David Friedrich sold his "Tetschen Altar Or Cross In The Mountains" to the Thuns. An unusual feature of the castle is the long, straight walled road leading up to it, the "Long Ride" (Dlouhá jízda).
The Soviet army departed in 1991, leaving the castle in a state of disrepair and apparently taking with them most of its contents.
External links - Town homepage - in Czech (http://www.decin.cz/)
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