# West Bohemia

West Bohemia is a region in the Czech Republic.

## Cities

* 50.22399612.1950741 Aš. Town in the westernmost part of the country
* 50.0812.372 Cheb (Eger). A historical city in West Bohemia. During the Thirty Years War, Albrecht von Wallenstein was assassinated here.
* 50.122412.34893 Františkovy Lázně (Franzensbad). A historic spa town, one of the "corners" of the West Bohemian Spa Triangle
* 50.225712.88064 Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad). A historic spa resort, one of the "corners" of the West Bohemian Spa Triangle
* 50.010612.62485 Lázně Kynžvart (Bad Königswart). A historic spa town
* 50.18612.7546 Loket. The town centre is a national monument
* 49.964812.70167 Mariánské Lázně (Marienbad). A historic spa resort, one of the "corners" of the West Bohemian Spa Triangle.
* 49.74813.3748 Plzeň (Pilsen). An industrial city, birthplace of "Pilsner" beer
* 49.39562513.2950899 Klatovy.
* 49.86827212.74384410 Planá.
* 49.44060612.92979811 Domažlice.
* 49.75304813.00414612 Stříbro.
* 49.5297612.94409113 Horšovský Týn.

## Understand

This region along the Franconian, Saxon and Bavarian borders with the Czech Republic has had a lot of German influence throughout the existence of Austria-Hungary and before. After World War II most of the ethnically German inhabitants were expelled and the "Iron Curtain" ruptured many cross border links even as Czechoslovakia and the GDR ("East Germany") nominally called each other "socialist brother countries". With the end of the Cold War and the entry of the Czech Republic into the European Union in 2004, this region became a lot more accessible from the west and tourism has benefited from it. Among the most notable towns are those that form the West Bohemian Spa Triangle, which was a retreat of the rich and the famous, throughout the 19th century and into the Belle Époque, who would consume and bathe in the mineral water emerging from countless springs in the area. After World War I, the aristocrats lost their power in most of Europe, and the new state of Czechoslovakia tried in vain to avert the decline of tourism in the Spa triangle. Even worse was World War II, when the area was annexed by Nazi Germany, under the infamous 1938 Munich Agreement, and later bombed by the Americans.

## See

* 49.7472513.377181 St. Bartholomew's Cathedral. The dominant feature of Pilsen. Church tower admission: 50 Kč for adults.
* 49.9765912.706172 The Singing Fountain. The dominant feature of Mariánské Lázně.
* 50.3982312.630763 Rolava tin mine ruins. A tin mine/processing site used during WWII, where mostly political prisoners worked. The buildings hidden in the woods are generally accessible (on your own risk), they are mostly in the state in which they were left 60+ years ago. (updated May 2018)

## Do

* 49.38412.7841 Český les (Upper Palatine Forest). A mountain range stretching along the German border.
* 50.10812.7832 Slavkovský les (Slavkov Forest). A landscape protected area located between 3 spa cities: Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně.
Also, there are 14 golf courses in West Bohemia.

## Stay safe

West Bohemia is a very safe region.

## Go next

* Central Bohemia
* North Bohemia
* South Bohemia