page_title: Kadaň
section_title: 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Kadaň / History / 20th century
caption_attribution_description: English: A prefabricated house in Kadaň My own photo.
context_page_description: Kadaň, is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants.
  The town lies on the banks of the river Ohře. Kadaň is a tourist centre with highlights being the Franciscan Monastery and the historical square with late Gothic Town Hall Tower. It is also a town with the narrowest lane in the Czech Republic – Katova ulička with only 66.1 cm.
context_section_description: At the start of the 20th century, the "Society of Friends of the Museum in Kaaden" decided to document the towns' history by opening a museum.
  In the final weeks of World War I, Czechoslovakia was established on 28 October 1918, its Bohemian, Moravian and Silesian component having been defined by the historic borders of the Czech (Bohemian) kingdom. However, most of the German border population, was not enthusiastic about becoming part of a new republic with a clearly Slavonic definition. Instead, four regional self-governed states emerged along the borderland, Kadaň  declared itself part of German Bohemia. On 4 March 1919, the first assembly of the Austria parliament. This was the occasion for both peaceful and violent demonstrations in the mostly German-populated border cities. In Kadaň, the curfew and martial law was declared and the Czechoslovak military forces were sent in. The demonstration in Kadaň for self determination was the bloodiest. According to Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung report of 7 March 1919, 17 persons were killed, 30 badly wounded, and 80 wounded there. Over all, 25 victims were buried in a memorial grave at the central cemetery. It was restored after the fall of communism in 1989.
  After the Munich Agreement in later September 1938, Kaaden became part of Reichsgau Sudetenland. The local Czech people were forced to move to central Czechoslovakia, the remaining ones and the Jewish community was strongly oppressed. The synagogue was burnt down during the Kristallnacht of November 9, 1939. According to Beneš decrees, after the Second World War, all of the German population was transferred (Flight and expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia during and after World War II), and the area was re-settled by Czech people, many without roots in this region.
  From the 1950s, new prefabricated housing estates were built that reached the outer parts of the historical conurbation in the 1960s and 70s. This expansion was necessary because many people had moved in to get jobs in the region's thriving mining and electrical industries. The historical monuments were dilapidated and uncared-for. Before 1989 some parts of the historical centre were intended to be replaced by modern housing. Fortunately the Velvet Revolution changed the trend of development in the town and brought about a change in attitudes towards the cultural values of the past. The historical heart of Kadaň began to be repaired and after 15 years it has become a pearl of the region. There is now a new site on the bank of the Ohře River being planned and projected – Maxipes Fík Embankment with many attractions both for children and adults. The town has been turning to be a tourist centre of the predominantly industrial region. The only drawback for tourism is the lack of a higher-capacity hotel in the town.
caption: A prefabricated house after reconstruction
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