Sokolov, Czech Republic
Sokolov (, until 1948 Falknov nad Ohří; ) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Ohře and it is located to the northeast of Cheb. Administrative parts. Villages of Hrušková and Novina and area of former village of Vítkov are administrative parts of Sokolov. History. The first written mention of Sokolov is from 13 April 1279 under the name Falkenau / Falknov. The town was a property of noble families of Nothaft and later Schlick. The Schlick family built here a small castle, which was  rebuilt to a château in the 16th century. After the Battle of White Mountain the Nostic family gained Sokolov. During the Thirty Years' War the town and the château was repeatedly burned out. The town and the château was recovered in the 1760s by Jan Hartvík Nostic. In the 18th century, there was a great expansion of urban crafts and hop growing. Until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austrian side after the compromise of 1867), head of the "Falkenau a.d. Eger" District, one of the 94 "Bezirkshauptmannschaften" in Bohemia. In 1919, the town, being part of  the continuous German Sprachraum, was proclaimed part of the Republic of German-Austria, but shortly afterwards became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic. From 1938 to 1945 it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. During World War II, Falkenau was the site of a sub-camp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp. The camp at Falkenau was captured by the U.S. 1st Infantry Division on 6 May 1945. Nearly all of the town's population, being Germans, were expelled after 1945. It was renamed "Sokolov" in 1948 in honour of the Battle of Sokolovo in which Czechoslovak soldiers had fought  alongside Soviet soldiers on the Eastern Front in World War II. Sport. The town is home to a professional football club, FK Baník Sokolov. Twin towns – sister cities. Sokolov is twinned with: