The story
The first written mention of Chomutov is a donation deed from 1252, when it came into the possession of the Teutonic Order. The Gothic church of St. Catherine built during that era still stands to this day. In 1396, Chomutov received a town charter, and in 1416 the knights sold both the town and the lordship to King Wenceslaus IV.
On 16 March 1421, the town was stormed, sacked and burned by the Taborites. After several upheavals and changes of ownership, Chomutov was taken by Popel of Lobkowicz in 1588, who established Jesuit rule in 1589, leading to trouble between the Protestant citizens and the town's new overlord. In 1594, the feudal lordship fell to the crown, and in 1605 the town purchased its freedom and was made a royal city. After the Thirty Years' War, Chomutov stagnated. The Jesuit Order in the city was abolished in 1773. Rapid development did not come until the second half of the 19th century, with advances in the mining and heavy industries.
By 1938, Chomutov had over 30,000 inhabitants. It had a population comprising about 95% ethnic Germans. A very small Jewish population (444 in 1930 – 1.3% of the total population) came under increasing pressure, and Chomutov was declared "Judenrein" on 23 September 1938 by the increasingly pro-Nazi administration. A week later, Chomutov and its surrounding districts were annexed by Nazi Germany as a result of the 1938 Munich Agreement and administered as part of the Reichsgau Sudetenland.
After 1945, the previous population, German by a large majority, was expelled. Industrial facilities and large high-rise housing projects were then built to redevelop the area. In the late 1970s an urban settlement was built, linking Chomutov with its neighbouring Jirkov. Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the heavy industry significantly decreased its activity, but the environment in and around the town has been improved. The leisure facilities of the area were emphasised, notably Kamencové jezero Lake and Zoopark Chomutov.
Since 1 July 2006, Chomutov has been a statutory city.
From Wikipedia’s article on Chomutov, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5