Kraslice


Kraslice is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,700 inhabitants.

Etymology

The roots of the name derive from the medieval German "Graz", meaning pine forest. Many variants were used throughout the town's history: Greselin, Zum Greselin, Gresslens, Gresslas, Gresslitz, Graeslitz and Graslitz. The Czech name is a transliteration of the last used German name.

Geography

The town is situated on the southern slopes of the eastern reaches of the Ore Mountains, some 5 km from the neighbouring German town of Klingenthal. It lies in an area known for swarm type seismic activity. The last strong earthquake swarm was in 1986.
The city lies on railway line No 145 from Sokolov to Klingenthal. Passenger services are provided by the railway company of GW Train Regio.

History

German monks from Waldsassen Abbey in Bavaria were the first to settle the upper Svatava valley in the 12th century. The town was granted regal city status by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in 1370. From 1938 to 1945 it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. In 1944 a women's subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp was established here. The German-speaking population was expelled in 1945 and the town was resettled with Czechs.

Population

Graslitz had 13,936 inhabitants on 1 December 1930, 6,294 inhabitants 22 May 1947 and currently
has some 7,000 inhabitants - a significant decrease from the pre-Second World War population figure of around 20,000, due to the expulsion of the German-speaking population after that war.

Notable people

Chodov is twinned with: