The town in the heart of Europe can show off with a rich history going back to the 9th Century. Happenings that took place behind the stone or colorful walls of silent witnesses of the past entered the history…
Cheb was first mentioned in a list of the German king Jindrich IV. in 1061. Construction of the first stone stronghold is connected with the early-Middle-Age's policy of colonization.
In 1157, the German emperor Friedrich Barbarossa acquired Cheb as an inheritance. He had the old stronghold rebuilt into a representative imperial residence. Under the rule of the king Jan Lucembursky, the town was once for all added, as a hereditary security, to the Czech Crown Lands. Within the kingdom, it had a privilege of self-governing territory with its own council. The Czech king George of Podebrady also used Cheb's services for his political dealings.
In the 16th Century, Protestantism asserted itself in the hitherto Catholic Cheb.
The last incident connected with the town that entered the history of the "Highest Politics" was the murder of generalissimo of imperial troops, duke Albrecht of Valdstejn. The murder was committed in Cheb on February 25, 1634. Since 1874, thousands of visitors have come to the Cheb museum to see with their own eyes the room where Albrecht of Valdstejn was murdered on February 25, 1634.
The town underwent a profound Baroque transformation during the second half of the 17th Century and in the 18th Century. Such distinguished architects and builders as Dienzenhofer, A. Leutner, P. Bayer, B. Alliprandi, A. Pfeffer and Cheb's native Baltasar Neumann participated in reconstructions and construction of new buildings.
Come and let yourself be inspired by the town as did also Friderik Schiller when he collected in Cheb material for his work "Valdstejn trilogy". You may even find as good friends as the ones that Johann Wolfgang Goethe visited here. You will definitely discover beauty of this small town with extensive history.
The town has its own museum, theater with a permanent theater company, National Fine-Artss gallery, a number of private galleries and regional library. Since 1970, they organize the International Festival of Youth Brass Orchestras (FIJO) on bi-annual basis in Cheb. As a natural center of the Czech part of so-called Euroregia Egrensis, Cheb is today a frequented tourist center.