Ústí nad Labem

Ústí nad Labem (Aussig) is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Ústí nad Labem Region. The city is the 7th-most populous in the country. Ústí is situated in a mountainous district at the confluence of the Bílina and the Elbe (Labe) Rivers, and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction. It is the birthplace of the painter Anton Raphael Mengs.



History
Ústí nad Labem was mentioned as a trading centre as early as 993. The city was founded by King Otakar II of Bohemia in the latter part of the 13th century. In 1423 it was pledged by Emperor Sigismund to Elector Frederick I of Meißen, who occupied it with a Saxon garrison. In 1426 it was besieged by the Hussites, who on June 16, 1426, though only 25,000 strong, defeated with great slaughter a German army of 70,000 which had been sent to its relief; the town was stormed and sacked the next day. After lying waste for three years, it was rebuilt in 1429. It suffered much during the Thirty Years' War and Seven Years' War.

Not far from Ústí is the village of Chlumec, where, on August 29-August 30, 1813, a battle took place between the French Empire under Vandamme and an allied army of Austrians, Prussians, and Russians. The French were defeated and Vandamme surrendered with his army of 10,000 men.

During the 19th century the city became heavily industrialized and due to the large-scale immigration the number of inhabitants grew from 2,000 to over 40,000 making Ústí one of the biggest cities in Bohemia. Mining, chemical industry and river transport were its most important assets. The local river port became the busiest one in the whole Austro-Hungarian Empire surpassing the seaport in Trieste. Nowadays it is the industrial city with chemical establishments, metallurgy manufacture, machinetool industries, textiles and nutriment industry.

Ústí was a center of early German National Socialism. On November 15, 1903, the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei in Österreich ("German Workers' Party in Austria") was formed; it would become the basis for the Sudeten German National Socialist Party and Austrian National Socialism. Much of their literature and books were printed in Ústí.

From April 17 to April 19, 1945 the city was bombed by the Allied Forces and over 500 people lost their lives. On July 31, 1945, the Ústí Massacre against German civilians occurred. In 1945 and 1946, over 53,000 ethnic Germans were expelled from the area. Emigrants from the Soviet Union, Slovakia, and Romania settled in the city, among them many Roma and Sinti. During the 1970s-1980s large numbers of paneláks were constructed in Ústí. After the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia in the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the city's heavy industry suffered economic troubles.

The Střekov castle is located in a southern suburb of the city. Ústí is a center for tourism owing to the romantic landscape of the Bohemian Highlands (České středohoří) and the České Švýcarsko national park.

Road Transportation
The city is connected to the international highway E 442(Liberec, Děčín, Ústí, Dresden) and first class highways (I/8, I/30, I/13).

The city is directly connected to the express highway D8 (Berlin – Prague) that intersects the western border of the city. Some sections of the express highway are already in operation, the completion of the whole highway on the Czech territory is planned for 2005.

City Mass Transportation
The city has a network of mass transportation that includes bus and trolley bus lines.

Railway Transportation
Usti nad Labem is an important railway node with four railway stations that is intersected by international lines Berlin-Vienna and Berlin-Budapest-Beograd-Sofia (Baltic-Orient). The backbone international line is the national railway line No. 090 – I. transit railway corridor State frontier Decin – Usti nad Labem – Prague – Breclav – state frontier which is part of the IV. Trans-European Multimodal Corridor. The re-construction on the way and the modernization of the line to meet the parameters of increased line speed will add quality to personal and commercial transportation. On the line section that intersects the city center interregional railway transpor-tation, suburban transportation and the backbone city mass transportation will come together. The Eurocity (EC) and Intercity (IC) trains connected to the European railway network stop regularly in Usti nad Labem Central Station.

River Transportation
The Elbe River Line is a junction with the West-European river lines opening access to Germany, Benelux countries, northern France and to important sea ports. The Elbe River Line is a part of the IV. Trans-European Multimodal Corridor. Freight transportation and pleasure cruises are run on the water line section Pardubice – Chvaletice – Usti nad Labem – Hrensko – Hamburg.

Air Transportation
Currently, an air-port for small sports planes is under construction. The nearest airport for air liners is in Prague (92 km or Dresden, Germany (75 km).

Matiční Street Wall
The city gained notoriety in the late 1990s when a 150 m long wall was constructed along part of the Matiční Street separating family houses on one side from the tenement houses on the other. Since the latter were homes mainly to Roma, it turned into an international racist scandal. Mayor Ladislav Hruška promised local homeowners' representatives that the wall would be finished by the end of September, 1998. Foreign press arrived in Ústí to investigate, and were told by aldermen that the wall was not meant to segregate by race, but to keep respectable citizens safe from noise and rubbish coming from the opposite side of the street.

In September, city representatives announced that plans would be changed from a four meter soundproof wall to a 1.8 meter wall of ceramic bricks, and a children's playground would also be constructed in front of the tenement houses. Despite these changes, the Roma Civic Initiative and Deputy Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla vocally opposed the construction. The wall was criticized by Congressman Christopher Smith, and a delegation from the Council of Europe described it as a "racist" and drastic solution. The new plans slated construction to begin August 30, 1999, but a decision by the district council delayed the move because a wall that large would require a permit, and threatened to damage the root systems of trees along Matični Street. On October 5, however, construction began regardless of the opposition by foreign observers and members of the Czech government. The following day, 50 Roma physically blockaded construction of the wall and dismantled parts that had already been set up. Nonetheless, the wall was completed on October 13. Domestic and international pressure eventually convinced the city to dismantle the wall, and it was destroyed six weeks after it was erected.

Officials in Prešov, Slovakia considered building a similar wall in 2005. 

Mariansky Bridge
Mariansky Bridge was opened in 1998. The bridge was built over a period of five years. The city has invested over CZK 750 million ($37,500,000) to build it. The bridge won an award of the European Association of Steel Structures - ECCS (European Convention for constructional Steelwork) European Steel Design Awards. International Association for Bridges and Civil Engineering ranked Mariansky Bridge between the 10 best structures of the world for the last decade.

Famous Natives and Residents

 * Anton Raphael Mengs, painter.
 * Viktor Ullmann, composer, conductor and pianist.
 * Heinz Edelmann, illustrator and designer.
 * Vladimír Páral, prozaic.
 * Petr Vopěnka, mathematician.
 * Milan Hejduk, hockey player for Colorado Avalanche.
 * Michal Neuvirth, hockey player for Washington Capitals.
 * Jiří Jarošík, ex Chelsea FC and Celtic FC player, currently of Real Zaragoza.

Twin towns — Sister cities
Ústí is twinned with:
 * 🇬🇧 Halton, United Kingdom
 * 🇩🇪 Chemnitz, Germany
 * 🇷🇺 Vladimir, Russia