Hranice (Cheb District)

{{Infobox settlement }}
 * name                   = Hranice
 * native_name            = {{lang-de|Rossbach}
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 * subdivision_name2      = Cheb
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 * subdivision_name3      =  Aš
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 * elevation_m            = 575
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Hranice (Rossbach) is a border town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. In 2005 the town had a population of 2,272.

Geography
Hranice lies twelve kilometres north of Aš, in the northernmost part of the region, at about 575 meters above sea level. The villages of Trojmezí and Kozí Hřbety to the west of the town, Krásňany to the east, Pastviny to the southwest, and Studánka and Novosedly to the south are parts of Hranice. It neighbors the German towns of Bad Elster to the southeast, Gettengrün to the northeast, and Ebmath to the north.

History
The first written mention of Hranice dates to 1413, when the town was bought by the House of Zedtwitz. Before that time, Hranice was the property of the Neubergs. At the end of the 14th century, the Neubergs ran into financial trouble and sold the town. The House of Zedwitz controlled Hranice and the whole region around Aš for almost 500 years.

In 1542, Lutheranism first appeared in the village.

In 1633, the bubonic plague killed forty people in the town.

In 1822 a new school was built, in 1850 a post office was opened, and in 1868 the first fire squad was established.

Textile industry
In the 19th century the textile industry expanded rapidly in the region, including in Hranice. Beginning in 1806, a local textile factory was one of the most successful in Bohemia. In 1840, however, a plan to build a new road through the town was rejected by the local council. Because Hranice had no railway connection and only bad roads, the textile industry there began to decline. Two new railway routes – one from Aš to Hranice (established in 1885) and the other from Hranice to Adorf (established in 1906) – helped local industry greatly.

World Wars
During World War I, Hranice was almost ruined, and people suffered from famine after many months without deliveries of food or hygienic supplies.

After World War I, the movement in favor of a Sudetenland independent of Czechoslovakia, eventually led by Konrad Henlein, formed. Henlein's party, the Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront, was an important force in the region. The Aš region, including Hranice, was passed on to Hitler by Henlein before the Munich Agreement.

The US Army, under command of General Cliff Andrus, entered Hranice on April 18, 1945. Hranice was the first Czechoslovak town to surrender to the Allies.

The name of the town
In Czech, Hranice means "border". The old German name, Rossbach, means "horse brook". Following the partition of Germany, a border tripoint (between Czechoslovakia, West and East Germany) was situated near the town, for which the village of Trojmezí is named.

Buildings
Notable buildings in Hranice include the Evangelic Church, built in the 14th century, and the Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary, built in 1894.

Memorials
Hranice contains a World War I memorial, built in 1928, along with a World War II memorial and a memorial to an Royal Air Force pilot who crashed in the area during World War II.