THE COEXISTENCE OF CZECHS AND GERMANS
Reports of Czech–German coexistence date back to the earliest settlement of the region. Although the Teplá Monastery, which colonised the area in the 13th century (the settlement of Konradsgrün), sent mainly Bavarians and Saxons, there are also records of Czech presence, including sermons delivered in Czech. After that, national distinctions largely disappear from historical sources until they re-emerge in the 19th century.
With the rise of nationalism came clearer divisions along ethnic lines. By the late 19th century, sources mention the arrival of Czechs in the town, though their exact number cannot be determined. Many belonged to poorer social classes, often unable to read or write, and census forms were frequently completed by superiors who simply recorded them as Germans. Fear of losing employment also discouraged open identification with Czech nationality. The 1880 decree granting equality to Czech and German was not consistently applied here.
Strict national division only occurred after the establishment of Czechoslovakia. At that time, 18,408 Germans and only 9 Czechs lived in the Jáchymov district. Some local Germans advocated separation from Bohemia and annexation to Germany, specifically Saxony. On 30 December 1918, the Czechoslovak army occupied the town and the mines. The unit, about one hundred men under Captain Müller, demanded the dissolution of the militia and full loyalty to the new state. Tensions remained, particularly due to the reduction of German officials for lack of Czech language skills and disputes over educational support.
In 1919, several legionnaire families settled in the town to strengthen the Czech presence. In 1920, the population consisted of 279 Czechs and 16,749 Germans. Municipal administration and industry largely remained in German hands. Tensions were evident; in 1919, a local innkeeper reportedly declared regarding the Czech director of the tobacco factory: “Für einen Tschechen kochen wir nicht” – “We will not cook for one Czech.” The establishment of a Czech public library was repeatedly obstructed until state intervention in 1927.
The economic crisis of the 1920s and the rise of Nazism in the 1930s further deepened divisions. By 1934, roughly one third of the population openly supported the Sudeten German Party, and another third did so covertly. In 1938, 9,000 Germans and 300 Czechs lived in the town. Following Hitler’s speech in Nuremberg on 12 September 1938, unrest erupted, including attacks on offices and police stations.
References to the Jewish population are scarce. Post-war chroniclers note the lack of information about their fate. Contemporary reports mention the destruction of a prayer room and the Aryanisation of Jewish property.
During World War II, paradoxically, the number of Czechs increased as German men were conscripted and Czech families were relocated to fill labour shortages.
After the war, no Allied troops entered the town despite its location in the western demarcation zone. Local Czechs formed a Revolutionary Committee that maintained order. On 4 June, however, a local industrialist was executed by partisans without trial. Later, Soviet officers visited, and Red Army troops occupied the town.
The expulsion of Germans followed. Radio receivers were confiscated, identification measures introduced, and a collection centre established in the tobacco factory. By the end of 1945, nearly 5,000 people from the district had been expelled. Further transports followed in 1946. Families essential to economic operations, especially uranium mining, were exempted.
By March 1947, the town had 7,393 inhabitants – 5,778 Czechs and Slovaks and 1,172 Germans. With gradual assimilation, the long coexistence – and often rivalry – of two nations in Jáchymov came to an end.
