Cheb (German: Eger) is a city of about 32,000 inhabitants in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It is situated on the river Ohre, at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrciny. On the rock, to the N.W. of the city, lies the Cheb castle, built probably in the 12th century, and now in ruins. In the banquet room of this castle Wallenstein's officers Terzky, Kinsky, Illo and Neumann were assassinated a few hours before Wallenstein himself was murdered by Captain Devereux. The murder took place on February 25, 1634 in the townhouse, which was at that time the burgomaster's house. The rooms occupied by Wallenstein have been transformed since 1872 into a museum, which contains many historical relics and antiquities of the town of Cheb. The handsome and imposing St Nicholas church was built in the 13th century and restored in 1892.
The district of Cheb was in 870 included in the new margraviate of East Franconia, which belonged at first to the Babenbergs, but from 906 to the counts of Vohburg, who took the title of margraves of Cheb. By the marriage, in 1149, of Adela of Vohburg with the emperor Frederick I, Cheb came into the possession of the house of Swabia, and remained in the hands of the emperors until the 13th century. In 1265 it was taken by the king Ottokar II of Bohemia, who retained it for eleven years. After being repeatedly transferred from the one power to the other, according to the preponderance of Bohemia or the empire, the town and territory were finally incorporated with Bohemia in 1350, after the Bohemian king became the emperor Charles IV. Several imperial privileges, however, continued to be enjoyed by the town till 1849. It suffered severely during the Hussite Wars, during the Swedish invasion in 1631 and 1647, and in the War of the Austrian Succession in 1742.
Mostly from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
